Not one number. Two quotes.
There is no single right number of cubic metres at which a full container starts to pay. LCL freight grows with volume; FCL is flat per container — but the two also carry different local charges, and it is those that really move the break-even. The “over 13 m³, go FCL” answers circulating online are misleading for exactly that reason: on the same cargo, two different quotes put the break-even in two different places. The calculator below gives you no rates; it takes the two quotes you already hold and shows where they cross.
Enter your two quotes: the LCL rate and its per-shipment local charges, and the FCL total per container. This page publishes no tariff — the figures are yours. Nothing is stored or sent.
Why there is no single threshold
The two cost curves behave differently. LCL rises linearly with volume: every extra cubic metre is added to the freight. FCL is a step: the price holds flat until a container fills, then jumps when a second one is needed.
Where those curves cross is the break-even. But freight alone does not decide where that is:
- LCL local charges, per shipment — destination terminal handling, delivery order, deconsolidation, storage. They do not scale with volume, so they lift the whole LCL curve. They are paid even on a small consignment.
- FCL local charges, per container — its own THC, delivery order and storage, flat for each container.
- The container's usable volume — not its internal volume. Stowage loss, pallet pattern and packaging overhang mean what actually loads is less (pallets per container).
The consequence: two forwarders quoting the same cargo can put the break-even at different volumes. “Over X m³ go FCL” is not a rule; it is the output of one calculation somebody once did on their own tariff.
W/M: which figure gets invoiced
LCL freight is charged on a W/M (weight or measurement) basis: volume and weight are compared and the greater is invoiced. At sea the common equivalence is 1 m³ ↔ 1,000 kg, but this is not a universal rule — the divisor and the minimum unit follow the carrier's tariff; the detail and the counter-examples are in CBM, LDM and chargeable weight.
The practical effect: heavy, compact cargo comes out dearer on LCL than expected, because the invoice is built from the weight rather than the volume. The calculator above does this for you — it converts the weight to tonnes, compares it with the volume and uses the greater.
There is also a minimum W/M: most tariffs will not invoice below one or two units. On a very small consignment the freight comes from that minimum, not from the cubic metres you measured.
What sits outside the cost
A break-even compares money only. The decision holds three more things, and none of them enters the table:
- Time
- On LCL the cargo is gathered at a consolidation warehouse on departure and broken down on arrival. Both operations add days door to door, and how many depends on how quickly other cargo fills the box — which is not in your control.
- Handling and risk
- LCL cargo is handled more, and it shares a container with other people's goods. That is where damage and contamination risk comes from: an adjacent consignment carrying odour, moisture or a leak can reach yours. An FCL container is not opened.
- The clocks
- With FCL the container is released to you and the detention clock starts. Without the capacity to strip it promptly, FCL's advantage on paper can be given back in waiting charges. No such clock runs against you on LCL.
These are not unmeasurable, but they do not belong in the same table as money. The method: calculate the break-even first, then, if the gap is small, choose on the three points above. If the gap is large, the decision has already been made.
When it goes wrong
A threshold found online is used as the decision
That threshold came out of somebody else's tariff. If your LCL local charges or your FCL total differ, so does your break-even. Taking the two quotes and running them takes five minutes.
Heavy cargo is costed on volume
W/M invoices the greater. On a consignment of 8 m³ weighing 12 tonnes the LCL invoice is built from 12, not 8 — and FCL has already become cheaper.
Internal volume is treated as usable volume
The internal volume in a catalogue excludes stowage loss. Without allowing for pallet pattern and packaging overhang, “it fits in one container” breaks down on the loading bay and a second container is needed.
FCL is chosen without planning the unloading
If there is no place and no hour to strip the container when it arrives, the detention clock runs. The margin FCL won is spent there.
Frequently asked
Above how many cubic metres does FCL pay?
There is no single figure, and none is published here. The break-even is set together by your LCL rate, the LCL local charges per shipment and the FCL total per container. The calculator above takes those three and shows where the crossover falls.
The fixed thresholds circulating online are the output of one calculation on somebody else's tariff.
How is LCL freight calculated?
On a W/M basis: the greater of volume and weight is invoiced. At sea the common equivalence is 1 m³ ↔ 1,000 kg, but the divisor and the minimum unit vary by carrier — there is no universal standard.
Which is cheaper for heavy, compact cargo?
Usually FCL, and sooner than expected, because the LCL invoice is built from the weight rather than the volume. The calculator converts the weight to tonnes, compares it with the volume and uses the greater — run it on your own figures.
How much fits in a container?
What matters is the usable volume, not the internal volume in a catalogue: what is left after stowage loss, pallet pattern and packaging overhang. The detail is in pallets per container and container dimensions.
What if the gap is small?
Look at time, handling and the clocks. LCL adds days through consolidation and deconsolidation, and your cargo shares a container. An FCL box is not opened, but the detention clock runs against you.
Sources
This page publishes no tariff. The arithmetic runs on the reader's own two quotes; no freight rate, local charge or threshold figure is given. The reason is editorial: we do not publish rates we cannot verify, and rates vary by carrier and by period.
- The structural data behind this page is sourced on the pages it links to Internal volume, tare and payload are set out on container dimensions against the carrier's published equipment specification; stowage loss and pallet patterns on pallets per container; the W/M divisor, the minimum charge threshold and the variation between carriers on CBM, LDM and chargeable weight, together with IATA and carrier tariffs.
- Carrier LCL tariffs — could not be opened Carrier and consolidator tariff pages were not reachable in this work (bot protection, HTTP 403). For that reason no single W/M divisor or minimum unit is presented here as though it were a universal rule; the calculator asks you for those values too. · attempted 10 Sep 2026
The calculator's output is indicative. It compares only the two quotes you enter; tiered tariffs, seasonal surcharges, currency differences and insurance are not included. The decision is not cost alone — time, handling risk and the detention clock carry their own weight. For a live shipment, ask your forwarder for both quotes itemised.
Change log
- Page published. It was one of the first-wave pages in the SEO plan that had never been written; it was written after a coverage audit confirmed that the FCL/LCL decision rule appeared on no existing page. The page publishes no figures: the break-even runs on the reader's own two quotes. That carrier tariff pages could not be reached is stated in the source note.