By Cadys Wang    Photo：CANVA

Shipping weights play a big role in determining costs and ensuring safety standards are met on transport vehicles.

Types of Weights

• Gross Weight: This is the total weight of the product being transported and the packaging (such as boxes or pallets) used to wrap it. This gross weight
• Net Weight: This refers to the product’s weight, excluding the weight of any packaging and the container.
• Tare Weight: This is specifically the weight of the empty container without any goods inside.

Why These Weights Matters

• Gross Weight is crucial for determining the total weight being transported, ensuring compliance with shipping regulations, and calculating shipping costs. Therefore, it is usually referenced in weight declaration documents, shipping manifests, bills of lading, and air transport documentation.
• Net Weight is used for inventory management, determining the actual weight of the goods being traded or transported, and for customs declarations.
• Tare Weight helps in calculating the weight of the empty container, which is necessary for determining the correct load on a vessel or transportation vehicle and for ensuring safety and efficiency in logistics operations.

Therefore, we all understand that the weight we show on the Bill of Lading is the gross weight, which only contains the products and packing (pallets/ cartons/wooden cases). However, this is not the weight that we report and book the space for to the shipping company. When we booking the space from shipping company, we will provide Verified Gross Mass (VGM) which is the gross weight plus the Tare weight.

According to the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) amendment regarding container weighing rules, a packed container must have its Verified Gross Mass (VGM) submitted by the shipper to the ocean carriers or port terminal representatives before the load list cut-off date or it will not be allowed on board vessels. In the meantime, if the VGM is over the safe weight limitations, the carriers will also refuse to onboard this shipment on the vessel.

Consequently, when reserving space for a shipment, it is imperative that we provide both the precise gross weight and the tare weight. These weights are essential for accurately calculating the Verified Gross Mass (VGM), a critical requirement for shipping.

Conclusion

Listing the Gross Weight on a container bill of lading is crucial for accurate documentation and plays a key role in the safe, efficient, and cost-effective movement of goods by sea. It ensures everything runs smoothly from the sender to the receiver, supporting the reliability of global supply chains. Paying close attention to documenting the Gross Weight is essential for everyone involved in container shipping.

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