Freight cost per unit decides whether a landed price works, and freight cost per unit is decided by packing data that most supplier websites never publish. This page gives the packing framework we use for quotations, with worked examples for the products buyers ask about most. Treat the numbers as planning figures — the packing list on the proforma invoice is always authoritative.
The three containers
- 20 ft GP: about 33 CBM usable, ~28,000 kg payload.
- 40 ft GP: about 67 CBM usable, ~26,500 kg payload.
- 40 ft HQ: about 76 CBM usable, ~26,000 kg payload. This is the default for light, bulky goods like enclosures.
Smart electrical goods are almost never weight-limited; they are cube-limited. The optimisation game is inner-carton geometry against the master carton, and master cartons against the container.
Worked examples from our packing data
- AT-4G-M5 4G switch (30 A): retail box roughly 12×9×7 cm, 60 units per master carton (~0.05 CBM, ~17 kg). A 40 ft HQ takes roughly 60,000–70,000 units of a single model; a 20 ft GP roughly 28,000–32,000.
- Smart sockets and Wi-Fi switches: similar geometry, typically 40–80 units per master carton; colour boxes cost cube, so OEM buyers with plain boxes gain 10–15 % more units per container.
- Compact smart switches: small DIN-rail units are dense and stack efficiently — thousands of units can fit a single carton layer, which keeps freight cost per unit low.
- Bulkier multi-pole units: wide three-phase switches and 4P breakers are rigid and bulky — they pack far fewer units per master carton, so plan them by carton count rather than by unit count.
Mixed containers and LCL
Most first orders are not full containers, and that is fine: LCL (less than container load) works well up to about 15 CBM, after which a 20 ft GP is usually cheaper per CBM. For mixed model orders we pack by product family — heavy switch cartons at the bottom, enclosure cartons on top — and mark each master carton with model, quantity and your PO number, which is what keeps destination customs and your warehouse calm.
What moves the number by 10–20 %
- Retail colour box vs plain OEM box.
- Carton stacking orientation — enclosure cartons loaded on their side can add a layer.
- Palletised vs floor-loaded: palletising costs ~15 % cube but unloads in hours instead of days.
Tell us the models, quantities and destination port, and we will return a packing plan with CBM, gross weight and the freight-friendly carton configuration. Request the packing plan here.