Freight & 3PL Calculators

Our calculators

• Pallet & container calculator — how many pallets fit in a 20ft, 40ft or 45ft container, a 53ft trailer or a box truck. Real internal dimensions, GMA and Euro pallets, straight or turned loading.
• Demurrage & per-diem calculator — what the terminal clock and the street clock cost from your Last Free Day, with the tiered daily rates carriers actually bill.
• Freight class calculator — density, cubic feet and CBM from your loaded pallet dimensions, and the NMFC class that density lands in.
• Cartons per pallet calculator — Ti and Hi from your carton and pallet dimensions: how many cartons fit a layer, how many layers, capped by height or weight.

How warehousing pricing is built

Most 3PL quotes are made of the same handful of components. Once you know them, comparing providers gets a lot easier — and surprises mostly disappear.

• Receiving — charged per pallet, per carton, or per hour when your inbound freight arrives and is checked in.
• Storage — usually per pallet or per square foot, per month. Long-term commitments typically price better than month-to-month.
• Pick & pack / fulfillment — a per-order fee plus a per-line (per-item) fee. Kitting and special packaging are extra.
• Outbound shipping — carrier cost, driven by weight, dimensions, zone and service level.
• Value-added services — labeling, Amazon FBA prep, quality inspection, crating, returns processing.

What drives import & drayage cost

If you bring containers through the Ports of Seattle or Tacoma, the freight side has its own components — and this is where avoidable charges hide:

• Drayage linehaul — the terminal-to-warehouse move; shorter lanes cost less. Our Kent location keeps both Seattle and Tacoma lanes short.
• Chassis — typically a per-day passthrough.
• Fuel surcharge — indexed to diesel prices.
• Demurrage & per-diem — charged when a container sits too long at the terminal or in your yard. These are avoidable with disciplined Last Free Day tracking — see our guide to Last Free Day, demurrage and per-diem.
• Accessorials — prepull, waiting time, yard storage, redelivery.

How to lower your total cost

• Combine drayage and warehousing with one partner — the gaps between vendors are where free days get burned.
• Transload instead of double-handling when freight moves onward — see transloading and cross-docking.
• Right-size your storage — flex space for peak rather than paying for it year-round.
• Consolidate outbound — combining LTL into FTL on long lanes often wins.

What we need to quote you accurately

A precise quote takes about five inputs: monthly order volume, number of SKUs, pallet or storage volume, whether you import containers, and your destinations. Send those and we'll come back with real numbers — no guesswork. Our published pricing overview covers the structure.