Freight rate per cwt calculator: per hundredweight, per pound, per pallet

What is CWT in freight?

CWT means hundredweight: 100 pounds in US freight. CWT trucking rates are quoted as dollars per 100 pounds, so the price rises with the weight of the shipment rather than the miles alone. It's common in LTL, in partial loads that share a trailer, and in some bulk and farm freight. Most full truckloads are priced per mile or flat, which is why converting between the two is useful.

How it's calculated

• Hundredweight = weight in pounds ÷ 100.
• Charge = hundredweight × rate per cwt, or the flat rate, whichever pricing you chose.
• Minimum: if the charge is below the minimum, the minimum applies.
• Per pound, per pallet, per mile = the charge ÷ pounds, pallets or miles.
• Minimum break-even weight = minimum charge ÷ cwt rate × 100, the weight below which the minimum sets the price.

A worked example

EXAMPLE: 8,000 lb on 8 pallets at $12.50 per cwt, moving 400 miles. That's 80 cwt, so the charge is $1,000.00: $0.1250 a pound, $125.00 a pallet and $2.50 a mile. Now take a 2,000 lb, 2-pallet shipment with a $400 minimum charge. At the same cwt rate it would be $250, so the minimum applies, and the real price is $20.00 per cwt, $0.2000 a pound.

The same flat price spread over different weights shows why per-pound costs vary so much:

Reading the result

Per pound and per cwt

Use these to compare quotes that are written differently: one per cwt, one flat, one per pallet. Put each into the calculator and read across. The lowest per-pound price on the same freight and lane is the cheapest, as long as the terms and accessorials match.

Minimum charge

When the minimum applies, the calculator says so and shows the weight where the cwt rate takes over. Below it, light shipments pay the same total as heavier ones, so their cost per pound climbs fast. Shippers can sometimes save by combining small shipments.

Per mile

For carriers, the per-mile figure is the bridge to everything else you know. Compare it with your cost per mile and with full-load offers using the rate per mile calculator.

Quick conversions

Questions to ask about a cwt quote

• Is there a minimum charge, and how much?
• Does the rate change at weight breaks, and where are they?
• Is fuel included, or added as a percentage on top?
• Is the weight the shipper's figure or a scale weight, and who pays if it changes?
• Which accessorials apply: liftgate, inside delivery, residential, appointment?

Weight is the number everything rests on in cwt pricing, so a wrong weight changes the bill. Carriers should check the BOL weight against what the truck feels like and scale when in doubt; shippers should weigh rather than estimate.

Cwt pricing for 26 ft box trucks

Box trucks often haul partials and multi-stop freight where the shipper or broker thinks in weight and pallets. A partial priced per cwt can look small until you convert it: if a 6,000 lb partial pays $10 per cwt over 300 miles, that's $600, or $2.00 a mile, before you know whether there's room for a second partial on the same truck. Run each piece through the calculator, add them up per mile and per hour, and judge the day as a whole. We dispatch 26 ft box trucks and up, nothing shorter; see box truck dispatch.

Average freight cost per pound: why there isn't one

You'll find average freight cost per pound figures quoted online, but they hide most of what decides a price: distance, weight, density, freight class, equipment, lead time and the lane. A minimum-charge LTL shipment and a full, heavy truckload can differ several times over per pound on the same day. If you need a benchmark, use a dated market report for your lane and freight type, and convert your own quotes here so you compare like with like. For rough truckload ranges from your own assumptions, use the freight shipping cost estimator.

Cwt freight and LTL

LTL carriers publish tariffs where the rate per cwt depends on freight class, distance and weight breaks, and brokers often add discounts on top. If you ship LTL regularly, read our guide to LTL brokers for how those arrangements work. For carriers, the point is simpler: whatever unit the price comes in, turn it into dollars per mile and per hour for your truck before you say yes. That's what our desk does on every offer. Browse all tools or apply.