AIR FREIGHT,
AND WHAT IT ACTUALLY COSTS.

Carriers charge on the greater of actual weight and volumetric weight, calculated from the dimensions using a divisor the carrier sets. A pallet of cushions weighs almost nothing and occupies a great deal of aircraft, and the invoice reflects the second fact.

Airport-to-airport rates exclude most of what a shipment actually needs. Comparing an air quote to a sea quote without these is comparing two different services.

Air applies the strictest dangerous-goods rules of any mode. Lithium batteries, aerosols, magnets and alcohol-based liquids all carry restrictions, and quantities routinely accepted on a truck can be refused outright. A shipment upgraded to air for speed can be rejected for a reason that never applied to it before.

When the cost of not having the goods exceeds the freight — a launch date, a stock-out at a major account, a sample set for a buying appointment. Using it to recover from a planning failure is normal; budgeting for it as a default is not.