Tare weight, net weight, and gross weight explained

16 September 2024

Person in a high-visibility vest using a manual pallet jack to move a pallet loaded with boxes

The tare weight, net weight, and gross weight of cargo ensure that your shipment is transported legally, billed correctly, and arrives safely at its destination.

Understanding and calculating different types of cargo weights can save you tons of money and avoid potential mishaps. But what exactly do these terms mean, and why does differentiating between them matter? Let’s take a look.

What is tare weight?

Tare weight refers to the officially recognised weight of the empty container, packaging, or vehicle without any contents loaded. That’s why it’s also called unladen weight.

For example, if an empty shipping container weighs 500kg, then 500kg is the container's tare weight. Tare can apply to the weight of boxes, drums, crates, pallets, railcars, semi-trailers or any other types of container used to hold goods during transport.

Knowing the tare is vital to accurately determining the weight of the cargo itself, separate from the containers.
Shippers need the tare weight to calculate freight costs based solely on the weight of the payload (aka net weight) rather than charging for the packaging too.
Tare weight also ensures compliance with weight restrictions and load limits on roads, bridges, and other infrastructure.

How to determine tare weight?

At loading facilities, warehouses, and ports, scales enable empty containers to be weighed before cargo loading. All carriers and manufacturers provide tare weight for the container.

At Maersk, we disclose all weight limits for our standard containers and offer weighing services to obtain tare weights at our terminals easily. A standard Maersk 20-foot steel container has a tare weight of 2,280 kg (5,030 lb). A 40-foot steel container has a tare weight of 3,700 kg (8,157 lb).

If you are transporting cargo with Maersk, you can find the tare weight using your container number.

What is net weight?

Net weight, sometimes called net mass or payload, refers to the weight of just the cargo itself, excluding any packaging or containers. This represents the weight of the contents being shipped.

For example, you are shipping mobile phones. Then, the net weight is the weight of the mobile phone plus any accessories, excluding the packaging, box, and anything else.

Correct net weights ensure customers only pay freight charges based on the actual weight of their goods, not the containers.
It also enables accurate tracking of inventory by deducting packaging.
Net weight must also be indicated on consumer goods as the law requires.

How to determine net weight?

You need to weigh your goods alone to get the net weight.

Multiply the weight of one item by the total number of items. So, if the mobile phone weighs 150 grams and you are shipping 1000 boxes, then:

Alternatively, you can calculate the net weight if you know the tare weight and gross weight of the entire shipment. Keep reading to know how.

What is gross weight?

Gross weight refers to the combined weight of the cargo plus the containers, packaging, pallets, etc. It represents the total weight of the entire shipment.

This is what gets transported and moved. It encompasses everything: the payload and the tare.

Note: Gross weight does not include the vehicle's weight before loading.

The gross weight must be under legal road limits and vehicle load capacities to avoid fines or accidents.
Carriers base their freight charges on the total gross weight. Ports use gross weight to levy harbour fees.
Even aircraft have maximum gross takeoff weights that account for luggage, passengers, and fuel.

How to determine gross weight?

Scales measure the gross weight after loading the containers. Weigh stations on highways spot-check truck gross weights. Forklifts have weight sensors to show gross load in real-time.

Weight Type	Meaning	What’s Included	Purpose
Weight Type Tare	Meaning Weight of empty container or vehicle	What’s Included Only packaging, container, and vehicle	Purpose Determine container weight, vehicle limits, packaging limits, etc.
Weight Type Net	Meaning Weight of the cargo, without container or packaging	What’s Included Only cargo	Purpose Inventory tracking and billing
Weight Type Gross	Meaning Total weight of cargo and containers	What’s Included Both cargo and tare	Purpose Transportation limits and fees

Important regulations about cargo weights

In order to increase maritime safety, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has set requirements for Verified Gross Mass (VGM) of a shipping container to be declared before it is loaded on a vessel.

Work with trusted partners and service providers who are transparent and clear about their weight limits and provide extra assistance.

Maersk’s integrated logistics services handle all your cargo needs end-to-end, including worry-free VGM processing.