Since FedEx turned just over 1 billion in profit last year…I dont think they were losing out on anything. Hard to feel very sorry for them.

For your costs to have gone up that much, it sounds like what’s happened is that you were getting a huge bargain, costing the shipper space that you weren’t effectively getting charged for, and they’ve rectified that.

Thank you for the example. It helps me understand the changes.

Hi Shandreca –

Thanks for reaching out. That’s a great question.

Yes, a lower DIM divisor means a higher DIM weight with FedEx and UPS. For example, it used to be that FedEx and UPS had a DIM divisor of 166. For a package that measures 12″ x 12″ x 6″, the total cubic volume is 864 cubic inches. With the old dimensional weight divisor of 166, the DIM weight was (864/166) = 5.2 pounds, which would be rounded up to 6 pounds for shipping. With the new dimensional weight divisor of 139, this package now has a DIM weight of (864/139) = 6.2 pounds, which will ship at 7 pounds.

Hope this helps!

Steve Bulger

Does a lower dim divisor mean a higher DIM weight and does a higher dim divisor mean a lower DIM weight?

We ship a very light weight product that fills up large boxes. Our product is not worth much. our shipping rates have gone up almost 300% because of the new dimensional weight rules. Amazon ships for pennys on the dollar for what we do. US Small business commerce is getting totally screwed. I will try to negotiate but a 10% discount does not help!

Thank you so much for helping me understand this information.

Hi Shandreca –

That’s a great question. Currently, the FedEx dimensional weight divisor is 139 for both domestic and international shipments. They lowered their domestic dimensional weight divisor from 166 to 139 a couple of years ago, as they concluded that shippers were still not being considerate enough with the packaging sizes they were using, and those carriers wanted to further increase their density/revenue per truckload.

Steve Bulger

Thank you. I have one more question. What’s the difference between domestic and international dim divisors? I noticed that FedEx went from 166 to 139, why is that?