Reviewed by Carlos Vargas, Texas Licensed Funeral Director (TFSC #119648) ·
Arithmetic for a conversation with the carrier
Airlines and freight agents talk about a shipment in pieces, outside measurements and weight, often in metric units, while a funeral home in Texas may quote inches and pounds. This planner converts the figures you were given, works out the volume of each piece and adds the totals, so that everyone is reading the same numbers.
It does not know any aircraft, route or tariff. It cannot tell you that a container will fit through a cargo door, that a carrier will accept it or what the freight will cost. Only the carrier handling the booking can answer those questions, usually through the funeral home or agent that ships with it.
Enter the pieces of the shipment
Use the outside measurements and weight given by the funeral home or the container maker. Describe each piece in general words, with no personal names.
Piece 1
The controls require JavaScript. The unit equivalents appear below so you can work the figures by hand.
Each carrier publishes its own container rules
IATA’s overview of transporting human remains by air says there is no universal international standard for the processing and documentation requirements of a repatriation, and that containers, whether an urn, a coffin or casket or a newer lightweight option, must meet the most current guidelines. It also notes that a heavy, ornate casket can be costly to ship and that some carriers have their own compassionate departments. IATA publishes its detailed guidance for the industry in the Compassionate Transportation Manual.
As one published example, Alaska Air Cargo’s human remains page requires a tightly closed, leak-proof container enclosed in an outside shipping container of wood, metal, canvas, plastic or paperboard with enough strength and padding to protect it. It says a container over 400 pounds must have at least six handles, and that the container must not exceed the cargo size limits of the aircraft being used. Another carrier may set different limits. Enter a per-piece limit in the tool only when your own carrier has given you one.
Use exact unit equivalents
The tool uses the conversion factors published by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. In NIST Special Publication 811, Appendix B.9, one inch is exactly 2.54 centimeters, one pound is 0.4535924 kilogram and one cubic foot is 0.02831685 cubic meter. Results are rounded for reading; give the carrier the original measurements along with the converted ones.
| Quantity | Equivalent |
|---|---|
| 1 inch | 2.54 cm (exact) |
| 1 pound | 0.4535924 kg |
| 1 cubic foot | 0.02831685 m3 |
| Volume of a piece | Length x width x height of its outside measurements |
Measure the outermost points, including handles, feet and any outer shipping tray, because those are what must pass through a cargo door. If the funeral home has not yet chosen the outer container, leave the measurements blank rather than guessing.
Volumetric weight only with the carrier’s divisor
Some carriers compare the actual weight of a piece with a volumetric weight worked out from its size. The arithmetic is the volume in cubic centimeters divided by a divisor the carrier sets. This planner has no built-in divisor. If your carrier or agent gives you one, enter it and the result shows both figures side by side and says which is greater. It does not decide which figure a carrier bills, and it never turns a weight into a price.
Leave the divisor blank if nobody has given you one. The totals still help you describe the shipment accurately when you ask for a written quote. Our costs and process guide explains which charges come from the funeral home and which come from third parties.
Keep the sheet current
Use Add piece for a second container or for separately packed items, up to six pieces. Any edit clears the previous result, so calculate again before copying or downloading. A weight or a set of measurements left blank is reported as not entered and is left out of the totals, and the summary tells you how many are missing.
The planner script does not transmit your entries or write them to browser storage. Other services on this site follow their own privacy terms. Describe a piece as “casket in air tray” or “urn in carton”; do not enter a person’s name, a document number or medical information.
Questions about containers and weight
- Does the planner tell me whether the airline will accept the container?
- No. It converts and adds the figures you enter. Acceptance depends on the carrier’s current specification for the route and aircraft.
- Why is there no standard volumetric divisor in the tool?
- Carriers set their own. Entering only a divisor your carrier gave you keeps the result tied to that carrier instead of to an assumption.
- Should I measure the casket or the outer shipping container?
- Measure whatever will be handed to the carrier, at its outermost points. If an outer tray or crate will be added, the carrier needs those outside measurements.
