Cubic Feet and CBM Calculator
Work out cubic feet and cubic meters (CBM) for boxes, pallets and rooms from inches, feet or centimeters, for one item or a whole shipment. Add a row for each box size, measure in meters too, or convert between cubic feet, CBM and cubic inches.
Your numbers
Up to 6 sizes, all in the same unit. Quantity is how many items of that size.
Cubic feet
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- Cubic meters (CBM)
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- Cubic inches
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- Share of a 20 ft standard container
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- Share of a 40 ft standard container
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An estimate for quoting and planning, not a substitute for measuring the load or for the carrier's figures.
Container shares use the nominal inside volume; a real load fits less.
The calculation runs in your browser and ParrotNotes does not store your numbers. They sit in the page address so you can bookmark or share the result.
How to calculate cubic feet
Cubic feet = length × width × height, with all three in feet. Measured in inches? Multiply the three and divide by 1,728, the number of cubic inches in a cubic foot (12 × 12 × 12). In centimeters, divide each by 30.48 first; in meters, by 0.3048.
A shipping box of 24 × 18 × 12 inches is 5,184 cubic inches, or 3 cubic feet. Ten of them are 30 cubic feet. A room of 12 × 10 feet with an 8-foot ceiling is 960 cubic feet. For boxes of different sizes, work out each size times its quantity and add them up: that is what the rows above do. Open "How it is calculated" to see the steps with your numbers.
Cubic feet to CBM, and back
CBM is a cubic meter, the unit ocean freight and most suppliers outside the US quote in. A foot is exactly 0.3048 meters, so a cubic foot is 0.3048³ = 0.0283168 cubic meters, and a cubic meter is 35.3147 cubic feet.
A pallet load of 120 × 80 × 100 cm is 0.96 CBM, which is 33.9 cubic feet. The 30 cubic feet of boxes above are 0.85 CBM. The Convert mode takes any volume in cubic feet, cubic meters or cubic inches and gives the other two.
Container volume
The boxes mode shows what share of a standard shipping container your total fills, using Hapag-Lloyd's published inside volumes. It is a nominal figure: boxes that do not stack to the ceiling, pallets and gaps mean a real load fits less, and heavy goods can reach the container's weight limit before its volume.
| Container | CBM | Cubic feet |
|---|---|---|
| 20 ft standard container | 33.2 | 1,172 |
| 40 ft standard container | 67.7 | 2,390 |
Source, checked September 2026: Hapag-Lloyd: 20' Standard container, Hapag-Lloyd: 40' Standard container.
Where cubic feet come up
Shipping boxes and pallets, for a freight quote or to compare carton sizes. Storage units, trucks and warehouse space, to see whether a load will fit. Rooms, when a moving estimate or an equipment spec asks for the volume. Appliances such as fridges and freezers, whose capacity is usually given in cubic feet in the US.
Cubic feet and board feet are not the same unit: a board foot is a lumber measure of 144 cubic inches (12 × 12 × 1 inch), so one cubic foot of timber is 12 board feet.
Quoting LTL freight? Density and class start from the same cube: Freight Class Calculator.
More for reps who quote: RFQ template for manufacturers and distributors, Building materials sales, Industrial sales.
After the measuring
The volume goes on the quote. What the customer said about delivery, storage space and timing on the call or the site visit is what you need next: ParrotNotes records it and pulls out the next steps.
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