Revenue Ton

Revenue Ton (R/T) is the basic unit for calculating freight in international cargo transportation, commonly used in ocean shipping and some land transport. It takes the greater of the cargo's weight ton (metric ton) and measurement ton (cubic meter) as the basis for charging, i.e., 1 weight ton = 1,000 kg, 1 measurement ton = 1 cubic meter (or 40 cubic feet). Use cases include bulk cargo, less-than-container load (LCL) cargo, and some containerized cargo, and the carrier determines freight accordingly. Notes: Different modes of transport or routes may adopt different conversion standards (e.g., 1 measurement ton = 1 cubic meter or 1.133 cubic meters); Revenue Ton and 'freight ton' are often used interchangeably, but strictly speaking, freight ton is an older term for revenue ton; the difference from 'weight ton' and 'measurement ton' is that revenue ton chooses the greater of the two, while weight ton is based only on weight and measurement ton only on volume. Foreign trade practitioners need to clarify the revenue ton standard when booking space to avoid freight disputes caused by differences between volumetric weight and actual weight, and to declare accurately in the bill of lading and customs declaration.