Package girth & size limit checker
Work out girth and length + girth, then check both against USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL limits — including the surcharge thresholds that sit below the hard maximums.
Measure your package
Length (longest side)
40.0in
101.6 cm
Girth
70.0in
2 × the two shorter sides · 177.8 cm
Length + girth
110.0in
279.4 cm
Too big for at least one carrier. Over the combined limit, a parcel is either refused or reclassified as freight — which is a different booking, not a surcharge. Splitting the contents across two boxes is almost always cheaper.
Length is the longest side; girth = 2 × (width + height) of the two shorter sides. We sorted your dimensions, so the order you typed them does not matter. Limits per each carrier's published service guide — confirm before booking, as they change at annual rate updates.
How to measure girth
Girth exists because a parcel's handling cost is driven by how awkward it is, not just how big. A long, thin package and a compact cube of the same volume are completely different problems for a conveyor system, and length plus girth is the industry's shorthand for that awkwardness.
- 1
Measure all three sides
Order does not matter — the calculator finds the longest side itself and treats the other two as the girth pair. For tubes, give the length and the diameter.
- 2
Read length plus girth
Girth is twice the sum of the two shorter sides. Adding the longest side gives the combined figure every carrier caps.
- 3
Check it against each carrier
You get a pass, surcharge or fail against USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL limits — with the exact threshold shown, so you know how much room you have left.
length = the longest of the three sides
girth = 2 × (second side + third side)
length + girth = length + 2 × (width + height)
The mistake that costs the most
Length is the longest side, not the side facing you. Measure a 40 × 20 × 15 in box the wrong way round — treating 20 as the length — and you get 20 + 2 × (40 + 15) = 130 in instead of the correct 110 in. That is the difference between a clean shipment and an unnecessary large-package surcharge on paper. This calculator sorts the dimensions for you so the order you type them cannot cause the error.
Carrier size limits
| Carrier / service | Max length | Max length + girth | Surcharge starts at |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS — Priority Mail / Ground Advantage | 108 in | 108 in | — |
| USPS — Ground Advantage (oversized) | 130 in | 130 in | — |
| UPS — Ground / Air | 108 in | 165 in | 96 in length / 130 in L+G |
| FedEx — Ground / Home Delivery | 108 in | 165 in | 96 in length / 130 in L+G |
| DHL Express — Worldwide (piece limits) | 47 in | Not published | — |
Limits are published in inches by every major carrier, including outside the US. Reviewed annually and at each rate change — note that cubic-volume based surcharge thresholds are being added at UPS and FedEx through 2026.
Worked example
A 40 × 20 × 15 in box
longest side (length) = 40 in
girth = 2 × (20 + 15) = 70 in
length + girth = 40 + 70 = 110 in
At 110 inches this box is comfortably within UPS and FedEx limits (165 in) and under their large-package threshold (130 in) — but it is two inches over the USPS Priority Mail cap of 108 in, so USPS is simply not an option unless you drop to an oversized Ground Advantage product.
Trimming the box to 40 × 18 × 14 in brings length plus girth to 104 in and puts every carrier back on the table. Two inches off two sides changes which companies will carry your parcel at all.
Oversize surcharges, and when to switch to freight
Carriers apply size charges in tiers, and the jumps between them are not gentle:
- Additional handling. Triggered by a single long side, non-corrugated packaging, or weight over a threshold that has been ratcheting down — UPS moves to a 40 lb minimum from 26 January 2026, FedEx from 12 January 2026. Usually a mid-double-digit fee.
- Large package. Over 96 inches of length or 130 inches of length plus girth. Typically well over $100, and it replaces additional handling rather than adding to it.
- Over maximum limits. Past the hard cap, if the carrier accepts it at all. This is a penalty, not a service, and it runs into the hundreds.
The practical rule: once a shipment is regularly hitting large-package charges, price it as freight. LTL becomes competitive far earlier than most small shippers assume, particularly for anything palletisable. And check the volumetric weight too — a box that clears every size limit can still be billed on volume.
Accuracy
Estimates only. Carriers and customs authorities determine the final figure — confirm with your carrier before you ship.
How we source and maintain this data
Limits come from each carrier's published service guide. We hold them in inches because that is the unit every major carrier publishes combined length-and-girth caps in, then convert your metric input rather than converting the published limits — converting a limit introduces rounding error at exactly the threshold where it matters.
Surcharge thresholds are shown separately from hard limits because the distinction is the practical one: a hard limit means the shipment does not go, while a threshold means it goes and costs more than you planned.
Review cadence: Size limits and surcharge thresholds are reviewed annually and at each carrier's rate announcement. Last reviewed August 2026. This tool is built and maintained by the ParcelTracking team, who run multi-carrier tracking across 3,000+ carriers.
Primary sources
Girth & size limit FAQ
Girth is twice the sum of the two shorter sides: 2 × (width + height). Take the longest side as the length and use the remaining two. To get length plus girth — the figure carriers cap — add the longest side to that result.
USPS Priority Mail and Ground Advantage cap length plus girth at 108 inches, with oversized pricing available up to 130 inches on some products. UPS and FedEx both allow up to 165 inches of length plus girth and 108 inches of length. Above that, a parcel is not a parcel — it needs a freight booking.
Crossing a threshold below the hard limit. At UPS and FedEx, a package over 96 inches in length or over 130 inches of length plus girth attracts a large-package charge; additional-handling charges start lower still, and can be triggered by weight, packaging material or a single long side. These are flat fees that frequently cost more than the base shipping rate.
The longest one, regardless of how the box is oriented or which dimension you typed first. This is the most common measurement mistake there is: calling the front face 'length' out of habit produces a girth calculation using the wrong pair of sides, and an answer that can be tens of inches off.
Use the diameter for both of the shorter dimensions, so girth is 2 × (diameter + diameter), or four times the diameter. Some carriers instead apply a circumference-based rule for round packages, which is more generous — if you are close to a limit, it is worth asking.
No, and both can apply to the same parcel. Girth is a size limit: it decides whether a carrier will accept the package and whether a surcharge applies. Volumetric weight is a pricing rule that decides what the base rate is calculated against. A box can be comfortably within every size limit and still be billed at four times its scale weight.
It is either refused at the counter, or accepted and then reclassified — which usually means an over-maximum-limits charge running into the hundreds. Neither is a surcharge you can appeal. If the calculator fails a carrier, either split the contents into two boxes or book it as freight.
Related tools
Shipped something oversized?
Large packages take different routes through a carrier network and often scan less often. Track it here and see every scan in one timeline.