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Language Foundation

GW

GW, or gross weight, is the total weight of an item or shipment including the goods and all packaging or containers, before any deduction for packaging weight.

In plain English

It counts everything that is being weighed together as a whole. That means the goods plus any packaging or containers around them. Nothing is subtracted for the packaging weight.

In context

Here, it indicates that the field is for the shipment’s total weight, including the goods and all packaging or containers, with no packaging weight deducted.

Situation
Coordinating freight quotes, booking, consolidation, handoff, and transport documents
What it communicates
labels the total shipment-weight field on the booking form.

Meaning limits

The term alone does not establish how that total was determined or any other weight figure for the shipment.

Examples

“The crate was marked 18 kg GW, although the parts inside weighed only 15 kg.”

Core meaning

“After sealing the shipment, the clerk entered its GW as 52 kg.”

In context

  • net weight Contrast

    This excludes the weight of packaging or containers.

  • tare weight Contrast

    This is the weight of the packaging or container alone, not the total loaded weight.