A drill kit with charger and case packs to about 16 × 12 × 8 inches at 6–10 lb — an easy parcel. The lithium battery is the compliance point: with the pack installed on the tool or packed with the kit, ground shipping is normal. Since routes and speeds move the total more than anything else, the packed kit deserves a live quote rather than an educated guess.
The example anchoring this page came off a real rate request: 14 × 11 × 6 in, 11 lb, $14.67 via USPS Ground Advantage on the route further down.
On 2026-07-24 we gave the SMKlog calculator nothing but the line “DeWalt DCD777C2 20V cordless drill kit with two batteries” and a New York, NY 10001 to Chicago, IL 60601 route. The section below is its verbatim reply; the box and weight were the tool's own inference, made without any measuring on our part.
DeWalt DCD777C2 20V cordless drill kit with two batteries
Note the battery count in the description; it matters for both weight and compliance. A terse “drill” would earn a generic category estimate, while the DCD777C2 kit resolves to a known case size.
14 × 11 × 6 in
36 × 28 × 16 cm
Packed weight 11 lb (5 kg).
New York, NY 10001
to Chicago, IL 60601
New York to Chicago, both ZIPs priced at request time. Zone distance outweighs every other factor in these rates; the same kit across town would cost several dollars less per label.
This kit bills on the scale: 11 lb of real weight comfortably beats the roughly 6.6 lb dimensional figure (14 × 11 × 6 ÷ 139), so the table below prices actual pounds. Keep the outer box close to the kit case and that stays true.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Estimated transit |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $14.67 | 3-4 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $21.77 | 3-4 business days |
| FedEx | Ground | $32.23 | 3-4 business days |
These are checkout-final figures: one number covering the label and SMKlog's charge, with nothing invoiced afterwards. USPS Ground Advantage won this comparison at $14.67. The table is a dated example, not a standing offer. Carrier pricing keeps moving, and a different city pair reshuffles the rankings, so check your own lane before assuming.
About 16 × 12 × 8 in once boxed. Ship in the kit case inside an outer box, with the battery attached to the drill or seated in the case's battery slot. Tape the case latches. Remove any bits from the chuck.
6–10 lb packed as a kit. The billed weight is the greater of what the scale says and what the box size implies, so a compact outer carton keeps a drill kit priced on its honest pounds.
Distance, speed, and the packed box, roughly in that order. New York to Chicago is a solid mid-continent haul, and the identical kit spanned $14.67 to $32.23 across three carriers on this one pull. Nearby lanes compress that; expedited services expand it. The honest answer changes with every route, which is exactly what the calculator is for.
Plan around 16 × 12 × 8 in packed. Ship in the kit case inside an outer box, with the battery attached to the drill or seated in the case's battery slot. Tape the case latches. Remove any bits from the chuck.
Typically 6–10 lb packed as a kit. Whichever is larger, the scale reading or the volumetric figure the box works out to, is what the carrier rates, so put the sealed carton on a scale and a tape before you quote. Understate it and the correction arrives after the parcel does.
A battery installed on the tool or packed with the equipment ships fine by ground. Standalone battery packs shipped alone are a different regulatory category and are blocked in the parcel flow — if you are selling bare batteries, that shipment needs review, not a workaround.
A spare packed with the equipment (in the kit case, terminals protected) is generally acceptable by ground within pack-size limits. A box of nothing but batteries is not — that is the ‘loose lithium batteries’ case that gets blocked. When in doubt, one battery on the tool, one in the case slot, terminals covered.
Price comes down to billed weight, distance, and speed. Packed to 16x12x8 inches, a drill runs about 8 lb, but carriers bill the greater of actual and dimensional weight — that box is 11 lb dimensional at UPS or FedEx, so quotes price off 11. Farther zones and faster services add cost. Quote your route and packed size with the SMKlog calculator — live USPS, UPS, and FedEx rates, no scale needed.
For a box billed at 8-11 lb, USPS Ground Advantage and UPS or FedEx ground services often land close together — USPS can win on some routes while UPS or FedEx take others, so it pays to compare all three. Whichever service you pick, buying the label online at commercial rates typically costs 20-40% less than the same service at a walk-up counter.