Shipping by Volume not Weight

I am a bit confused (as usual)...

UPakWeShip seems to charge for international sea shipping based on volume, not weight. My business partner moved from California to Germany about five years ago and said weight was not a factor, only volume was.

However, I got three quotes from local shipping companies here in Tucson, Ariz. and they all priced based on weight.

We have a lot of small and heavy stuff, so this is important to us. What is the norm? My wife likes the idea of using a local company because it just seems easier dealing with a person face-to-face, but the weight costs are likely going to be much higher.

Are there any comments, hints or suggestions in general on this?

thanks, Andy

Are people managing to find local companies that ship by volume? Or is everyone using "remote" companies like UPakWeShip?

Andy

Is there a reason you're not using UPakWeShip?  I also shopped around for shipping (I had 32 boxes....29 of which were books, so yeah, weight was an issue), and I was unable to find anywhere local that wouldn't charge by weight.  I was lucky because I was able to drive my stuff to the warehouse in LA and then have it delivered to my door in the UK for about 800 bucks (this was nearly two years ago now), and it was pretty simple. I did get hit with a last minute "customs" fee when they inspected the container my stuff was in, but as I hadn't had all that much stuff in there (100 cubic ft), I only had to pay about £40. 

I had a contact with UPakWeShip who responded to every email I sent and it was easy for us to get in contact with the shipping company in the UK as well. I know some people didn't have the same good experience though.

There is another topic on here right now discussing communication problems with UPakWeShip, which has put me off...

Andy