Caroline Walters asked if there was a standard weight for a letter/legal size box full of paper.

I'm delighted to reply as this gives me a chance to recycle an answer I posted in 2007 to the Archives List Serve.

"What I can offer is the actual average weight of letter/legal size records storage in storage.  It is 29.9 lbs.

"I base this on the fact that so far in 2007 the Harris County Records Center has sent 21 truckloads of records for destruction totaling 10,423 boxes for a total weight of 311,430 lbs. The lightest average weight was
21.8 (360 boxes) and the heaviest was 35.8 (480 boxes).  They included everything from boxes of Greenbar computer printouts to less-than-half-full boxes office files and were from some 40 different county departments and offices.

"My number is quite close to Ken Duckett's figures in Modern Manuscripts
(1975) which pegged the figure at 30 lbs.

"Now the usual disclaimers apply:  "Past performance is no guarantee of future result.  Results may vary depending upon time and place.  (And the Academy of Certified Archivists should use caution before including this on the exam.)"

Paul R. Scott, CA, CRM
Records Management Officer
Harris County, TX

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