Lyle, I saw that they were moved - though I think you mean currently only UPS uses them..

Anyways, as I've said before, the whole dimensions/boxes thing is a very difficult subject. I don't think it's a good idea though to leave it up to each module to decide how to use the dimensions (eg, packed or not).. that will cause major headaches when you want to use eg, both UPS and CanadaPost, and one expects the dimensions to be the boxed dimensions, and the other expects the unboxed product..

(btw, at the moment, the Canada Post module totally ignores dimensions, and just bases the quote entirely on weight)

So the big issue is figuring out what is going to be shipped (how many boxes, and how big is each box), based on any arbitrary mix of products in the cart.

It would be nice if we can come up with one method, and use that for all shipping methods (so it is consistent and usable if you happen to have multiple or all shipping modules installed). If necessary, there could be a couple methods, and the user can choose globally which one to use..

I outlined some random thoughts about using cubic size here: http://ubercart.org/forum/development/815/shipping_canada_post_drupal_sh.... I'm not sure it's the way to go but... there is a surprising lack of insight on the internet about dealing with this.

In fact, the closest thing that I've seen is CanadaPost's service, where you send them dimensions for each product and they pack it all into predefined box sizes in your account and come up with the answer.

The only thing it doesn't account for is small businesses that may not have access to the same boxes all the time, just shipping with whatever is available.