These days lots of things can slow down your container – from carrier cancellations to port disruptions to labor shortages. Things that are totally out of your control. So why in the world would you risk delays and added costs from something that's totally in your control – shipping paperwork?
Get your shipping documents for export right and avoid shipment delays, customs inspections, unhappy customers, and disputes about who pays for added fees.
In 2019 (pre-COVID), Walmart imported close to 900,000 ocean containers worth of cargo (20-foot equivalent units) into the US.
We're guessing you shipped fewer than that.
Size matters in ocean shipping, and the big shippers leverage volumes to command better rates and better access to capacity. And better service – they may actually get their calls returned, while your calls to carriers and large forwarders go unanswered for days.
When you need a freight forwarder to handle your overseas shipments, you face a dizzying variety of choices – from huge global enterprises to smaller specialty firms. How to choose a freight forwarder that matches your needs? The answer isn’t simple.
Here’s a look at what to expect as you evaluate possible partners, large and small.
Ocean container shipping has become very expensive – in some cases triple what it was pre-pandemic. So, you don’t want to ship more containers than needed for your volume of freight. That requires smart ocean container loading.
For decades, steamship lines have had an unspoken pact with shippers: If you’re willing to wait many weeks to have your cargo delivered, we’ll transport it thousands of miles for you, and do it for cheap. Even with relatively affordable rates, the lines made oodles of money by piling containers – as many as 24,000 TEUs on the latest ships – onto a single vessel.
All that changed with the pandemic as the lines cut capacity to address greatly decreased demand. As factories re-opened and as consumers starting shopping again, demand for container space soared – but vessel capacity did not.
Cargo that doesn’t fit in a container costs more to ship than cargo that does. It's also way more complicated to ship out of gauge cargo via ocean. A lot more rules to be followed to ensure safety and security, door to door. All that complexity creates time and headaches for shipping departments.
To ease the burden on your staff, and your wallet, we put together a detailed online eBook that covers just about every aspect of shipping out of gauge cargo globally. Link to that eBook here.
If you’re moving overseas, you already have a ton on your mind—packing up your household, arranging transportation, maybe nailing down details about a job, or where you’ll live—and on and on. You also have to figure out how to move all your stuff. Shipping personal items overseas in a shipping container is much more complicated than sending them, say, from Boston to Arizona in a moving van.
Every 5 years, the World Customs Organization updates the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) that classifies the products you buy and sell and, in part, determines the duty you pay. WCO just finished is latest update, which went into effect in the US on January 27. It’s wise to revisit the HS codes for Customs you have been using in light of these recent changes.
Hazmat cargo.
The phrase can conjure images of skull & crossbones stickers on steel drums with contents that can melt through just about anything. But when it comes to shipping, even some common items in your house are considered hazmat – like paint, perfume, deodorant, glue, and glass cleaners.
Freight marketplaces for ocean freight are gaining in popularity. But does this online booking option really align with your needs as a shipper? Here’s an overview of things to consider when examining the freight forwarder vs freight marketplace choice.
