The TopAlpha Ocean Freight: Rates, Quotes, and Charges
As you ship freight in higher volumes, you should consider ocean freight. Here are your directions on everything related to shipping by ocean, from picking the mode that's right for you to calculating transit times and costs.
Ocean Freight Meaning: What Is Ocean Freight?
Freight transport by sea involves shipping goods in shipping containers.
Exporters and importers primarily transport goods by sea. 90 percent of all shipments are made by ocean freight and sea freight. Other modes of international freight transportation, like courier, air freight, and express air freight, may be faster, but are also more expensive. Smaller shipments, and items with a high value, are usually shipped in these other modes.
For those whose air freight is too expensive but ocean shipping too slow, freight forwarders offer express shipping. In many cases, this service is nearly as fast as air freight but could be less expensive. It streamlines ocean freight processes by identifying only the fastest ocean services and premium trucking services.
Why Ship By Sea?
Value and Capacity One container can hold 10,000 beer bottles! And ocean freight is cheaper. Generally, air freight is too expensive for shipments weighing more than 500 kilograms. Using this chargeable weight calculator will allow you to determine whether your shipment will be charged based on its actual weight or its dimensional weight for light shipments. Please refer to our FBX index for the latest international shipping rates.
The number of restrictions on the transport of dangerous goods is lessened through the harmonisation of international law, national law, and regulations of individual carriers. In general, air cargo has more restrictions than ocean freight, including: gases (such as hydrogen and methane). lamp bulbs), all things flammable (e.g. As a result, items with a corrosive or toxic component (e.g., perfume, Samsung Galaxy Note 7). batteries), magnetic substances (e.g. In addition to speakers, oxidizers, biochemical products (e.g. chemical medicines), and public health risks (e.g. untanned hides). You can find more information in the Hazardous Material Table.
Ocean freight emits much less CO2 than air freight. The research found that for 5000 kilometers of ocean freight, each ton will generate 150 kilograms of CO2 emissions, while air freight emits 6605 kilograms of CO2.
ocean freight
What Are The Downsides Of Ocean Freight?
There are about 30 times more speed differences between passenger jets and ocean liners. Jets cruise at 575 mph, while slow-steaming ocean liners move at 16-18 mph. So it's no surprise that shipment by air freight from China to the USA usually takes about 20 days longer than by ocean freight.
Ocean freight generally takes more time than air freight because of congestion at ports, customs delays, and weather conditions. The tracking technology for air freight is often more advanced than that for ocean freight. This means ocean freight has a higher likelihood of getting lost compared to air freight. This is particularly true for ocean shipments that are less than a container load. With that said, ocean freight is becoming more reliable due to digitization.
The risk of damage or destruction of ocean freight is higher than that of air freight. As a result, the shipment takes a lot longer to reach its destination, and ships move more frequently. You don't need to worry about ocean cargo falling off ships too much. While the urban myth says there are 10000 lost containers annually, it's more like 546 of the 120 million container movements that fall into the drink. أسعار الشحن البحري للسيارات Even less likely is piracy. The Horn of Africa, the Gulf of Guinea, and the Malacca Straits are hotspots in recent years.
Ocean Freight Services
Shipping services by sea can be divided into two categories: a full container load (FCL) and a less than container load (LCL). Several shipments are packed into one container with LCL. The forwarder has more work to do, there is extra paperwork to be filed, along with the physical work of consolidating various shipments into one container before the main transit and dissolving the consolidation at the other end. This gives LCL three disadvantages:
Shipping LCLs requires more time than shipping FCLs. The manufacturer typically recommends allowing an additional week or two for LCL.
Damage, loss, and misplacement are more likely with LCL.
LCL costs more per cubic meter.
Shipping rates for FCL are usually lower, so you may want to use a full container once your shipment is large enough, even if your goods do not fill the container to the brim. The tipping point for upgrading from LCL to FCL (the smallest container is a 20 footer) is around 15 cubic meters.
Sea Freight Rates per kg
Most LCL shipping is priced by volume only, not by weight, except for especially heavy items.
The following are some guidelines to help you select the most cost-effective mode for most products:
When a shipment weighs more than 500 kg, air freight becomes uneconomical.
The ocean freight price ranges between $2 and $4 per kilogram, and shipping between China and the US takes about 30-40 days.
Using air freight for a China-US shipment between 150 kg and 500 kg costs about $5-8 per kilo and can take 8-10 days.
It takes a few days less to ship by air freight, but the cost is higher.
If your packages are lighter than 150 kg, you can go by courier (express freight).
Here are some common ocean and sea freight rates, costs, and charges included in your freight quote:
These items are likely to appear on ocean freight quotes and invoices: