FREIGHT SHIPPING GUIDE

ACCURATE INFORMATIONIt’s important to provide accurate weight and dimensions. The wrong information can result in delays, potential cancellations and an inaccurate price quotation. Be clear which units are being used (e.g. kg, cm or mm). Exporters in the USA usually use imperial measurements (lbs and inches).

Include the full contact and company name, address and telephone number of both the collection and delivery point. Contact names and numbers are important to ensure there are no delays in pick-up, customs clearance and/or delivery.

Declare any dangerous or hazardous goods. The UN, Class and Packing Group details are required along with a Materials Safety Data sheet for the product(s) being shipped. Shipping hazardous materials is a specialised operation requiring extra care. Many restrictions apply to the movement of hazardous materials.

AIR FREIGHT Air freight is the fastest way of moving freight between countries and usually the most expensive. Most air freight travels in the hold of passenger planes but there are restrictions on the height and length of items suitable for transportation by passenger aircraft. On average, for every six passenger flights there is only one freight flight, which means that space availability for larger items is sometimes at a premium.

COST SAVING TIPSIf you’re sending air or ocean freight, a door-to-airport/port service can be most cost effective for both the sender and consignee. There are benefits for both parties too: The shipper’s responsibility ends once the aircraft arrives at destination; and consignees frequently have their own freight agents in place who can ensure a swift customs clearance and final mile delivery.

TO SAVE YOU TIME, MONEY AND HASSLE ON FREIGHT

If your freight is non-stackable – i.e. it cannot be stacked or have other freight stacked on top of it – you must make this known as it will affect the price.

IMPORTINGIf you are importing goods, never guess the tariff code! The code must match what is on the commercial invoice (supplied by the shipper). You can check on the HMRC website how much the duties and taxes will be beforehand, so that you don’t get an unexpectedly large bill. An incorrect tariff code can mean the wrong amount of duty and tax is paid which can cause issues with the authorities!

INSURANCEAsk your InXpress Shipping Specialist about additional insurance cover which may not be covered by the transport companies’ standard policy. Please also be aware that some carriers do not offer insurance. This isn’t a problem as InXpress will be able to arrange a separate policy covering your goods. Always check what level of cover applies

OCEAN FREIGHT When shipping less-than-container-load (LCL) shipments, your freight will be in a container with freight from other shippers. This can impact on transit times as all the shipments within the container will need to clear customs before the container is released. Such containers then need to be de-stuffed (emptied) by the receiving agent which takes longer compared to full container loads.

With all ocean freight shipments, transit times are usually expressed port-to-port, but remember when you are quoting delivery times to your customer, to allow time for loading, collection, delivery, customs clearance, and unloading. The close-out date (the deadline for receiving freight for a particular vessel) is usually a few days before sailing and this too needs to be factored in.

PACKAGING Any palletised items need to be firmly shrink-wrapped and securely banded to the pallet to ensure that it can travel safely and securely for the required mode of transport. For example, freight travelling by sea may need different packaging to air freight.

Many countries have restrictions on the use of untreated timber in packaging and will require the timber used to be treated and stamped to ensure there is no potential for pest contamination. If in doubt, please check with InXpress to ensure what is required.

If your freight is valuable, large, fragile or an unusual shape, it is worth considering using an export packaging company when sending freight overseas.

ROAD FREIGHTIs a cost-effective way of sending non-time-sensitive consignments into Europe. It is not as fast as Express and Economy) courier services and in many cases delivery may not be day-definite.

Make sure you’re using the right service for your shipment as using the wrong one can be costly and slow!

Your local InXpress Shipping Specialist can advise you on all of the issues covered in this guide so please get in touch with them.

Visit https://gb.inxpress.com/locations to find your nearest team.

+44 (0) 800 195 2125info@inxpress.comwww.inxpress.com