Tips for Getting the Best Sea Freight and Air Freight Quote
A good freight rate quote is an important step in the international shipping process, it also give you upper hand in you business.
No matter you are importing or exporting, you need to find out what it will cost you. But if you want to get an accurate and the best quote, make sure that you will give this information to your freight forwarder.
Here’s what you need for the best and accurate freight quotes:
1. You should KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SHIP
You might be thinking, how the hell would people have no ideas about what they are shipping? The fact is you might be suprised by the number of people who try to get a freight shipping quote without knowing what they are going to ship.
The rate will be different based on the type of products your are shipping. Shipping rules for fruits do not apply to a shipment of clothes. And it also affects the method of transport, the type of shipping container, and even the carrier will or will not ship your item. And this will definately affect the cost of your international shipping.
So, get this information ready before you go for an international freight quote.
2. CALCULATE THE SIZE AND WEIGHT OF YOUR SHIPMENT
If you are going for air shipping, you will need to know the size and weight of your shipments. And if you would like to use sea freight, usually knowing the size is enough. But you should know that some exremely heavy shipments such as machine will be charge based on the weight.
3. KNOW ORIGINAL AND DESTINATION LOCATION OF YOUR SHIPMENTS
This sounds obvious, but you have many options when you are shipping internationally, such as door to door, door to port, port to door, port to port.
By using different option, you need to tell your freight forwarder different locations, and make sure your shipment can be delivered there. Let’s take door to door shipping for example. Door to door shipping will deliver the items to your door step. But you need to make sure that trucks are allowed to enter your residential area.
So, if you want to get the most accurate freight quote, you should have the addresses for the pickuo and drop off ready..
If you’re using port to port shipping, you just let yur freight forwarder know what ports your items are shipped from and to.
4. GET FREIGHT QUOTES SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE THE SHIPPING
The shipping rates change from time to time, so a freight quote acuqired months before your shipping is useless. Make sure to get the quote close to your shipping.