Ocean freight transport is the shipping of goods by sea via shipping containers. Ocean freight is the most common mode of transport that importers and exporters use. In fact, a full 90% of everything  is shipped by ocean freight and sea freight. The other international freight transport modes (courier, standard air freight, express air freight) are all faster, but they are also more expensive. Smaller shipments, and products with a high value, generally go by these other modes.

Dangerous goods include but are not limited to: pharmaceuticals, explosives, gases, flammable liquids and solids, corrosive substances, oxidizing substances, dry ice, lithium batteries, fuel cell engines. We are Dangerous Goods Certified and transport your hazardous goods overseas safely to their destination, in compliance with U.S. and international regulations.

We ship any type of roll-on, roll-off cargo such as automobiles, trailers, tractors, motor homes or any type of heavy machinery or equipment on wheels that can easily be rolled on and off Ro-Ro vessels for transport.

Ocean Freight Logistics: LCL and FCL

Ocean and sea freight break down to two further options: a full container load (FCL) and a less than container load (LCL). With LCL, several shipments are packed into one container. This means more work for the forwarder, there’s extra paperwork involved, as well as the physical work of consolidating various shipments into a container before the main transit and de-consolidating the shipments at the other end. This gives LCL three disadvantages:

  • LCL takes more time to deliver than an FCL shipment. The Freightos Freight Team typically recommend allowing an extra one or two weeks,

  • There is an increased risk of damage, misplacement, and loss with LCL.

  • LCL costs more per cubic meter. In the Freightos’ Freight Team’s experience, the main transit cost is roughly double the per cubic meter charge as for FCL.

Since shipping rates are lower for FCL, it may be worth using a full container once your shipment is large enough, even if your goods do not fill a full container. The tipping point for upgrading from LCL to FCL (the smallest sized container is a 20 footer) is somewhere around 15 cubic meters.