Hey,
How does this work?
– Do companies / suppliers have to purchase or rent a container?
– How do you find a ship that will transport a container?
– What are the basic procedures and regulations about transport, safety, etc?
– What about customs when your container of goods arrives at destination country?
– What are estimate prices? (I understand that distance + time plays a big role but I’m curious how small businesses in ecom can manage to afford container shipping)
– Who are the different “handlers” involved in cargo shipping
In: Other
International shipping is a huge business with many intermediaries and players. Just like you don’t buy your seat when you fly on an airline, you don’t have to buy containers in general.
The shipper contacts a shipping agent. The shipping agent arranges most of the paperwork necessary and provides a container. Larger companies can arrange shipping by full container loads. In this case, the shipper packs the container themselves. Smaller shippers who don’t need full containers deliver the goods to the agent or freight forwarding company. The freight company then packs their goods along with others into full containers.
The freight forwarder will contract with another company (usually) to book the required passage. They will agree on the ports, ship and schedule based on availability. Then the containers are handed off to the port where the port authorities/company will handle them onto the boats. Once the boat reaches the destination port, the process goes in reverse.
Generally speaking, for most smaller companies, all the customs work will be handled by the shipping agent based on the information provided by the shipper. Larger companies might have an internal department that can handle the customs paperwork in which case the transportation company just does the transporting. Even larger companies will own trucks and only requires the transportation company to arrange the ships. It all depends.
Global shipping is very efficient. A container going across the ocean can be as low as $2000 USD although it is probably running very high right now so perhaps $4000 USD or more.
This is SIMPLIFIED. There are many parties involved especially for multi modal (trains, truck, ships) and door to door services.
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