The most cost effective way to ship goods from place to place is to do it via the ocean. Sea freight shipping is crucial for the global economy. It has been estimated that more than 90% of the world’s trade is sent via the sea. There are more than 50,000 ships on the seas of the world bringing goods from place to place. They come and go from more than 150 different nations. If you need to send your goods to their destination via this kind of shipping, you may not know where to start. Here are some tips for having a better experience when you use this kind of shipping.
- Make sure your documentation is in order. All of the cargo companies will tell you that the first thing you need to do when you are using sea freight shipping is get all of your documentation together and make sure it is put together correctly. One of the top reasons for delays in the international shipping process is documentation that is not put together properly, is incomplete or is just not possible to read. You have to know what the receiving country requires for cargo to enter. In the United States, the custom’s service looks for a “bill of landing.” If your good are coming to the United States, you need to have this. Not only can your goods be denied entry if the paperwork is not complete and correct but you can be subjected to fines.
- Get your freight forwarding right. The next most common cause of problems with international shipping comes at the freight forwarder stage. Getting this wrong can be very costly. Your freight forwarder will make sure your goods make their way from the entry port to the correct warehouse. When you are trying to work out your door to door delivery, working out your freight forwarding is crucial to your success. You need to do your due diligence in picking the right company to handle this part of your sea freight shipping experience. Even if your products do not have extra needs such as staying at a particular temperature, you need to have the right company help you with this part of the process.
- Bring in some experts. If you or your company is new to the sea freight shipping world, you should talk to people who are not. If you are in the United States, you can get help and advice from shipping agents in USA who are knowledgable about international shipping. Getting advice and help from people who know a lot about this kind of shipping makes a lot of sense. If you are
just getting your feet wet with international shipping, you can hire a third party shipping expert to handle it for you.
Shipping your items around the world via the sea is a great way to get your products to new customers and is very cost effective. There are a lot of rules and regulations you have to learn about when you are sending your items to new places. Make sure you understand all of these rules to have a better experience with your sea freight shipping.
