Air Freight or Ocean Freight? (Part One)
Posted on Friday, April 24th
The business world is much like life in general on many different levels. For starters, both involve a great number of choices being made and that is never easy. The shipping industry does not offer much relief from that point of view either, the choices in terms of types of transport being plenty. A seemingly simple one like that between air freight and ocean freight, for instance, comes with a long list of details to be considered in order for the profits to be maximized. Here is an introduction to the main aspects to be taken into consideration when faced with this particular decision.
The costs
Without any doubt, the financial aspect is the most important aspect in a context where the main purpose of a business operating in the shipping industry is to make profit and that of an individual is to save as much money as possible. Therefore, the perspectives may differ slightly depending on the type of endeavor you have in mind, but in the end, it all comes down to which of the two transportation modes is cheaper. At a first glance, ocean freight shipping services will be associated with lower costs than air freight ones. However, this is not a rule.
First of all, those interested in shipping services should take a closer look at the charges for international shipping, which are calculated by the so-called chargeable weight. This chargeable weight is determined by the size and weight of the cargo to be shipped. Ocean freight shipping companies charge their clients by the number of standard containers they need shipped, the most commonly used containers measuring 20 and 40 feet in length. Therefore, the size of a shipment is of a significantly greater relevance to the final price than its weight. Should the cargo to be shipped by a client fail to fill a standard container, they will be charged by cubic meter, this being one reason why the costs associated with ocean freight shipping services are usually much lower than those associated with air freight shipping services. However, the smaller the shipment, the smaller the price margin, which explains why the choice of air freight shipping services can prove more profitable in some cases.
Last but not least, the destination of the cargo to be shipped by a client is also highly relevant, destination fees and customs fees influencing the final costs of transportation to a great extent. Typically, the shipment costs are lower in the case of ocean freight shipping services than in the case of air freight ones, but, on the other hand, ocean freight shipping service providers charge much higher warehousing fees than air freight ones.
As already mentioned, the financial considerations may be the most important and relevant in the context of businesses seeking profits and individuals seeking to maximize their savings, but the list of factors to be considered when faced with a choice between ocean freight transportation and air freight transportation does not end here.
