Consolidating your US bound cargo – Advantages and Disadvantages
There comes a point in every business cycle when you review your shipping procedures to identify potential cost savings. If you frequently import smaller shipments (say 1-10 pallets), you may be able to see a benefit to arranging your freight in a direct consolidation.
With a direct consolidation you would accumulate multiple shipments at a warehouse at origin in order to fill a full container. You could then ship the full container with multiple shipments directly to your facility. The major advantage is that this allows you to take advantage of the economy of scale with respect to your ocean freight charges.
At the same time, there are disadvantages to this shipping method. One drawback is that if your consolidated container is flagged for examination by US Customs, every single shipment will go under examination rather than just the one flagged for exam. You may also face issues with supplier/vendor payment terms as well as inventory procedures until you can get your direct consolidation plan in place.
We at Superior Freight Services, Inc. move multiple direct consolidations for our customers. We would be more than happy to review your shipping practices and determine what benefit this could bring to your supply chain operations and more importantly, the bottom line.
Please contact us at superior@supfrt.com or by phone at 952-854-5053.
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