Freight shipping involves the movement of large packaging such as pallets or even containers and is usually used by importer/exporters. The table below lists all of the different freight services available from DHL, Fedex and UPS. They are grouped into three sections: Air, Ocean and Ground/Rail. These services mainly address the unique needs of these business shippers such as expediency, security, temperature sensitivity, door to door delivery, consolidation etc.
Two words about freight forwarders
Many international importer and exporters choose to elect a freight forwarder to handle all the details for shipping their commodities internationally. One thing that they should be aware of is that freight forwarders outsource their services and many times use DHL, Fedex or UPS freight services as well for a portion of the shipping-especially if shipping air freight. In the case of air freight you may want to consider using these carriers directly. The nice thing about using these main carriers directly for your freight needs is that a price can be given up front that should not deviate much from the final price. Often freight forwarders cannot tell give a customer a final price because honestly they don’t know what it will be.
Another notable difference between using a freight forwarder and using one of these carriers is that the delivery can be made door to door. Freight forwarders often only deliver to airports. As an importer you always want to maintain a good relationship with your trading company. If they are used to working with freight forwarders it may be to your advantage to continue to use a freight forwarder. However you can instruct your freight forwarder to use one of these shipping carriers and your shipping account to make the arrangements. Having previously arranged shipments through your freight forwarders using their means it would be an easy matter to do a cost comparison of the shipping using one of these carriers. If you decide that there are sufficient benefits to using one of these carriers, you can then try to negotiate greater volume discounts from your shipping carrier by including your import/export shipments in addition to your present shipping volume. Finally and equally important you this would give you better control on the actual final cost of the shipment plus option of door to door delivery if desired.
A changing market outlook…
Importer/Exporters usually are content to allow for a certain percentage of their profit margin to go to shipping and are happy to just pay what is needed. However the United States economy is slowing which means that orders will not be as large and profit margins will suffer. It is usually times such as these when “necessary” costs are more closely scrutinized.
Good Luck and Good Shipping
Your How To Ship Advisor
DHL, Fedex and UPS International Freight Services
| DHL | Fedex | UPS | Service |
|
Air Freight Services |
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| Air First | FedEx Express Freight Backed by a money-back guarantee. |
Freight is placed on the first flight out. |
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| Airfreight Plus
|
FedEx Custom Critical Backed by a service guarantee. |
Customized surface air solutions for delicate, high-security or temperature-sensitive freight. |
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| UPS ExpressSM Freight |
Day Definite door to door delivery |
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| UPS Air Freight DirectSM | Day-specific scheduling, airport-to-airport service, with delivery within one to three days |
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| Air Premium door to door |
UPS Air Freight ConsolidatedSM airport to airport only |
Consolidation of Freight. | |
| Air Value | Economical Alternative to Air |
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| Charter | Additional air freight capacity where there is limited commercial carrier |
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| SeAir | Sea/Air Service |
Combination of speed of air freight and the lower cost of ocean freight |
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| FedEx Expedited Freight Services |
Blend of many different services |
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| UPS Air Freight ConsolidatedSM |
Day-specific scheduling, airport-to-airport service, with delivery within three to five days |
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|
Ocean Freight Services |
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| Ocean Freight Good Morning | FedEx Trade Networks |
NVOCC (Non-Vessel Operating Common Carriers) Series |
Full-container load (FCL) or less-than-container load (LCL) shipments. |
| Ocean Freight Good Morning | Non Containerised Load |
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|
International Ground Freight |
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| Euroconnect road freight service
Covers all business areas in Europe. |
Groupage and Part Load Services |
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| FedEx Freight Central America, South America, the Caribbean and Europe, as well as service from Asia |
Less than Truckload | ||
| DHL EURONET service Pan-European presence |
Customised transport services |
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| Euroline Shipments within all European countries and across Europe. |
Full-load services |
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| DHL COLDCHAIN European-wide ground transport solution |
Fully monitored, temperature controlled and GDP-compliant (Good Distribution Practice) network, meeting all customer requirements in terms of regulation, security, quality and handling |
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| Rail Freight | Rail Freight Logistics | ||
Shipping an International Package:Step by Step Instructions
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DHL, Fedex and UPS International Shipping Guide Comparison
DHL, Fedex and UPS International Air Service Comparison
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DHL, Fedex and UPS Small Business Center Comparison
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Dear Sir
Can you inform us if Fedex can transport food items from Sarajevo / Bosnia to Dubai/UAE , by Temperature controlloed Airfright Containers ( +2—- +8C).
How much will be the charges per container.
Thank you in advance
Mr.M.Nahas / Manager