Calculating freight forwarding costs isn’t straightforward. As freight forwarding involves many moving parts, it depends on a number of factors, including the physical size, dimensions or weight of your shipment, the contents of the shipment, the origin country, the destination, and whether you’re shipping the goods by land, sea, or air. A freight forwarder might give you a door-to-door cost, but this won’t be the full picture and you’re left with a bill after the fact that’s more than what you thought it would be. This is because many freight forwarders add on costs retrospectively and add a margin on top of every fee whilst also including a freight forwarder handling fee.
The three main charges a freight forwarder would charge you for include:
You pay a demurrage charge for the delayed use of the container within a terminal. Demurrage charge comes into play if the full container isn’t moved out of the terminal to be unpacked within the “free days”. You might only be given 1 day of free charges, which for a 7 day wait might mean you could be charged a 6 day demurrage charge.
You pay a detention charge for the delayed use of the container outside a terminal. A detention charge comes into play if the container isn’t returned empty to the shipping line within the free days.
You might be thinking what if I can ensure my shipment is picked up same day, then I won’t have to deal with demurrage or detention charges? This would mean that you hire a truck to “live offload” your consignment. In this instance you also have “free time”, and any minute over this is charged. For example it may take your truck 6 hours to enter the port and load your packages, but you only have 2 hours of free waiting time- meaning you are charged 4 hours in waiting charges.
Other fees you might incur include:
Cost of travel on the chosen methods of transport
Protecting your goods in transit
Automated Export System is the system U.S. exporters use to electronically declare their international exports
Levied sometimes by airlines or ports
The freight forwarder’s personal fee
These fees may all fluctuate depending on changing factors. Some freight forwarders, such as Borderless360, are redefining how these fees are charged, by introducing simplified, inclusive pricing schemes.
