byAlma Abell

Most companies learn early on that they will need international cargo shipping and will likely turn to couriers to handle the job. Moving products within the same states, countries or cities can be fairly easy, but when you consider all the different rules for various countries, you realize quickly that you need help. Couriers can provide cargo shipping internationally and understand all the rules and can also provide logistics help.

Logistics

Logistics can mean anything and in the case of shipping cargo internationally, it means the requirements necessary, options, equipment, law compliance, assessments, carriers and more. Not all couriers can handle all types of products. If you sell items considered to be hazardous, you need to ensure that the international courier has the ability and experience to handle your shipping needs.

Most people prefer to look at those couriers that handle a lot of international cargo each day, though you’ll also want to consider costs, service options, awards and reviews from others.

Pay close attention to what is offered at the price listed, because many will offer great services only for you to realize too late that these cost more. Instead of going with the flow, ask many questions, play around with different scenarios online and find exactly what you need for your cargo.

Regulations and Rules

Each country has different customs rules and laws. Many countries have made certain items illegal, and while they may be made within the country and sold, you cannot export the items from your country into theirs. Many other rules are in place, not to hinder you, but to keep the country at large safe and secure. It can be nearly impossible to find this information for yourself, but international couriers will likely have the information and can tell you whether there could be a problem with your shipment or not.

Taxes and fees are also required for most foreign countries, which will likely be incorporated into the shipping price. However, not every international courier will incorporate fees and taxes into the price, so make sure that all price listings are accurate and correct.

Other things to consider may be insurance on your items and the safety of them while en route. Cargo other than homemade items will be insured by international couriers. While you are usually free to opt out of insurance, it is highly recommended because you never know what could happen.

International cargo shipping is different from domestic needs, so hire Fastway Worldwide Express India to help with all logistics and shipment needs.

Freight Containers Transformed Logistics

by

Sam Bullman

Freight containers are standardized shipping containers. Shipping containers have standard dimensions, typically 20’x8’x8.5′ or 40’x8’x8.5′ or 45’x8’x9.5′. They have to be constructed to certain minimum standards of sturdiness to withstand the rigors of long ocean voyages and transfer from one mode of transport to another. Shipping containers meeting the standards can get CSC – Convention for Safe Containers – certification, a must for use in international shipping.

Specialized trucks, railcars and handling equipment have been designed to accommodate these standard sized containers. The containers fit neatly into these vehicles (as well ships’ cargo holds) and the handling equipment can easily transfer the containers from trucks to railcars to ships and in the reverse direction. The freight containers themselves might have forklift pockets (typically available only for 20′ or shorter containers) that facilitate forklift handling.

Standardized freight containers enhanced the speed and efficiency of cargo movement, and expanded world trade. The easy and quick transshipment of the containers from one mode of transport to another – inter-modal transport – is the main factor that makes the efficiency possible. The multi-modal transport facility also enables carrying goods across terrains like water, rail track, road and air to get from origin to destination without any disruption.

Freight Container Ships

Freight containers are typically shipped in “cellular” container ships, so called because the ships’ cargo area is segmented into standard cells to accommodate containers, resembling a honeycomb.

The cargo capacity of ships is expressed in TEUs, or twenty-foot equivalent units. The space occupied by a 20-foot standard freight container is one TEU, and that occupied by a 40-foot container is 2 TEUs. Container ships these days can carry nearly 5000 TEUs.

Freight Containers and Security

Freight containers are designed in a vandal proof manner. They also typically incorporate sturdy locking in the form of one double door that is secured by four locking bars extending to the whole height of the container. The locking bars have additional lockable handles that can be secured by padlocks and sealed.

Packing and locking the whole container at the shipper’s premises and thereafter opening it only at the consignee’s premises can further increase security. Any required customs inspection and certification are done at the shipper’s and consignee’s premises.

Considering the security, container-based shipments incur less expense for insurance against theft, pilferage and damage.

Packing Freight Containers

Cartons can come in different odd sizes, and the internal dimensions of containers are less than the outer dimensions. Hence dividing the outer volume of the containers into the carton volumes will not give a correct idea of the number of cartons the container can carry. For example, dividing the outer volume of a 20’x8’x8.5′ container (1360 cubic feet) into the volume of a 1.5’x1’x1′ carton (1.5 cubit feet) might give the misleading idea that we can pack 906 cartons into the container.

The standard internal dimensions of a 20-foot container is about 19.35’x7.71’x7.83′ giving an internal volume of 1168 cubic feet. Dividing this volume into the carton volume of 1.5 cubic feet gives the number 778. Even this figure is wrong because the size of the carton is an odd one.

If you stack the cartons lengthwise across the container length of 19.35′, you can accommodate a maximum of 12 rows. A maximum of 7 rows of such 12-row cartons can be accommodated along with width of the container, giving 84 cartons per layer. 7 such layers can be stacked along the height of the container accommodating a grand total of only 588 cartons.

That leaves a lot wasted space. So you change the arrangement. Cartons are arranged lengthwise across the width of the container. That accommodates 5 cartons across the width. 19 such 5-rows can be accommodated across the container length, accommodating 95 cartons per layer. The number of layers remains the same at 7 and so the total number of cartons that can be packed this way is 665, significantly more than the last arrangement. Even now, there is wasted space that cannot be avoided considering the misfit between carton volume and container volume.

Packing freight containers to full capacity thus needs some advance planning.

About Author:

Sam Bullman writes about Freight-Containers

please visit

bullmans.co.uk

for more details.

Article Source:

eArticlesOnline.com

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