A Guide to Shipping from China to USA

In this article, I'll give an overview of ocean shipping, along with the step-by-step instructions needed to arrange ocean shipping and actually receive the shipment.

Air freight/air express is reasonable when ordering samples

The first thing to consider with sea freight is whether you are actually better off shipping by air or air express. There are some notable differences between air freight and air express that we discuss in this article.

But the general rule of thumb is that for shipments under 200kg, it is almost always cheaper and more convenient to ship via some form of air freight as opposed to sea freight. Air freight rates typically range from $5/kg to $10/kg, but without the high fixed costs common to sea freight.

How much is the sea freight cost?

For anything over 200kg or so, sea freight is usually your cheapest option. The basic cost of sea freight is high, but the scale is large. For example, your final cost to ship a 20kg box by sea may be $300, but for 200kg you will pay $310, 2000kg, $390, etc. For air freight, there is little scaling. A 20kg box costs $100 and a 40lb box costs $200.

There are two types of ocean freight: full container load (FCL, 20' and 40' containers) and less than container load (LCL). Additionally, containers are available in three basic sizes: 20', 40', 40'hq (40' high cube).

LCL freight simply means that you put one or more pallets into one container with other companies' shipments. A full container means you get the full container yourself. Simple, right? Any can arrange FCL transportation or LCL for you.

FCL costs anywhere from $2000 to $4000 for a 20' container to North America (always cheaper than the West Coast), and LCL is pretty much as much as you use up (if you're taking 25 of a 40' container %, you will pay around 25% of the cost of a 40' container). See image above for an example of an ocean freight quote for October 2018.

Sea freight can be shipped to most major ports. Vancouver (Canada), Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles are the big cities on the west coast.

Live in an outback part of the world like Denver? No problem - you can still ship a container there, but your container will simply be put on a train and railed to your city, although inland shipping is slightly more expensive (though still very reasonable).

When should you ship full container loads (FCL) and less than container loads (LCL)?

When should I use LCL shipping and when should I use full container shipping? The obvious answer seems to be that you should fill the container when you have enough stuff to fill the container and LCL, otherwise. This is not entirely true.

From a financial standpoint, a container that is 75% full or larger is generally cheaper than shipping LCL (in other words, LCL has a prorated surcharge of about 25%). However, there are two other important considerations. First of all, the shipping time of LCL is about 1-2 weeks longer than FCL.

That's because the freight forwarder has to pack your items and work with someone else to unpack your items.

Second, LCL shipments are more prone to loss and damage due to this extra handling (although this is very rare). If time and care are important to you, even a half-empty container can make sense sometimes.

Sea freight has high fixed costs and surcharges

With sea shipping, there will be a lot of unexpected charges when the goods arrive in your country. When you receive your invoice, you may be shocked at how much there is on top of the actual ocean freight.

Here are some sample fees you may have to pay:

Dock fee: USD 50-100

Freight forwarder management fee: $75-200

Security Fee: USD 50-100 (usually FCL)

Customs Clearance Fee: $100-200 (plus applicable duties/taxes)

From bonded warehouse to your final trucking door: $200+ (unless you pick it up yourself)

The last two fees, customs clearance and final trucking, are on your own. In fact, no one has ever done this themselves.

Shipping by sea is (somewhat) very different from what you're used to

Most of us are used to shipping items via USPS, FedEx, etc., as well as other small package carriers. Ocean freight may seem very different from these types of services at first, but when you think about it more deeply, you will realize that they are actually very similar.

If you ship an item via USPS, you know that it must be dropped off at the post office. The same goes for ocean shipping: someone has to get it to the post office! Except, in this case, the port is the post office.

If you imagine America, you know that Kansas is far from the ocean. So to ship some pallets to, say, New York Harbor, you need to somehow get the goods to New York. The same is true if you order from a supplier in Chengdu (central China) to Shanghai Port.

Thankfully, you don't actually have to arrange for some random Chinese truck driver to pick it up. Most freight forwarders are happy to arrange pickup from your supplier's factory. But it will cost more money. That's why something called Incoterms is very important.

For example, if you and your supplier agree on FOB Shanghai shipping terms, it means your supplier will pay for shipping your goods to Shanghai port. If you agree to EXW Chengdu, you will pay for it. Shipping goods hundreds or thousands of miles by truck isn't cheap no matter what country you're in, so always be aware of that!

Once your shipments are in the port they are put into a container and the next time you hear about them should be when they arrive in the US.

Shipping by sea (and air) requires the use of a freight forwarder

So how do you actually book ocean freight? You need something called a freight forwarder (actually air freight as well). Essentially a broker that buys ocean liner space for containers. You can't book the space directly on the ship yourself - you need a freight forwarder.

Freight forwarding is highly competitive and there are thousands of freight forwarders. There are now two very popular freight forwarding brokers (essentially, they are brokers' brokers) called FlexPort and Freightos. You can get a quote on almost any shipment. However, the easiest way to ship your goods is to have your overseas manufacturer arrange shipping for you.

How long does sea shipping take?

Shanghai to Los Angeles: 18 days

Shanghai to New York: 35 days

Shanghai to London: 30 days

These times vary widely by route and other factors, but are good approximations. They also don't take into account container handling times, which can easily add many days (sometimes weeks) to those transit times.

If you are looking for China freight forwarder to ship goods to USA, STU Supply Chain is here to help, learn more our services: https://stusupplychain.com/shipping-from-china-to-usa.html