Small Parcel Vs. Air Freight

Anyone who has spent much time in the logistics industry knows that small parcel carriers like UPS, DHL and FedEx charge extra for oversized items. When shipping product Internationally, these charges can add up quickly and can become very expensive. Most people also know that very large shipments often make their voyage overseas on airplanes. The parts in between can be confusing and very expensive, if you’re not prepared and experienced. The GlobalForwarding.com team has written this article to help shipping managers, business owners and logistics professionals to understand when small shipments should be shipped by air freight.

Air freight is the only solution for shipping many kinds of products overseas – these include perishables, time-sensitive deliveries and packages that are too small to move on a container ship efficiently. In addition, since ocean transport can take months from pickup to delivery, many consumer-purchased items simply must be shipped in the air. Shipments as light as 70 pounds (actual weight or dimensional weight) should be quoted by air freight before being shipped small parcel. These shipments can incur overweight or over dimensional charges from small parcel carriers which can sometimes actually make the shipment more expensive than if it was shipped as air cargo. Air cargo can be moved on dedicated planes, cargo planes and in the cargo holds of passenger airliners. The GlobalForwarding.com platform allows for instant Air freight quotes on many International shipments as well as online Air cargo quotes, allowing a quick comparison of all shipment options available to you. The next time you have an International shipment ready for quoting, be sure to use (or create) a GlobalForwarding.com account to access our instant online quote technology. You might be surprised at how much you can save!