What Does Door to Door Service Mean?

Some terms in the shipping industry can be confusing for shippers to understand. Door to door delivery seems to be one of them. One of the biggest problems is that companies do not always see that door delivery means to the door, of the warehouse of course. They think that door can mean to their customer’s door which can be true only on a drop ship or direct ship, but they do not understand it to be door. So to clarify, Door to Door delivery means that the freight forwarding company will pick up the shipping container from your warehouse and bring it to the port, gate it in and file the necessary paperwork and retrieve it on the other side to be brought to your consignee’s warehouse.

Since a door to door delivery means a through bill of lading that includes trucking, there will also be additional charges added on your bill of lading. Many times however, a through bill of lading will actually have lower freight rates than if you were using different shipping companies. This is definitely something to consider when trying determining if you will need a door delivery. Using separate companies means more interaction with shipping companies, but it also allows for closer managing so it will depend what is best for your company.

No matter which type of delivery you choose, it is important to know what all of your options are before shipping. Even just a small amount of legwork can save a lot of money in the end.