How To Calculate Freight Charges?
The freight amount is simply the money that is charged on a good when it is transported from one place to another. In older times, the calculation of freight was an easy task, all you need to know was the distance from your place to the destination and the mode of transport. The faster the mode, the higher the charges. However, with changing times, the ways of calculating freight also changed and this led to confusion between the common masses for calculating the freight rate. But worry not, we are here to explain some insights into the domain and help you calculate the freight rates of the items depending upon various factors or you could request a free quote and save yourself from going through all the trouble. If you still want to know, how to calculate the price for transporting goods, then read on.
How to calculate the freight of your goods?
The process of calculating freight consist of a lot of jargons and industrial terms, some of them are listed below, be sure to understand them as it would help you to calculate the freight rates easily.
FCL or Full container Load
When you want to ship a large number of goods, then FCL is the best choice for it. With FCL, the product will be delivered to the location quickly as no detours would happen due to the absence of other freights in the container. The pricing of the FCL shipping is per container basis. The charges differ from container to container based on the container dimension. The flat fee is just one part of the overall price of the freight. The total price of the freight depends upon the origin of the product, its destination, the total volume which is shipped, the time of year when it is shipped, and some other variables. If you have a large volume of goods to ship, you can negotiate with the shipping agency and get some reasonable pricing.
LCL or Less than Container Load
Less than the container load means that your goods are not having enough cargo which would fill in the whole of the carrier. In this, the product is shipped along with other items. This is a suggested way of shipping your product if you are not having bulk goods. Fragile items can be shipped through this mode of shipping as extra care and are taken to ship the product. However, this method of transportation is not suggested for transporting items which are urgently needed as it usually takes more time than the FCL shipping. The rate of this shipment is calculated by integrating smaller products into one larger product and then paying for the entire carrier. The rates are then divided by charging as per the shipping agency’s standard rates, either as per 1000 Kgs or 1 cubic meter whichever they find is greater or more profitable to the shipping agency. This method of measuring is called a weight or measure method.
Air freight calculation
The freight rates that are imposed on goods transported by air are calculated as per the number or weight of goods. It follows the conventional norm of more the products the better would be pricing. Usually, the market offers the clients the rates as per a flat standard price and then keep on adding price as per Kilograms added to the freight. These added weights are known as the breakpoints. Normally breakpoints are either made at every 45 kgs or 100 kg, however, as the weight increases, the difference between breakpoints also increases, and the range of weights in a certain breakpoint increase as well.
One could try to reduce the price of the total air freight by using the consolidate shipping. Two or more shipments are consolidated into one and then shipped. This allows the consignees to get benefit from the cheaper breakpoints that are present at higher weights. However, the consolidated weights need to be segregated at the destination and incur separate charges for it.
The weight of the cargo could be calculated by following the simple formula,
{Length (in cm) x Width (in cm) x Height (in cm)}/6000
If the answer you get after this calculation is more than the weight of your cargo, then the cargo is considered to be delivered as per volumetric freight, and charges are respectively issued.
However, if you have a product that is quite dense, then you should check it for dense cargo rates. It is calculated by,
{Length (in cm) x Width (in cm) x Height (in cm)}/Weight of the cargo
If the answer is below 3000 you can get some cheap rates.
Some additional charges include Fuel and war surcharge, Airline Handling, Local Pick Up Security Charges, Delivery to the airline, and Customs Entry.
Sea freight calculation
Sea freight is calculated based on the standard charges that are set by your service provider and the charges that are charged by the ports around the world. The sea shipping method allows better shipping because it has fewer restrictions, you can transport goods in larger bulks, it is cheaper than air shipping and it is environment-friendly, the CO2 emission is relatively lower than that of land.
The shipping through the sea will cost you standard freight charge (set by your service provider), bill of landing, documentation charges, trucking charges (if the International Commercial term is EXW else don’t consider it), CFS charge, PSS charges, Pre-carriage charges, BAF and Origin THC. After the calculation of these variables, you will end up getting the total amount you need to pay for your freight.
Calculation of freight can be an easy job if are considering all the variables and constants. Be sure to take advantage of the discounts that you could get for a service when you follow certain conditions. Top Shipping offers impeccable shipping services which will allow you to ship your goods at low prices with no compromise with the safety of your product. So, don’t wait and get a free quote from them for the services you require.
