What are the Various Types of Freight

Whether you’ll be shipping a package just once or you’re fully into the shipping for your import and export business, knowing the various types of freight shipping options available to you is very important.

Some people may not be aware that there are multiple ways you can package and ship your cargo. Understanding what these various methods are and what they offer is what helps you make the best decision for the goods you are shipping.

As well-established shipping methods, there are various options available to you. However, below are the common ones you are most likely to encounter.

Freight Shipping Methods

Sea Freight

When it comes to shipping extremely large quantities of cargo, ocean or sea freight is usually one of the best and most efficient ways to go. The average container can easily carry about up to 30 tons in gross weight.

What’s more, it is arguably cost-efficient for shipping heavier cargo. Ideally, using sea freight to ship your cargo can be conveniently carried out from any part of the world into Australia and vice versa.

In terms of delivery time, some certain factors directly influence how fast your cargo arrives.

A few of the most prominent variables that affect this includes;

The duration of time spent on the seas,

Time spent on door-to-door shipments, and

The origin location you are shipping cargo from.

There are primarily two ways you can use sea freights to ship your goods. You can use,

Ship full container (FCL), or

Less than container (LCL)

Most times, people tend to use FCL or LCL, depending on whether they have enough goods to fill a full container or not.

Even though this is a rational method of approach, there’s more to using FCL or LCL than that. For instance, in terms of cost, shipping FCL is generally cheaper than using LCL when it comes to larger volumes.

Also, opting for LCL will usually mean your cargo will arrive later than if you use FCL. Perhaps the most important distinction is that LCL cargo usually suffer more accidents (damage or loss) due to the more level of exposure and handling it receives.

Air Freight

When you are planning on shipping cargo and speed of delivery is your topmost priority, then air freight is the way to go.

Air freight has many advantages. The first being the fact that with road freight, international cross continent shipping really isn’t an option.

Also, many people consider air freights to be a more reliable and secure means of transporting their cargo.

In Australia, you’ll often find different types of air freight methods to use in shipping your goods.

There are,

Air charters,

Freighters or Cargo aircrafts, and

Passenger aircrafts or PAX.

Of course, the size of your cargo plays a huge role in determining which choice you go for.

Road Freight

Without a doubt, this is the most popular and commonly used freight shipping method used everywhere in the world when it comes to land transport and do not cross continents.

It also has one of the widest varieties of shipping options available among the freight options. Some of the most popular road freight options include,

The Less Than Truckload Freight Shipping (LTL)

This is arguably the most common shipping option you’ll find out there today.

A high percentage of the individuals involved in the shipping world currently do so on a small scale. As such, they tend to drift towards a shipping option that is economical and more suited for moving small-sized cargo.

The less than truckload shipping option provides this in abundance. It affords you the chance of transporting cargo with a weight range as small as a few kilos or many tons.

The Intermodal Freight

Essentially, the Intermodal freight employs the use of International Organization for Standardization containers (in most cases) to transport the cargo in need of shipment.

Using these containers, the mode of transportation can vary from air to rail or sea, as the occasion demands. Due to how the cargo is shipped, there’s no point in time which directly handling the goods is warranted or necessary.

There are several benefits to using this particular method of freight shipping method. One that many people find quite acceptable is that it is one of the most environmentally friendly options you can go for.

The Expedited Freight

If you have a package that needs to be delivered fast and within a set time, you want to go for the expedited freight.

With this method of cargo transporting, the vehicle doesn’t make any stops on the road to its destination.

To get the most out of this transportation option, you need an experienced logistics team to handle your planning properly.

Partnering with a competent logistics team, you have access to all the information and resources you need to pick the right freight option for your cargo.