If you have goods you need to ship, you may be asking yourself whether sea or air freight would be more effective for your logistics management. Below we outline the pros and cons of sea and air freight to help you make the right decision for your business.
• Weight
The weight of sea freight is almost unlimited, if your goods are particularly heavy this is an ideal transportation method as you will be able to pack more products into one shipment.
• Cost-effective
As sea freight can carry an almost unlimited volume of products, it is far more cost-effective to use sea freight to ship bulk orders, as sea freight can move large quantities of goods in one shipment.
• Time
Sea freight can take weeks or even months to arrive at its final destination so should be avoided for shipments that need to be delivered in a short time frame.
• Admin
For sea freight, customs paperwork is unavoidable, and often very complicated. Without logistics management services to handle such matters for you, the admin of sea freight can be very time-consuming.
• Speed
A journey that may take sea freight a month can be completed by air freight in days. This makes air freight a much faster method for transporting goods.
• Tracking
Almost all air freight has advanced tracking technology that allows shipments to be tracked effectively. This is ideal for businesses who want real-time updates of their shipments.
• Cost
As air freight is measured by volume, rather than weight, it can be more expensive to use air freight, even if only travelling a short distance. It is also less cost-effective to ship bulk amounts of product as space on air freight is more limited, and therefore, more expensive.
• Weather
Air freight is much more weather dependent than sea or land freight as conditions such as hurricanes, snow and blizzards can prevent air freight from completing their journeys. It is, therefore, important to consider where and what time of year you hire air freight services.
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