With the ever growing list of products that are shipped around the world to other countries, international shipping is a major logistical concern for many companies. Though shipping anywhere comes with challenges, international shipping requires additional special handling and care.
Here we will look at tips for preparing your cargo for international shipping to ensure your items not only arrive on time but also in good condition.
- Weigh Your Cargo and Packaging: While the contents of your packages may make up the bulk of the weight of your cargo, packaging material will also add to total weight. With shipping containers themselves weighing thousands of pounds even while empty, the internal contents must be closely monitored to ensure the ship or plane is not overloaded. To get an accurate weight measurement, weigh your cargo on its own and then also weigh your boxes, packing material, and palettes that will be used. You can also weigh them all together but weighing the packaging separately can help you determine if you must cut back on the material.
- Know Weight Limits: Each form of transportation and shipment type will have certain weight and dimension restrictions. These restrictions are there for a reason and there is rarely wiggle room. To ensure safe passage of your cargo, check these restrictions and ensure your cargo fits. Again, this is why weighing packaging and cargo is so important.
- Don’t Ignore Internal Packaging: While there is emphasis on the external containers and preparation for international shipping, you cannot ignore how the contents inside your containers are packaged. This is an important step even during shorter domestic trips but is especially important during international and intermodal shipping.
- Take Extra Care with Fragile items: any breakable items should be given extra packaging whenever possible. For example, a delicate crystal figurine should be wrapped securely inside its packaging box but also extra protection within any larger packing box.
- Wrap Cargo Securely:
Expanding on the last point, your cargo will need to be wrapped and secured strategically inside the containers. Special attention should be paid to fragile items which may need extra layers of padding to stay safe. - Check for Cargo Restrictions: Along with cargo weight and size, the actual items themselves may pose a problem when shipping. While each mode of transportation will have different restrictions, there is something to consider for each one. For example, air freight will not allow anything toxic, flammable, or biohazard items. Shipping via the ocean is less restrictive and sometimes the best and only option for certain items and materials.
- Prepare Your Documents: With so much emphasis placed on physically preparing your shipments, it can be easy to forget about the paperwork involved with shipping. To reduce hassles associated with getting your cargo through customs, make sure you have your invoices, detailed packing list, customs declaration, and all other pertinent documentation.
- Enlist the Help of a Freight Broker: A freight broker is an important and valuable member of your shipping team as their job is to ensure your items meet various requirements and that they can get to where they need to be on time. This also includes ensuring you have all proper paperwork. Delays due to improperly filled out invoices and other documents is highly frustrating because it is avoidable. A freight broker will help you avoid this.
- Make Sure Your Items are Stackable: your items should not only be secured within their own boxes but those boxes should be able to withstand additional boxes and cargo being placed on top. This can be especially tricky if your cargo will be shipped with several other cargo. However, you can attempt to stack your own cargo on top of each other to see how your boxes fair.
- Use H Taping Method: H taping is a method of taping where you secure tape over every seam and opening in the box. While the tape itself may not prevent the box from being crushed, it does help to keep the box intact and the insides protected. Taping all seams can also help prevent moisture from reaching the items or from moisture leaking should there be a spill.
- Make Sure Items Don’t Move: While it is important to securely wrap your items inside their boxes, it is just as important to ensure that your boxes do not shift unnecessarily. Remember that your cargo is likely to be moved several times and will need to be able to withstand the extra movement. Palletizing your cargo and using ratchet straps will help to minimize shifting.
- Consider Past Shipping Outcomes: Did you get any customer complaints about receiving damaged items? Were items too damaged to even be delivered? While it can be tempting to continue with a current method of preparing your cargo if the majority of your items arrived safely, the items that were damaged should not be dismissed. Make changes as needed for greater security.
- Ask Customers for Shipping Feedback: If you have not already, issue a survey to ask customers about the condition their items arrived in. Ask about the shipping packaging along with the condition of the contents. If a customer reports that the box looked beat up or dirty, it may be time to assess how you package them.
- Give Realistic Shipping Times: This is not exactly a tip for preparing your cargo but it is an important step to remember. When you transport cargo internationally there are a multitude of things that could delay delivery. Your shipment may have difficulties clearing customs, weather may delay a flight, and ships may get waylaid by ocean conditions. It is best to overestimate how long this will take to avoid upsetting customers.
Work with an Experienced Freight Shipping Company
Perhaps the most important thing you can do to prepare your cargo for international shipping is to work with a freight shipping company who knows how to get your items transported safely. At Ontario Container Transport we not only provide freight shipping services via air, ocean, truck and rail, we also offer everything you need to secure your shipments including ratchet straps, winch straps, wrapping blankets, moving boxes and more.
As an experienced international shipping company we offer specialized intermodal shipping containers designed to withstand the various conditions on each mode of transport. These containers protect against the elements while still allowing air flow.
Get Professional Help Preparing Your Cargo for International Shipping
Even with all the best tips, international shipping can be especially difficult when you also have other jobs to do. At Ontario Container Transport, we are here to help you. We offer intermodal shipping and services to ensure your international items are protected no matter how you send them.
To get a free quote on international shipping and more tips on how to successfully prepare your cargo, contact us today.
