What is the difference between groupage and a full container?

With a full container — FCL — you take the whole box and pay for the box, however much goes into it. With groupage — LCL — you take a share of a container and pay for the volume you actually use. While the quantities are small, groupage works out cheaper. As the volume grows there comes a point where a full container is cheaper even if it is not packed to the roof; where that point sits depends on your cargo, and there is no single figure that holds for every product.

Slower than a full container, but not because of the sea. The difference comes at the start: the container leaves when it is full, so your cargo waits for the rest of the load at the consolidation warehouse. At the destination the container is stripped, and that takes time too. If the dates matter and the volume is small, the honest answer is to look at rail.

Vladivostok or Novorossiysk?

It depends on where your warehouse is. Vladivostok is a short ocean leg and a long overland one; Novorossiysk is the other way round — the vessel takes longer, but for European Russia the onward haul is shorter. For Moscow and the central regions both work, and the difference has to be costed across the whole chain. We show you both, not the one that suits us.

Which is cheaper, sea or rail?

On large volumes and into the port itself the sums favour the sea: the cost of the box is spread across the whole consignment. For inland destinations a long overland leg is added to the ocean freight, and that advantage can disappear. Rates on both move, so the answer comes from costing your consignment rather than from a rule of thumb.

Should the cargo be insured?

It is your call. The risks on the ocean leg are a long passage, transhipments, humidity and damage in handling — that is what a policy covers. The premium is calculated on the value of the goods, so it is a fraction of the sum you could lose in full.

Mode

Sea freight from China

The mode for large volumes: the bigger the consignment, the less cost falls on each unit. It suits you when the volume is there and the date is not critical.

Price a shipment All modes

01 — Starting points

When the sea is the answer

The volume is large and the dates are flexible — we need it cheaper.
It's our first shipment and it's small. Can we go without a container?
We're costing Vladivostok against Novorossiysk. Which works out better?
Furniture and homeware — we need a full container.
The cargo is heavy; rail and air don't add up on price.

02 — What is included

What we take on

01Choosing the set-up and the portFull container or groupage, which port of entry, where to clear customs. We cost the options and show the difference before anything ships.
02Consolidating several suppliersWe bring cargo from several suppliers together at one warehouse and load it into a single container under one set of documents.
03Export clearance and the bill of ladingThe documents are prepared in China, before loading. A mistake on the bill of lading surfaces at the destination port and is expensive there.
04Tracking and notificationsWe tell you when the vessel sails, when the container is transhipped and when it approaches the port. By the time the cargo lands, the customs paperwork is already assembled.
05Customs, terminal and deliveryDeclaration, duties, release, collection from the terminal and the final leg to your address.

03 — What we do not do

The limits of this mode

We do not take urgent cargoThe sea is the slowest mode there is. If the goods are needed next week, no amount of organising will change that: the schedule is set by the shipping lines, not by the forwarder.
We do not promise a vessel arrival dateSchedules move because of weather, port congestion and changes on the service. We pass on changes as soon as we hear about them, but we do not control them.
We do not take what the sea would spoilHumidity, temperature swings and a long passage do not suit every product. If the cargo is at risk at sea we will say so plainly and put you on rail instead.
We do not treat the freight rate as the priceOn top of the freight come terminal charges at both ends, storage, haulage and customs duties. We show the full landed cost, not an attractive figure for one leg.

04 — How a shipment runs

From the factory to the warehouse

A sea route almost never ends at the port: the cargo goes on overland from there. What has to be costed is the whole chain, not the freight rate.

01Collection and delivery to the portRoad haulage from the factory to the port of departure, or to a consolidation warehouse for groupage. A short leg inside China, but it is billed separately and it shows in the quote.
02Loading the containerFor a full container the goods are loaded at the factory or at a warehouse. For groupage your cargo waits until the container fills up, and that wait is part of the total transit time.
03Export clearance and loading on boardExport declaration, bill of lading, loading. The bill of lading is the document the shipment turns on: the goods are released against it at the port of destination.
04The ocean legThe passage to the port of entry. Where there is no direct service the container is transhipped at an intermediate port — normal practice, but it adds time.
05Arrival and customsDischarge, placement at the terminal, declaration. Storage starts running here, which is why the documents have to be ready when the vessel arrives, not after.
06Delivery to the warehouseFrom the port the cargo goes on by rail or road. For inland destinations in Russia this leg can cost as much as the ocean freight, and it cannot be left out of the sums.

05 — Responsibility

Who answers for what

We answer for the organising and the paperwork; the line answers for the carriage under the bill of lading.

On us

Choosing the set-up, the port and the routing
Export clearance and the bill of lading
Tracking and preparing for customs
Release, collection from the terminal and delivery

On you

Cargo ready for the loading date
Accurate data on the cargo and its packing
The decision on insurance: a long passage, transhipments and humidity are the risks of the ocean leg

06 — Alongside

What people look at with this

07 — Questions

What people ask about the sea

What is the difference between groupage and a full container?
With a full container — FCL — you take the whole box and pay for the box, however much goes into it. With groupage — LCL — you take a share of a container and pay for the volume you actually use. While the quantities are small, groupage works out cheaper. As the volume grows there comes a point where a full container is cheaper even if it is not packed to the roof; where that point sits depends on your cargo, and there is no single figure that holds for every product.
Is groupage slow?
Slower than a full container, but not because of the sea. The difference comes at the start: the container leaves when it is full, so your cargo waits for the rest of the load at the consolidation warehouse. At the destination the container is stripped, and that takes time too. If the dates matter and the volume is small, the honest answer is to look at rail.
Vladivostok or Novorossiysk?
It depends on where your warehouse is. Vladivostok is a short ocean leg and a long overland one; Novorossiysk is the other way round — the vessel takes longer, but for European Russia the onward haul is shorter. For Moscow and the central regions both work, and the difference has to be costed across the whole chain. We show you both, not the one that suits us.
Which is cheaper, sea or rail?
On large volumes and into the port itself the sums favour the sea: the cost of the box is spread across the whole consignment. For inland destinations a long overland leg is added to the ocean freight, and that advantage can disappear. Rates on both move, so the answer comes from costing your consignment rather than from a rule of thumb.
Should the cargo be insured?
It is your call. The risks on the ocean leg are a long passage, transhipments, humidity and damage in handling — that is what a policy covers. The premium is calculated on the value of the goods, so it is a fraction of the sum you could lose in full.

Let us price an ocean shipment

Tell us what you are shipping, the volume and weight, the port or city of departure and the delivery address. We will come back with options and a full landed cost, not just the freight rate.

Describe the cargo +7 861 217-96-98