The global logistics and international shipping industry incorporate experienced teams of logistics companies, door to door shipping companies, customs brokerages, and freight forwarding services to put together advanced global supply chains and the highest quality shipping services.
In order to move goods, shipments, and containers of different sizes the global shipping trade requires a lot of forethought, planning, and coordination between the different parties involved. Imported and exported goods will usually travel by air, ocean, land, and by rail before reaching their final destination.
These intermodal points and the shipping agents involved with them are responsible for reconsolidating and redirecting incoming shipments in the most efficient way possible. This can include moving a container from a ship to a train, having a truck unloaded into a warehouse to be shipped at a later date, or sorting the customs clearance, fees, and duty imposed at a foreign port of entry.
Intermodal Points
In the United States, New York and Los Angeles have the biggest ports and intermodal points, managing a majority of the imports and exports to the country. This means these ports are not just shipping ports, but are connected to rail lines, truck depots, and often airports.
Intermodal points usually have many cranes, waterways, warehouses, and other equipment to facilitate the movement of these large scale goods. Much of the practical logistics of the shipping industry occur at these intermodal points.
These intermodal points connect our shipping industry with major global ports in China, Europe, and many other parts of the world. Often, these intermodal points can see hundreds of thousands of shipments come and go daily, ready to embark on the next part of their journey. Customs, fees, and duty are usually handled at such points as well, as they usually are the initial port of entry.
Freight Forwarders
The shipping industry can be tedious and highly prone to error. If all the management of shipment was done in real-time at intermodal points, a lot more would go wrong, shipments could be indefinitely delayed at times, and shipping costs vary greatly.
Freight forwarders to do the work of preparing these logistics ahead of time. They research, plan, and optimize supply chains all over the world, building consistent and reliable routes. With these routes already in place, freight forwarders can accommodate a large amount of cargo and shipments daily.
Freight forwarders can also make accurate and supportive recommendations on whether to use ocean or air freight, or whether truck or rail is a more suitable shipping method for you. They can scan and compare the best prices and shipping speeds.
Sometimes a freight forwarder can save you a lot of money by delaying your shipment a day or two, consolidating it with another. Sometimes this can mean directly from a port to a customer’s door, while other times a container can be loaded onto a truck to continue the journey of another few days across the country.
Drayage takes place for items of all sizes and is usually managed by using trucks that can easily access local and regional areas, as well as neighborhoods and homes and businesses when needed.
Intermodal Drayage
A large part of the global shipping industry relies heavily on trucking. While freight forwarders and other shipping experts combine resources to find the best shipping rates from port to port, shipments, and the specific items within them still need to find a way to more localized destinations.
Last Word
International shipping involves a lot of moving parts working in conjunction together. Freight forwarders, shippers, truckers, and more work along tightly knit and planned supply routes to optimize the movement of goods of all sizes around the world. Much of global trade depends on the trade routes to be steady, reliable and their prices to generally be stable enough to plan business around.
This planning allows logistics companies and freight forwarders to optimize supply routes. When a new shipper wants to ship or build a new supply chain, they can plug into an existing system, rather than have to figure out a shipping process from scratch.
Asiana USA has offices in Los Angeles, New York, China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. Our company takes a people-oriented approach to global shipping, providing peace of mind for our clients. Contact us at (855)-500-1808 today to learn how we can help your business.
