Ocean Freight v/s Air Freight: Which is best?

Air freight is levied when you send goods via air and ocean freight is levied when you send goods via sea. Before you choose which mode of transport is ideal for you, you have to consider quite many factors. In general air freight is safer, faster and more reliable than ocean freight. Air freight is ideal when the cost of shipping falls less than 15- 20% of the value of goods which have been shipped.

Air freight and hazardous substances

 Airlines have very strict regulations when you have to send across any kind of hazardous substances.

There is a very long list of items which come under ambit of prohibited items as per air freight. This list varies according to the national law and the airline regulations. Some of the items in prohibited list include:

• gases (such as lamp bulbs)
• all things which are flammable (such as perfumes)
• any kind of toxic or corrosive items (such as batteries)
• magnetic substances (such as speakers)
• things which can lead to public health risks (such as untanned hides)
• oxidizers as well as biochemical products like chemical medicines
• Anything which has a danger sign on its packaging.
• Packaging is also subject to certain restrictions when it comes to air freight.

So, all this makes it very important to ascertain the nature of your cargo.

All about ocean freight

Ocean freight is much slower in speed than air freight. The custom issues and the port holdups can actually lead to a lot of delay.  Also, smaller shipments are difficult to send as till the time container is complete, things do not move ahead. These days certain forwarders have started to offer facilities for express ocean services. These are also known as Express Ocean services or Expedited LCL. In such services the time taken is relatively less. Typically, it is believed that shipping by sea is cheaper as compared to shipping by air. But this holds true only when you are shipping huge loads.

Size of the load

Before you choose between air and ocean freight keep the cost factor in mind. Every business person has a budget. So, in case your budget allows you to send goods by air, choose air freight otherwise you can opt for ocean freight. Airlines usually charge by chargeable weight. Chargeable weight is gauged from a combination of weight of shipment and its. Sea carriers usually charge in according to per container rates. The standard containers are 20’ and 40’. So, weight is a very big factor. In case you are shipping less than the container load, your price will be determined by cubic meter. So for larger and heavier shipments, it is better to opt for ocean freight than air freight. Also as the shipment gets smaller, the margin between prices falls down and it is possible that air freight will be less expensive.So always check and compare transport prices and also check the review of transport services to get the best transport booking experience.

So, bear all these points in mind before you choose between ocean and air freight.