The developed road network of countries all over the world provides extensive logistic opportunities for international shipping of goods. Containers, refrigerators, and tanks ply the international highways, delivering thousands of goods from different countries to their destinations every day.
Container trucks and articulated trucks are indispensable for large-capacity shipments and can be an effective dropshipping method. Many dropshippers use rail. Rail transport loses time to road transport in some cases. Precious time is lost when delivering cargo to the goods station, unloading from the truck, and loading into a container. Time is also spent on the formation of the train. At the destination, the cargo needs to be cleared and loaded back into the truck, wasting more time.
You can also use water and air transport, but they have their peculiarities. To better understand the peculiarities of each transportation type and reduce costs for cargo transportation, you can use our Logistics Explorer service.
Shipping options and arrangements
Truck transport, especially in the neighboring regions, is much more convenient, faster, and cheaper than transportation by rail. All the customer needs to do is to find dropshipping suppliers and sign a corresponding contract, specifying the terms of shipment. The rest will be done by the hauler. If you need to send the goods from multiple suppliers, the local agent can organize the consolidation. This scheme saves the time that one truck would spend collecting the cargo in parts from different warehouses located in different provinces.
Naturally, in each case, the task of the logistician is to optimize the shipping route, thus reducing the cost of the carrier for fuel and customer waiting time. The biggest transport and freight companies have their agents or representative offices, so issues of consolidation and temporary cargo storage are worked out in detail. Once loaded, the transport heads straight to the destination point by the shortest route. Moreover, you can use our Route Planner service to correctly plan the shipment.
Of course, trucks can not compete in volume and weight of transported cargo with water transport. Truck transportation, as compared to water transportation, has more flexibility. The truck can unload in any place in contrast to the ship, which is loaded at the port. It is also not very difficult to reload cargo from one vehicle to another at any point of the route.
So, let’s consider the advantages of the different dropshipping via freight options in more detail.
Freight transportation by water transport
Cargo transportation by water transport (sea and river) is one of the most complex and difficult types of transportation. Strict compliance with all requirements is required for this type of cargo transportation between the customer and the company providing these services.
The sea freights require a considerable amount of energy and labor resources. However, it can be noted that all sorts of difficulties with the organization of maritime transportation are compensated by all the opportunities it offers. This type of transportation is the slowest and cheapest among all possible types of cargo transport. More often, this kind of cargo delivery is carried out in containers with standard, worldwide accepted characteristics: size, weight, and structural features. The use of such containers makes it possible to protect the cargo from external influences.
Using the SeaRates Ship Schedule tool, you can find shipping schedules by route or vessel with multiple shipping lines to determine the best shipping time for your business.
Freight transportation by rail
Freight transportation by rail is very economical and provides great dropshipping opportunities to transport quite large objects. Almost all land transport loses its capacity characteristics to rail freight. This allows this type of cargo transportation to be one of the most popular in mining and heavy industry.
Using the SeaRates Load Calculator tool, you can have a 3D image of your cargo to know exactly the container dimensions you need and to determine the best shipping method for your cargo.
Freight transportation by road transport
The transportation of goods using road freight and container trucks is one of the most popular. The main advantages are:
- Very fast and timely delivery that is carried out on a door-to-door basis.
- During transportation, full control over the cargo is provided.
- Flexible planning of routes.
- High economic efficiency.
Freight transportation by air transport
Freight transportation by air transport is a more expensive shipping method than road, rail, or sea freight transportation. But it is also the fastest method of delivery, especially for bulky or hazardous cargo.
Choosing the right transport for efficient freight dropshipping
There are many possibilities for dropshipping via freight, and it is important to determine which mode of transport will be the most convenient, fastest, and most profitable. There are several key parameters to focus on:
- The cost of transportation: If it turns out to be excessive, then the very benefit of sending the cargo is lost, so you have to look for the cheapest shipping rates and options, all other things being equal.
- The time that will be spent: It is commonly believed that the fastest way is by air, but this is not always the case. International air cargo transportation requires a large number of documents. In addition, the flight can be delayed due to the weather for more than a day. Sometimes it turns out that delivery by truck is more effective.
- Reliability of the vehicle: For example, the car can get in an accident, and in this case, at least, you will lose a lot of time. In the worst case, a road accident leads to the loss of cargo and the loss of life. One of the safest modes of transport is considered to be the railroad because the probability of an emergency here is minimal.
The transport should be capacious enough to take away the cargo in the minimum number of trips.
You may use SeaRates services and tools to find the best mode of transport for you. It facilitates dropshipping via freight.
