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Freight from the USA

What's it for? | How does it work? | Involving a third-party | Request POD | Shipping Partial Cargo | Storage

E-Commerce and Remote shipping from the United States to overseas destinations

This online freight calculator simplifies international e-commerce and lowers costs for remote orders from the USA.

No matter whether you buy or sell on the U.S. market. No matter where in the world you are. With this online freight calculator, you can manage relatively large e-commerce deliveries from the USA using economy LCL freight service at the convenience of your office or home or even on the go.

As soon as you've got a deal in your international trade, go on this online freight calculator and:

  • Calculate the costs of your order delivery from the USA, considering different scenarios in your business. You don't need to wait for a price quote. Get one in real time 24/7. It's free, and you are not obligated to get a freight cost quote.
  • Are you not sure yet about your order's exact size and weight? That's OK. Just roughly estimate it. Your shipping cost will be adjusted to the actual weight measurements of the order.
  • As soon as you are ready, book your shipment online and receive shipping instructions within 24 business hours. Submit essential shipping documents on this website. Get your express release bill of lading in a PDF file and meet your goods at the destination.

Click on the picture to watch a three-minute video on YouTube about how the online freight calculator works.

E-commerce orders deliveries USA

This online freight calculator is designed for shipping goods packed in boxes and crates from the USA abroad. If you ship goods in boxes, they can be appropriately palletized for international transportation at the ocean carrier's freight terminal (CFS), obeying ISPM 15 regulations.

 

What's it for?

Most U.S. merchants primarily offer e-commerce order delivery within the USA, often with reasonable or free shipping.

However, small and midsize U.S. businesses typically do not handle international shipping. However, they are open to selling goods overseas and welcome working with U.S. freight forwarders for international deliveries to foreign buyers.

AMID Logistics is such a U.S. freight forwarder.

What's more, AMID Logistics offers to utilize the online freight calculator, making it possible to independently plan international freight and book international deliveries after all the preparatory work.

Shipping eCommerce from USA

Please note that our primary business is LCL freight. LCL means shipping relatively large cargo by sea from the USA that is appropriately packed for international transportation in boxes, crates, or pallets. We are not involved in airfreight and do not ship motor vehicles.

 

How does it work?

Any international LCL freight shipment starts with delivering cargo to a sea freight carrier's terminal in the USA. Such freight terminals are professionally called CFS (Container Freight Stations).

Before you place an order, it is essential to reconfirm with a U.S. seller whether the purchase price includes delivery to a CFS within the U.S. or not.

A. If Yes, the U.S. merchant DOES provide deliveries within the USA, then:

  1. Select your destination in our online freight calculator. Then, you will see the list of available freight terminals (CFSs) where your order can be delivered for shipping overseas*. Calculate a price quote and, when ready, book the shipment online.
  2. Upon your booking and deposit, you will receive our email with shipping instructions, typically within 24 business hours after you have paid a deposit.
  3. Forward the instructions to your merchant and instruct them to deliver your goods to the CFS for further international shipping.**.

B. If Not, the merchant DOES NOT provide deliveries within the U.S., then:

  1. When calculating a price quote on our website, select 'YES' in the pickup options - PICKUP IS REQUIRED.
  2. Provide your cargo location when booking your international shipment via the quote that includes a pickup (option B or C in your quote). Upon deposit, you will receive our email with shipping instructions for picking up the cargo at your merchant's location.
  3. Forward the instructions to the merchant. Ask them to pack your order for international delivery, follow the instructions, and submit your cargo to the pickup driver. We schedule pickups with U.S. domestic LTL trucking companies. A pickup driver will pick up your goods on the appointed pickup day for further international shipping.

C. USING A THIRD-PARTY - you or your seller in the U.S. use a third-party trucker to deliver orders to CFS:

  • Due to changes in FedEx and T-Force Freight detention and re-delivery policies for LTL cargo, effective Monday, October 3rd, 2022, CFSs will no longer allow deliveries or pickups from these two companies. This change has not impacted other FedEx divisions, such as FedEx Ground. Please arrange to use an alternative carrier to deliver cargo to a CFS. IF NOT POSITIVE, CONTACT CFS BEFORE ARRANGING A THIRD-PARTY DELIVERY.

    Read about involving a third-party in your cargo delivery below.

All further shipping procedures will be the same as explained in this step-by-step guide.

*Please note that the most economical way to ship overseas is to directly deliver your order to an ocean freight carrier's terminal (professionally called CFS—Container Freight Station). Our online freight calculator lists such terminals in upper case, which are highlighted. For example, PHILADELPHIA, PA. We do not recommend selecting Line Haul terminals listed in lowercase with an asterisk (*) (Allentown, PA*, for example).

The cheapest CFSs should be on the U.S. East Coast - NEW YORK, NY, and on the U.S. West Coast - LOS ANGELES, CA.  

**VERY IMPORTANT! INVOLVING A THIRD-PARTY IN YOUR CARGO DELIVERY TO CFS.

If you or your merchant in the U.S. involves a U.S. trucking company to deliver your order to a freight terminal appointed in our shipping instructions (i.e., you have selected the option NO PICKUP REQUIRED), then upon receipt of our email with shipping instructions, please pay extreme attention to the freight terminal address, the contact information, and:

  • Suppose the order is delivered directly to an ocean freight carrier's freight terminal (called CFS - Container Freight Station). In that case, the CARRIER'S BOOKING NUMBER IS THE KEY NUMBER that recognizes and accepts the order at the CFS. Do not confuse AMID's customer reference number with the CARRIER'S BOOKING NUMBER.

    Each shipment you quote and book on our website has a unique AMID reference number. However, when we book your shipment with a sea freight carrier, we add another reference number to your shipment - a sea freight carrier’s booking number, which is a key number during international transportation. Then, when you receive our shipping instructions, they always contain TWO unique numbers that are tied together and apply to a single shipment. For example: REF# US200126CL; CARRIER’S BOOKING# CELUS/SIN20020021.

  • If the order is delivered to a U.S. domestic line haul freight terminal (LH) for ground transportation within the USA to a CFS, your key document is a U.S. domestic LTL bill lading. The LTL bill of lading will be attached to our email in a PDF file with shipping instructions.

    Line haul terminals are listed in our freight calculator in lowercase WITH an asterisk, like Akron, OH*.

Ensure that the LTL bill of lading or delivery order includes the ocean freight carrier's booking number, which is the key reference number for recognizing your cargo at CFS. Do not confuse the booking number with AMID Logistics's internal customer reference number!

If you receive an LTL inland bill of lading, the number will already be on the bill of lading.

The OCEAN FREIGHT BOOKING NUMBER will recognize your order at CFS, and CFS will accept the cargo for international shipping from the USA to your destination country.

See where you can find the ocean freight CARRIER'S BOOKING NUMBER in the sample of our Dock Receipt:

Carrier Booking Number on your delivery order

 

Always be able to provide POD

If you use a third-party trucking company for your cargo delivery, such as FedEx Ground Shipping, UPS Freight, etc., always request a signature upon delivery. For example, always select the Signature Confirmation Option when submitting a delivery order. Then, you should be able to ask the trucking company for a formal POD (copy of Proof of Delivery with a signature). Online tracking does not consider POD.

The reason is that sometimes delivery drivers leave cargo at the gates of freight terminals unattended without obtaining signatures on shipping documents. As a result, drivers could leave cargo at the wrong freight terminal or gate or deliver only part of the cargo.

If a shipper cannot provide a formal POD, then freight terminals may reject any claims and will not initiate an investigation on missing cargo.

 

Shipping partial cargo. Combining two or more orders into one single shipment.

Some of our new customers request that we accept several deliveries. They need to combine all the deliveries into one international shipment and ship it from the U.S. overseas under a single sea freight bill of lading.

For example, you remotely buy several smaller orders on Amazon. You must provide your Amazon merchants with an address in the USA where all the orders should be delivered. After that, you must combine all the orders at the address to deliver from the U.S. abroad.

In respect of LCL freight service, that means you want us to accept several U.S. domestic deliveries at a particular ocean freight carrier terminal (CFS. Container Freight Station) for consolidation into one single international LCL shipment.

Yes, we do that all the time. Such international shipments are called "shipping partial cargo." However, shipping partial cargo fits for shipping relatively sizable cargo. Do not confuse shipping LCL partial cargo with consolidating small packages into boxes like MyUS.com, etc.

If shipping partial cargo LCL fits your needs, you must be aware of certain conditions and limitations.

Storage

With regular LCL shipments, each cargo delivery to a CFS is booked under one unique AMID's reference and carrier's booking number. Upon delivery, if shipping documentation is in order, the CFS will do its best to ship the cargo automatically out of the U.S. as soon as possible without any additional notice.

If, for some reason, your cargo is on hold at CFS, then Free Storage Time depends on CFS (sea freight carriers' freight terminals). I.e., CFSs with a short storage time do not support partial cargo. For example:

Saint George Logistics freight terminal in Los Angeles (LAX) DOES NOT SUPPORT PARTIAL CARGO due to extremely limited free storage time:

  • 1st period: *4 business days free*
  • 2nd period: (5th calendar day): $4.50/cbm/day, min $60.00 per day
  • 3rd period: (11th business day): $7.00/cbm/day, min $105.00 per day

However, the Saint George Logistics freight terminal in New York (NY) may support partial cargo. As of 2022, the free stoppage is up to 21 days. You will be billed for storage on day 22 under all circumstances. The export storage rates will be invoiced as follows:

  • Export storage free time: 1-21 days - cargo must be loaded in a container to avoid storage. Once over 21 days, storage is billed from day 1.
  • Export storage period 1: 22-30 days $5.00 per CBM or 800lbs, min $10.00 per day
  • Export storage period 2: 31 days and after $10.00 per CBM or 800lbs, min $20.00 per day
  • All storage fees are subject to a $25 admin fee.

Conditions and Limitations in Shipping Partial Cargo. PARTIAL CARGO MUST BE APPROVED IN ADVANCE!

Suppose you need to combine two or more cargo deliveries into one single shipment under the same ocean freight carrier's booking and our customer reference number. In that case, it must be booked in advance, approved by AMID Logistics, and:

  • SHIPPING PARTIAL CARGO IS LIMITED BY UP TO 3-5 DELIVERIES WITHIN 20 DAYS (IF CFS'S FREE STORAGE TIME ALLOWS THAT) to the same ocean freight terminal (CFS) under the same carrier's booking number. If the number of approved deliveries or/and the time limit is exceeded, significant storage, handling, documentation, etc., charges will apply.
    Please keep in mind that each delivery, whether big or small, requires the same attention in handling. That's why we limit accepting partial cargo by 3-5 deliveries. Increasing the number becomes time-consuming and sharply increases the risk of operational mistakes. If you need to get and combine numerous deliveries, you should search for an agent in the USA who will do such a job. We do not provide such a service.
  • Partial shipments are subject to AMID Logistics's partial cargo fee of $35 per additional cargo delivery on top of the first delivery. Ocean freight carrier's CFS storage, handling, documentation, etc., fees may also apply.
  • If, in your cargo deliveries, you use a third-party trucking company, then you must always be able to provide a formal POD

If you comply with these conditions, please quote and book your partial shipment on our website by selecting LCL: Shipping boxes, crates, and pallets.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!: Shipping partial cargo must be approved in advance. At the time of booking, in the COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS line at the bottom of our online booking form or/and a prompt reply to our email to your LCL Booking Request, YOU MUST ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:

  1. How many deliveries should we expect?
  2. How many merchants were involved? List your merchants.
  3. What is the time frame for all the deliveries?
  4. Do you understand that free storage time may be limited from 4 to 21 days?
  5. Do you understand that the CFS may reject deliveries without the CARRIER'S BOOKING NUMBER on delivery orders?
  6. Do you know that the $35 fee will apply to every single additional cargo delivery on top of the first delivery?

Also, please remember that shipping partial cargo doesn't mean that CFSs will track, check out, and match shippers' orders. Content checks in deliveries are NOT permitted.

CFSs should inform the shipper about each delivery by providing warehouse receipts for each delivery under the same booking number. They provide pictures on top of warehouse receipts for each delivery when possible. However, shipping partial cargo means accepting cargo under the same carrier's booking number, storing it, and, upon the shipper's approval, palletizing and sending it to the destination under a single bill of lading.

Please note that some international ocean freight carriers do not offer partial cargo service for shipping cargo from the USA. Once again, sending a partial shipment must be approved in advance!

If AMID Logistics did not approve a partial shipment before we provided shipping instructions, then every cargo delivery to CFS will be processed as a single shipment.

Please contact us in advance for more details regarding shipping from the USA or partial cargo.

 
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