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

International Shipping: E-commerce and Remote Deliveries from the USA, Utilizing the Online Freight Calculator

This online freight calculator simplifies global e-commerce and reduces international shipping costs.

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 international shipping of relatively large orders from the USA utilizing LCL freight. Coordinate global logistics from the convenience of your office, home, or even on the go.

No matter if you are a U.S. merchant or buying from the USA, once you finalize your deal in global trade, visit this online calculator and:

• Calculate the international shipping costs of your order delivery from the USA, considering various scenarios relevant to your business. You don't need to wait for a price quote. Get one in real time 24/7. It's free, and you're not obligated to get it.
• Are you unsure about the exact size and weight of your order yet? That is OK. Just roughly estimate it. Your international 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 our instructions within 24 business hours. Submit essential 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 YouTube video about how the online price calculator works.

This online calculator is designed to provide affordable international shipping costs for goods packed in boxes and crates from the USA to destinations abroad. When you ship overseas items in boxes, they can be adequately palletized for global transportation at the ocean carrier terminal (CFS), adhering to ISPM 15 regulations. Watch this short YouTube video about utilizing the online calculator for remote orders and e-commerce.

What is remote international shipping used for?

Typically, U.S. merchants offer e-commerce order deliveries within the USA for a reasonable price or free of charge.

However, small and midsize U.S. businesses typically do not ship overseas. However, they are open to selling goods abroad and welcome U.S. freight forwarders to assist them in international deliveries to foreign buyers.

AMID Logistics is a U.S. freight forwarder.

Moreover, AMID Logistics offers the use of an online calculator, which enables independent planning and booking of international deliveries after all preparatory work is complete.

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

How does international shipping and e-commerce work remotely?

Any LCL shipment begins with delivering a load to a U.S. sea carrier terminal. Such terminals are professionally referred to as CFS (Container Freight Stations).

Before placing an order, you must reconfirm with a U.S. seller whether the purchase price includes delivery to a CFS within the U.S.

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

1. Select your destination in our online calculator. Then, you will see the list of available terminals (CFSs) where your order can be delivered for international shipping*. Calculate a price quote and, when ready, book the shipment online.
2. Upon receipt of your booking and deposit, you will receive an email with instructions, typically within 24 business hours after payment of the 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 shipment via the quote that includes a pickup option (B or C in your quote). Upon deposit, you will receive our email with instructions for picking up the load at your merchant location.
3. Forward the instructions to the merchant. Ask them to pack your order for international delivery, follow the instructions, and submit your load 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 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 the shipment 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 cargo transportation procedures will be 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 carrier terminal (professionally called CFS—Container Freight Station). Our online calculator lists such terminals in uppercase, which are highlighted - for example, PHILADELPHIA, PA. We do not recommend selecting Line Haul terminals listed in lowercase with an asterisk (*) (e.g., Allentown, PA*).

The cheapest CFSs should be located on the U.S. East Coast, specifically in New York, NY, and on the U.S. West Coast, specifically in 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 terminal appointed in our instructions (i.e., you have selected the option NO PICKUP REQUIRED), then upon receipt of our email with instructions, please pay extreme attention to the terminal address, the contact information, and:

• Suppose the order is delivered directly to an ocean carrier terminal, commonly referred to as a Container Freight Station (CFS). In that case, the CARRIER BOOKING NUMBER IS THE KEY NUMBER that recognizes and accepts the order at the CFS. Do not confuse the AMID customer reference number with the CARRIER 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 throughout the entire transportation process. Then, when you receive our instructions, they always contain TWO unique numbers that are tied together and apply to a single shipment. For example: REF# US200126CL; CARRIER BOOKING# CELUS/SIN20020021.
  
  
• If the order is delivered to a U.S. domestic line haul terminal (LH) for ground transportation within the USA to a CFS, your key document is a U.S. domestic LTL bill of lading. The LTL bill of lading will be attached to our email, along with our instructions, in a PDF file.
  
  Line haul terminals are listed in our calculator in lowercase WITH an asterisk, such as Akron, OH*.

Ensure that the LTL Bill of Lading or delivery order includes the ocean carrier booking number, which serves as the key reference for identifying your shipment at the CFS. Do not confuse the booking number with AMID Logistics' 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 CARRIER'S BOOKING NUMBER will recognize your order at CFS, and CFS will accept the load for transportation from the USA to your destination country.

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

Always be able to provide POD.

If you use a third-party trucking company for your cargo delivery, such as FedEx Ground, 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 request a formal Proof of Delivery (POD) from the trucking company, which includes a signed copy. Online tracking does not consider POD.

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

If a shipper cannot provide a formal Proof of Delivery (POD), warehouses may reject any claims and will not initiate an investigation into missing cargo.

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

Some of our new customers request that we accept several deliveries. They need to consolidate all the deliveries into a single 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 a US address where all orders should be delivered. After that, you must combine all the orders at the address to deliver from the U.S. abroad.

Regarding LCL service, this means you want us to accept multiple U.S. domestic deliveries at a particular ocean carrier terminal (CFS, Container Freight Station) for consolidation into a single LCL shipment.

Yes, we do that all the time. Such international shipments are referred to as "shipping partial cargo." However, partial cargo is suitable for relatively sizable loads. Do not confuse LCL partial cargo with consolidating small packages into boxes, such as MyUS.com, etc.

If all the above meet your needs, you should be aware of certain conditions and limitations.

Conditions and Limitations in Partial Cargo.

PARTIAL SHIPMENTS MUST BE APPROVED IN ADVANCE!

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

• PARTIAL SHIPMENTS ARE LIMITED BY 3-5 DELIVERIES WITHIN 20 DAYS (IF CFS FREE STORAGE TIME ALLOWS THAT) to the same ocean carrier terminal (CFS) under the same carrier booking number. If the number of approved deliveries and/or the time limit is exceeded, significant storage, handling, documentation, etc., charges will apply.
  Please remember that each delivery, whether large or small, requires the same level of attention in handling. That is why we limit the number of orders delivered to a maximum of 3-5 per shipment. Increasing the number becomes time-consuming and sharply increases the risk of operational mistakes. If you need to collect and combine multiple deliveries, consider searching for a US-based agent who can handle this task. We do not offer this service.
• Partial shipments are subject to a partial cargo fee of $35 per additional delivery, in addition to the first delivery. Fees may also apply for CFS storage, handling, documentation, and other related services.
• If you use a third-party trucking company for your cargo deliveries, you must always be able to provide a formal Proof of Delivery (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!: Partial shipments 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 know the CFS may reject deliveries without the CARRIER BOOKING NUMBER on delivery orders?
6. Do you know that the $35 fee will apply to every additional delivery, in addition to the first delivery?

Also, please remember that shipping partially does not mean that CFSs will track, check out, and match the shipper's orders. Content checks in deliveries are NOT permitted.

CFSs should inform the shipper about each delivery by providing warehouse receipts using the same booking number. They should also provide pictures of each delivery, in addition to warehouse receipts, when possible. Partial cargo refers to accepting loads under the same carrier booking number, storing, palletizing, and transporting them to the destination under a single bill of lading, subject to the shipper's approval.

Please note that some international ocean carriers do not support partial deliveries. Once again, sending a partial shipment must be approved in advance!

If AMID Logistics did not approve a partial shipment before providing shipping instructions, then every load delivered to CFS will be processed as a single shipment.

Please contact us for more information regarding procedures for partial cargo shipments.

Storage at carriers' warehouses (CFSs)

With regular LCL shipments, each delivery to a CFS is booked under one unique AMID reference and the carrier's booking number. If all export paperwork is in order, the CFS will do its best to process deliveries and ship them out of the U.S. as soon as possible without any additional notice.

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

Saint George Logistics terminal in Los Angeles (LAX) DOES NOT SUPPORT PARTIAL CARGO due to minimal 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 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, regardless of circumstances. The export storage rates will be invoiced as follows:

• Export storage free time: 1-21 days. To avoid storage, cargo must be loaded in a container. Storage is billed from day 1 once it exceeds 21 days.
• 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.