Purchasing resources for Mineral Shipping

Shipping

If your business needs to send items from one location to another for any reason, you will need to choose a method of shipping. There are a number of available options, whether you need to ship large freight or small packages. Which option you ultimately choose should be the one that best fits your specific set of needs. Some of the available options take most of the logistics out of your hands, while others will require more of your company’s involvement. The following is a basic guide to the issues that you should consider when deciding how to handle your shipping needs.

Benefits

A lot goes into shipping freight, especially if you will be shipping overseas. You have to know the rules for each country you ship to, properly prepare the shipment, and calculate the costs involved.

An experienced shipping agency will already know how these things work, allowing you to avoid costly mistakes. Although you can negotiate with a shipping agency regarding the components you will pay for, the price is usually set at 110 percent of the CIF or CIP value.

Knowing the Rules

Each country has its own rules regarding imported goods. If you have a worldwide operation, then it will be important to work with a shipping agency that has experience shipping all over the world. An agency with vast shipping experience will already know the importing rules for each country. This could prevent you from incurring unnecessary fines or other fees.

Preparing the Shipment

A large shipment, especially one that is headed overseas, needs to be prepared properly to avoid loss or damage. An experienced shipping agency can pack your goods so that they arrive safely, ensure that they are labeled properly, and make sure they are documented and collected according to the standards of the country you are shipping to.

Collecting and Filling Out Documentation

Shipping can involve an extensive list of required documents, especially for exported goods. Required documentation can include air waybills, bills of lading, commercial invoices, consular invoices, certificates of origin, NAFTA certificates of origin, inspection certifications, dock receipts, warehouse receipts, destination control statements, Shipper’s Export Declarations, export licenses, export packing lists, and insurance certificates. An experienced agency can take care of all of this paperwork for you.

Calculating Costs

Shipping can involve many costs, including the cost of shipping materials, the actual cost of shipping, import and export fees, insurance, documentation costs, and handling fees charged by the shipping agency. An experienced shipping agency can help provide you with a list of quotes, allowing you to easily evaluate your options.

Pitfalls

Pitfalls of Shipping Options for Your Business

When it comes time for your company to ship merchandise or documents, you have several options. Drop shipping, freight service, delivery service, international shipping, and overnight shipping are some of those options. While each of these has marked benefits, there are also some pitfalls associated with shipping.

Overpricing

If you are ordering products from other companies, pay close attention to the shipping charges. Such charges are sometimes overinflated. By the same token, if you are doing the shipping, make sure you are charging a fair shipping price. A study by eBay.com revealed that customers are more likely to purchase an item with free shipping than an item that has shipping charges, even if the item with free shipping is a little more expensive.

Failure to Receive

When you ship items or have items shipped to you, it is important that you use a shipping method that includes proof of receipt. In most cases, these options are more expensive. However, if you do not obtain this proof, the recipient may cause problems by claiming that the item was never received, even if it was.

Cost of Gas

If you have your own shipping methods, such as your own courier service or a fleet of vehicles, the cost of gas can eat away at your profits if you don’t plan appropriately. In some cases, you may have to increase the base price of your goods to cover shipping. If you don’t want to do this, you may have to charge a shipping fee. Another option is to cover the cost of gas and still offer a lower price with the hope of gaining more customers to increase your profits.

Time in Transit

Unless you have your own shipping company, you likely won’t be able to control the transit time of packages. This can prove to be a huge pitfall, especially if your company deals with time-sensitive products or documents. This pitfall can affect any business. For example, a business that sells wedding dresses may have a deadline based on the wedding day. If the dress doesn’t arrive on schedule, the business may lose money and may gain a bad reputation. These types of problems occur regardless of whether the transit time was affected by internal or external factors.

Pricing

With the amount of goods that are shipped around the country, and indeed the world, by businesses today, it is important that shipping businesses use the most cost-efficient method of shipping possible. The most popular type of packaging is corrugated boxes, which are used by at least ninety-five percent of American businesses.

Corrugated Boxes

Also known as cardboard boxes, corrugated boxes come in virtually every size, making it easy for a business to select the size that it needs. They are cheaply priced and durable—ideal for carrying heavy items.

Size Limits

Many carriers place size and weight limits on the packages that they are willing to ship, which is something a company needs to consider when choosing a carrier. UPS and FedEx both have a maximum size of 165” by 108” with a maximum weight limit of 150 pounds. Without using LTL trucking, this is the largest size that can be shipped. LTL trucking does not put limits on the maximum size or weight, making it the only option for shipping very large items. The heavier the item, the more costly it will be to ship it.

Expedited Shipping

This method usually promises the delivery to be made within three to five business days, but it is also more expensive. Every company has its own set of shipping rates, but expedited shipping is usually twice as much as standard shipping.

Flat-Rate Shipping

Although this takes slightly longer, it can be more cost-efficient. The USPS now provides boxes that ship for flat rates, regardless of what you put in them. There is no weight limit; the items just have to fit in the box to be shipped at the flat-rate price. For domestic shipping, its smallest box starts at $5.20, and its largest box costs $14.95 to ship.

Conclusion

Whether you decide to take care of your shipping internally, use a professional shipping agency, or do some of both, there are clearly a number of things to consider. By using an experienced agency, you can avoid many potential problems. The agency will handle much of the logistics for you, which can save your company time and money. Of course, this also takes the process out of your hands, so things like transit times become less predictable. In the end, you will have to weigh the available options and choose the shipping methods that best fit the needs of your company.