Qingdao, China is home to many global suppliers, but from Qingdao shipping to USA is not always straightforward. Shipping from China to USA can be an expensive and time-consuming affair. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with standard shipping cost and time estimates to avoid mistakes.
From Qingdao shipping to USA: What Methods Are Available to You? You have several options when shipping from Qingdao to the US. The main three are: air, sea, express transportation. We will focus on the first two options, air and sea.
From Qingdao shipping to USA by air
By choosing air freight when shipping from Qingdao shipping to USA, you can ship products from the factory to your warehouse, or anywhere you want in a matter of days.
Currently, only 5% of the world’s cargo is transported by air, but it accounts for 30% of its value. This means more valuable items are shipped by air.
If your product is valuable or time is of the essence to you, then shipping by air will be your best option.
The thing you should realize by now is that it is much more expensive. But the speed at which your shipment arrives in the U.S. may be more important.
A strategy used by some merchants, especially start-up Amazon sellers, is to have a small percentage of their shipments, say 5% to 10%, ship by air and the rest by sea. This allows their store to have a small amount available even though the rest is in transit.
From Qingdao shipping to USA by air process
Air shipping from China is very simple and requires minimal action on your part. Here is a simplified process:
● You get the services of a freight company.
● You provide details of your shipment to the shipping company, including your suppliers.
● According to the arrangement with the supplier, the goods are delivered to the airport.
● The freight company will be responsible for export clearance.
● The cargo was loaded onto the plane and flown to an airport in the United States.
● The goods are unloaded and passed through customs.
● The goods are then shipped to the consignee address and taxes and customs charges are paid.
From Qingdao shipping to USA by sea freight
Ocean freight is one of the most popular shipping methods for shipping from Qingdao to the United States, which is a key way for goods from Qingdao shipping to USA. If the following conditions are met, ocean shipping will be your best choice:
Your suppliers are located near major ports in China
Your shipment is greater than 2 CBM
you are in no hurry to receive them
FCL and LCL shipping
You can ship your goods by FCL and LCL shipping methods. There are many factors you need to consider when from Qingdao shipping to USA.
A standard 40-foot container can hold 22 standard pallets, and a 20-foot container can hold 10 pallets.
If you are shipping a lot of cargo and can fill a container, it makes sense to choose FCL (Full Container Load). Another advantage of full container loading is that your items are kept separate from other importers.
On the other hand, LCL (Less than a Container Load) refers to the transportation of your goods within a container that shares space with other goods.
If you’re comfortable with that, LCL shipping (also known as LCL) offers a more economical way to ship small quantities of goods that are less than half the volume of a full box.
The process of shipping from Qingdao shipping to USA by sea
● The first part of the process is to transfer the goods from the supplier to the freight forwarder’s location.
● The next part will be customs clearance. This is required for each port depending on the country where the supplier is located (in this case, China).
● Customs clearance will be handled by a licensed broker.
● The next step will be to handle and load other cargo in preparation for the actual shipping.
● The freight forwarder will then select the shipping, which will handle the actual shipping from one port to another. They usually do this according to the schedule required to deliver the goods.
● Once the cargo arrives at a U.S. port, it must go through import clearance.
● Now, the cargo must be unloaded from the ship, separated from other cargo, and prepared so that the consignee can then pick it up.
The shipment can now be delivered to you, or you can arrange to send it directly to another location, such as an Amazon FBA fulfillment center.
Do you need to hire a freight forwarder?
From Qingdao shipping to USA is a complex process, which is why businesses of all sizes choose to use freight forwarders to help them get their goods from A to B.
Experienced freight forwarders like us at Xiongda know very well what it takes to ship your cargo from one country to another, and we can service your cargo door to door, port to port or anything in between.
