Shipping means “transporting freight by ship” but it has also come to have a wider meaning because container shipping companies may well provide shipping services but are also going to be using road haulage and air shipping services to fulfil the service to the customer.
There are a number of types of ships used for moving freight around on the world’s oceans, and the differences between them depends on the types of cargo and the needs of the customers either private individuals or import and export companies with goods that differ in size, fragility and hazardous nature.
There are four different types of cargo ship:
• Container ships that have their cargo packed into standard sized metal containers of 20’ or 40’ that can stack together either below decks or on top of the deck. Containers are moved off the ship by specialised cranes and lifted onto trucks or rail wagons for onward transport. Container shipping services companies organise the logistics of moving the goods from client premises to destinations.
• Roll-on/Roll/off ships will carry both loaded road haulage Lorries and passenger vehicles.
• General cargo ships will carry packed cargo of different kinds.
• Bulk cargo carriers will carry loose commodities such as coal or iron ore or food in bulk such as wheat.
Merchant ships operate in two ways. There are liner ships with fixed rountes and itineraries with standard costs (these are usually the container ships and roll on roll off ships, and Charter (or tramp vessels0 that take goods on behalf of the customer for a charter fee.

A freight forwarder is the company that arranges the movement of goods for companies exporting and importing by finding out the requirements of the business and then plan the most efficient way of transport, whether road or rail haulage, air freight of shipping lines.
You will need to shortlist your possible freight forwarders by the experience they have with the routes and countries you are interested in as well as the types of goods your company produces. It you have specific needs (such as refrigerated containers) ask a company that uses such services for a recommendation. Your checklist of questions to ask your shortlisted company should include the ancillary provision they have and the level of charges, their trading history and references and the overall costs of their services/ You will also want to know how their customer service works – how willing they are to help you in the process of working abroad and work with to help you succeed.
The factors that affect overall costs include which mode of transport is chosen – for example, air freight is very quick but also significantly more expensive than other modes of transport. How far the goods have to travel is obviously a factor, and how far off the beaten track the destination may be. These distance costs are, of course, a knock-on effect of rising fuel prices. How heavy and how big your good are is a major factor – for smaller cubic metreage (between one and six cubic metres) the charge is for weight and then adds a premium for volume above that level. Sometimes the cost will be based on the overall value per tonne of the goods. There are also differences in the kinds of contract available – per shipment or annual. There is a lot to consider before choosing.

You may want to start a business importing goods from abroad – perhaps you find a source of lower-priced goods, or a product new to the market but whatever it is the quality of the supplier is important and there are a range of factors to consider. Probably the most important is whether you have the time to commit to the various aspects of development your company will need in order to import if only for a one-off transaction, but if you are basing your business around importing then time needs to be spent in researching the best suppliers and building up the range of relationships, for example, with shipping companies or others in order to make your business a success.
Before you make any kind of arrangements you need to know not only whether the goods will actually fit a gap in the market but also whether the goods meet UK legal requirements or need an import licence.
You will also need to know whether your supplier will expect you to manage the process of getting the goods through UK customs and whether you will have to plan the transport of your goods say, from the UK port to your premises. A list of the costs that are incurred for transport, customs duties, insurance and taxes need to be made so you can begin to plan a costing system for the goods you are importing and check whether there is, in fact, profit margin to be made.

Companies new to the export market may well not put enough planning into the different types of packaging their good may well need in comparison to packaging for the home market. The kinds of movements goods go through on and off from different types of carrier put a great deal of stress on packaging and if companies want their goods to arrive in excellent condition to the end user, it is worthwhile planning this into the process from the outset – and there are companies that will specialise in giving advice on appropriate packaging as well as appropriate labelling fulfilling all the requirements of the process of handling and for correct identification by the carrier and the countries they will be exported to.
Packaging for export will include goods that remain unpacked –such as vehicles which just need to be carefully stowed, boxes and crates are very popular, and usually stored on pallets for easy movement and shrink wrapped. Then there are drums for dry powders or liquids. In order to make transport more efficient and also to protect goods, packaged goods are often containerised in metal boxes usually around 6 metres by 2.4m wide. These containers not only give extra protection to packaged goods, but also offer much greater security from theft. Container shipping companies will also offer part-container consignments, so making the process more economical for small-scale export.

It is crucial that businesses are able to control their costs and also focus their efforts on key business systems such as the quality of their products and the excellence of their customer services. More and more companies are looking at the benefits of outsourcing the logistics portion of their supply chain management. Why? What are the benefits?
1. Outsourcing logistics is Cost Effective
Employee costs are a major and increasing part of company costs, and not having to pay their own employees to do the logistics means significant savings on administration costs and downtime.
2. Logistics companies have more negotiating power
The Third Party Logistics Company has a great deal more negotiating power with the individual carriers than a single company can have, so they get better rates for haulage and for storage as well as having more contacts in a wider field.
3. Outsourcing gives greater information control
Third party logistics companies will have a comprehensive information system holding together a great deal of very different information about the processes of the supply chain and modes of transport – so their service can be considerable streamlined.
4. With 3PL there is greater control of shipments
As the companies monitor both the originator company and the buyer with a range of overseas contacts there is enhanced confidence of shipment control going to plan with any problems and issues carefully monitored.
However, a 3PL company cannot benefit a business unless they are able to keep the standards already expected by their clients, so considerable research is needed before finally choosing a company.