In the current climate in the freight industry so many people and businesses find themselves running into problems. This is due to the backlog of goods in the system post Covid-19 pandemic. Some are finding their goods are being delayed, held up at ports or just unavailable to get out of the country. Some are looking at much more expensive means to get their goods out quickly such as air freight which is an excellent alternative, however another option is shipping by LCL.
LCL shipping is an acronym used in logistics, this means “Less than Container-Load.” LCL shipping is used when a single shipper’s goods do not completely fill an entire container. When this happens, in order to fill an entire container, space in the container is split between orders.
The key benefit in shipping LCL is that companies often offer fixed departure times with guaranteed cargo space on the most important routes. The overall cost is substantially cheaper than FCL and there are no added warehousing costs when the goods arrive. You ship what you need when you need it.
With FCL shipping there is the added benefit that the breakdown of costs is cheaper as more is shipped economies of scale applies. However, said that, the cost will increase when it comes to storage of the goods. In the current climate there is also no guarantees of when your full container will be lifted and sent, unlike LCL shipments that have a guaranteed agreed shipping time.
TCB Group are specialists in LCL shipping. We highly recommend given the current shipping crisis we find ourselves in that shipping less more frequently is a much better alternative for current supply chains. Even when discussing with our customers the cost saving of storage per pallet beyond the goods being shipped is enormous. It also keeps a more consistent flow for your supply chain, ensuring customer demand is met without too much being left over.
Due to our network and office hubs, we are able to ship LCL to more locations than ever before giving our customers truly unrivalled global coverage.
Contact us today for more information on shipping LCL!