Choosing between air and sea for international transportation isn’t always a straightforward decision. The prevailing assumption is that air is always the more expensive option, although when you factor time into the equation that assumption isn’t always accurate. Here are five scenarios where airfreight makes sense:
- When time is of the essence. When you need that shipment of parts quickly to avoid delays and losses, airfreight is the right choice.
- When it’s a rush job. Critical equipment breaks downs, items promised are delayed at the factory, and important demonstration meetings are moved up. You can use airfreight to circumvent these challenges and get back on track.
- To move smaller loads of high-value components. Shipping small numbers of expensive circuit boards or electronics via airfreight often makes sense both domestically and globally.
- To move less than a container load. A 40-foot container typically holds the contents of an average size house plus two cars. If your goods don’t fill the container – and if you can’t share the extra space with another company – consider airfreight instead.
- When your shipments are heavy, but compact. Carriers use volume weight conversion to compute airfreight either on actual weight or dimensional size. Because of space constraints (versus weight constraints), smaller, heavier packages cost less to ship via airfreight compared to larger, lightweight ones.