Beginners guide to exporting

Beginners guide to exporting

One of the most daunting aspects of transport is taking the step from selling cargo domestically to exporting on an international level.

There are different types of freight and I won't go into too much detail of each topic to try and keep things from becoming too complicated. It is a beginners guide of course!

The main types of exporting would be: Seafreight, Airfreight and Roadfreight.

Roadfreight would be most appropriate for exporting cargo over short distances. For example, from the UK to Europe. It may only involve a pallet or two or it may be a huge piece of kit that would be larger than could fit on a normal trailer. This would be an abnormal load.

Airfreight is suitable for smaller pieces of cargo that are more urgent.

Seafreight is the most economical way of sending cargo over long distances.

Even at the negotiation stage, you need to know about Incoterms as this can have a knock on effect on things. It may be ex-works and you have nothing to do. It could be DDP and you would be responsible for the lot. It may be somewhere in between like FOB or CFR.

If you are exporting outside of free trade (for example outside of the EU) then you would need to consider customs clearance and the documentation.

Examples of docs may be Bills of lading for Seafreight and Air Way Bills for Airfreight. You would be responsible for ensuring the information is correct as failing to do so may cause problems when trying to get the cargo at the country where you would be delivering it to.