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LCL Shipping: Freight Rates, Containers & Quotes

Published

3 heures ago

6 juillet 2026

There comes a point in every shipper’s life when they start daydreaming about container interior dimensions and consolidation centers.

Well, maybe not daydreaming. But at least realizing that it’s time to decide if LCL shipping is right for them.

If you have smaller freight shipments, take a look at this guide to learn all about LCL shipping. This guide will cover what it costs, how long it takes, how LCL compares to other modes, and more.

You’re one step closer to getting your goods moving.

LCL Shipping Quote

With Freightos, you have the power to access an instant LCL (Less than Container Load) shipping quote. Utilize the Freight Rate calculator below to calculate your LCL shipping costs in seconds!

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LCL Shipping Costs

LCL cost is calculated primarily by volume, usually in cubic meters (CBM). The more space you need, the more you pay.

Weight is also taken into account when determining LCL shipping costs, but because container ships can handle huge amounts of weight, volume usually matters more to overall costs.

LCL price Quotes from freight forwarders include the following:

Pickup: The cost of picking up your shipment from the warehouse or factory.

Origin: LCL shipments need to be loaded onto containers along with other shipments, or consolidated, at a Container Freight Station, or CFS. This is sometimes referred to as container stuffing.

Main leg: The cost of the sea journey. Although this is the main leg of the shipment, it may not be the most expensive part. In certain instances, charges at the CFS can be very significant because they require significant machine and manpower.

Destination: At arrival in the destination country, LCL shipments need to stop at a CFS for deconsolidation, or unstuffing.

Delivery: The cost of trucking your goods to the destination warehouse.

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What is LCL shipping?

LCL stands for less than a container load and describes sea shipping for cargo loads not large enough to fill a full 20ft or 40ft shipping container.

Since LCL shipments fill less than a full 20ft or 40ft shipping container, these are grouped with other cargo. This is why LCL shipments are sometimes called groupage shipments.

What is a loose cargo load?

A loose cargo load, while sometimes confused with LCL, is a load that is not palletized. This term can apply to shipments that do not require palletization and/or cannot be containerized due to their dimensions.

Sometimes loose cargo is used to describe goods that simply have not been palletized yet. Almost all carriers require palletization of goods to avoid damage and allow for smoother loading and unloading.

The benefits and drawbacks of shipping LCL:

When you ship LCL, you pay only for the volume you need – not a flat rate as with FCL.
Shipping fewer goods more frequently means spending less on inventory warehousing space.
LCL is cheaper than air freight, so if you have some spare time to wait for your shipment, you can lower shipping costs.
When container capacity is limited, for example during peak shipping season or during other periods of high shipping volume, LCL can be easier to find and faster than FCL.

Of course, no shipping solution is perfect. Here are the main drawbacks to LCL shipping:

LCL shipments need to be loaded and unloaded from containers, which adds a few days to the journey.
LCL shipments are more expensive per cubic meter than FCL – sometimes even twice as much.
Other shipments’ customs delays may cause your goods to be delayed along with them.
LCL goods are handled more, which increases the chances of damage or loss.

LCL or Air Cargo: Shipping Rates

This is a question we often get from from importers and exporters: If you have a small shipment, should you ship by LCL or air?

The answer is that it largely depends on how quickly you need your goods – and how much you’re willing to pay.

Let’s say you’re shipping 500 hockey pucks from Shanghai to Los Angeles (that’s approximately 0.06 CBM and 85 kg in case you were wondering).

These aren’t accurate rates, but let’s say that if you ship the hockey pucks by LCL, it costs about $400 and by air, it’s $600.

Now let’s double it to 1,000 hockey pucks. LCL is now $475, but air has jumped to $900.

Doubled again, 2,000 hockey pucks is still $475 on LCL, but air is all the way up to $1,570.

As shipment size and weight increase, air rates rise dramatically faster than LCL rates. Increases in weight are even more impactful.

On the other hand, an air shipment is much faster: in this example, your shipment would take 7-9 days by air, and 25-30 days by LCL. Again, these are not exact transit time but are illustrative of the differences between air cargo and LCL shipping.

Here are a few tips for choosing between air and LCL:

When you ship LCL, you will be charged for a minimum of 1 CBM. That means if you have a shipment smaller than that, you won’t get a lower price.
Air and LCL costs are both calculated by both weight and volume. But for air, weight is the more important factor – that is, relatively small weight increases mean much higher prices. On the other hand, for LCL, space makes a bigger difference than weight. Bottom line: LCL will be much cheaper for heavier goods.
Air freight prices and transit times do not vary much based on the destination city. For example, air freight from Shanghai to Los Angeles will be roughly the same in cost and time as air freight from Shanghai to New York. However, for LCL, this difference in distance will increase both cost and transit time.

LCL or FCL

LCL is great for small loads, but sometimes it’s worth paying for a full container even if you don’t have enough to fill it.

Why?

Because LCL costs more per CBM than FCL. So once a shipment hits a certain volume, an entire container could be the better choice. For a slightly higher price, you’ll get the benefits of shipping FCL, including faster transit time and lower chances of damage.

One caveat: if you’re shipping to an Amazon warehouse, it’s often easier to get an appointment to drop off LCL shipments. So even if you save money by shipping FCL, you might end up with extra demurrage and detention charges due to warehouse appointment delays.

So what’s the tipping point?

It depends on your shipment’s dimensions, but generally speaking, once volume hits around 10 CBM, you might start to consider FCL.

Additional LCL Fees

Labeling and Palletization for Amazon Shippers

If you are shipping your goods to an Amazon FBA warehouse, you will need to have them labeled and palletized according to Amazon’s requirements.

Having your factory label your boxes is the most efficient option, and generally, palletizing at the factory is cheaper than at the consolidation center. However, before having your supplier palletize, make sure they’re familiar with Amazon’s standards and requirements so you don’t get charged extra LCL fees.

Customs Bonds

Any time you import to the US, you’ll need to set up a customs bond, which is essentially insurance for Customs and Border Patrol in the event your company does not pay.

If you ship infrequently, choose a singly-entry bond. For frequent shippers, an annual bond will likely be worth it.

Duties and Taxes

Duties and taxes are calculated by Customs and Border Patrol when your goods arrive at port, but you can estimate in advance how much you will owe and calculate your LCL fees more accurately.

What paperwork do I need for my LCL shipment?

For the rundown on all the paperwork you’ll need to ship LCL, head on over to our key freight documents guide.

How long does LCL shipping take?

Sea shipping generally takes approximately 6-10 weeks, depending on your origin and destination. LCL tends to take slightly longer than FCL due to consolidation and deconsolidation.

Expert tips for getting the best LCL shipping rates

1. Request quotes from multiple freight forwarders.

Having multiple quotes will not only allow you to choose the best price. It will also give you insight into market rates and help you better understand LCL shipping rates and charges. That is, sometimes you’ll get a quote that is way above or below market LCL shipping rates – but you won’t know unless you have a range of quotes to compare.

2. Don’t forget to take pallet dimensions into account.

Suppliers always provide box dimensions for your goods, but make sure to also request dimensions including pallets. Pallets take up container space – space you’ll be charged for.

3. Remember that fragile goods might need more space, and therefore cost more.

In most LCL shipments, pallets are stacked in order to maximize container space. But if you’re shipping flatscreen TVs, you won’t want anything stacked on top of them. That means costs will be higher because your shipment leaves less room in the container for other packages.

4. Avoid hidden LCL charges and fees by booking port-to-door or door-to-door service with your freight forwarder.

The day might come when you get an LCL quote that seems impossibly cheap. What could be bad about that?

Well, it could turn out that LCL charges you thought were included were in fact not part of the quote.

To prevent this, Sandeep Bhalotia, CEO of logistics provider PlanYourCargo, recommends booking port-to-door or door-to-door service for LCL. “You might get a discount at the origin, but if service to the door is not included, the discount might be offset with high charges at the destination,” he explains. “A quote that includes service to your door means all charges are validated in advance.”

5. Understand the interior dimensions of the container.

A 20ft container is not actually 20 feet – at least not from the inside. Make sure you know containers’ interior dimensions to understand how much container space you really need – and help decide if LCL or FCL is right for you.

6. If you’re an Amazon FBA shipper, know your warehouse guidelines.

Amazon FBA has strict warehouse guidelines and these sometimes change. If you know what the requirements are, you can often arrange to have your supplier take care of them, which saves you money down the line.

LCL Freight: How to ship LCL cargo on Freightos.com

If you choose to book your LCL cargo shipment on Freightos.com, we’ll take care of a lot of the confusing and time-consuming details. For example:

When you enter your LCL freight shipment volume and weight on the platform, our tool will send you a message if it’s worth considering FCL.
Because Freightos.com is a marketplace, you’ll be able to choose from a variety of Quotes in real time. No need for phone tag – and you’ll understand freight market rates at a glance.
We offer you insurance and customs solutions while you book your shipment.
You’ll be able to track your LCL freight shipment right on the Freightos.com platform and communicate with your freight forwarder throughout your shipment’s journey.

Watch the full LCL webinar

Prefer to get your LCL info video-style? You’re in luck.

Watch our full LCL webinar right here:

The post LCL Shipping: Freight Rates, Containers & Quotes appeared first on Freightos.

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FBA Calculator: Amazon Shipping Calculator

Published

1 heure ago

6 juillet 2026

How to Estimate Amazon Freight Rates

Calculating potential Amazon FBA freight costs? This Amazon FBA shipping calculator returns shipping estimates from the supplier address, or nearest port, shipping directly to Amazon fulfillment centers. This tool is perfect for freight forwarders. Not shipping to an Amazon warehouse? Use our general freight rate calculator. Check estimated transit times with our freight transit time calculator. Find a list of Amazon FBA Fulfillment Centers with this map of Amazon FBA warehouse locations.

Select whether you are shipping full containers or boxes/pallets.

Enter your load dimensions, weight, quantities, origin, and Amazon fulfillment center.

Search!

About the Amazon FBA Shipping Calculator

Use this Amazon FBA Calculator, specially designed for Amazon FBA shipments, to calculate shipping costs from your supplier’s factory to an Amazon fulfillment center location. Amazon has strict requirements regarding international shipments and Freightos has built these requirements into its quoting process.

Unlike any other freight rate estimator, Freightos’ freight rate calculator and Amazon FBA calculator use real freight data to calculate instant, all-in freight quotes, including surcharges and freight costs. This calculation takes into account dimensional weight. Our data is based on live freight rates from dozens of global freight forwarders, helping us provide you with accurate, real-time quotes.

What’s Included in the Amazon FBA Shipping Calculator

The Amazon Shipping Calculator includes all fees and surcharges available for trucking, air and ocean shipping. It does not include customs duties associated with specific commodities. Since this estimator is unique in that it relies on live data from real freight companies, it may not have global coverage for every route you search.

If you’re looking for fully binding quotes that you can book online, check out the Freightos Marketplace.

The post FBA Calculator: Amazon Shipping Calculator appeared first on Freightos.

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Unifying the Freightos Identity – ONE Freightos: Building One Company

Published

2 heures ago

6 juillet 2026

Global supply chains are becoming increasingly digital, AI is accelerating how work gets done, and customers are no longer looking for standalone software to solve individual problems. They increasingly expect connected platforms that bring together data, workflows, and decision-making across the entire freight lifecycle.

That shift requires a different kind of technology partner.

Over the past several months, we have been evolving our operation as a company. We have simplified decision-making, strengthened accountability, aligned teams around shared priorities, and focused our investments behind a common vision. Internally, we call this ONE Freightos.

Today, our external identity is evolving to reflect that same reality.

Bringing our products together under a single Freightos brand is not simply a branding exercise. It is the natural next step in building one company, and delivering an interconnected digital ecosystem where data and workflows operate seamlessly. .

An Evolution of Scale: Matching the Industry’s Shifting Needs

Over the past decade, Freightos has built one of the world’s largest digital freight networks, connecting carriers, freight forwarders, importers, exporters, and logistics providers across global trade.

Along the way, we expanded our capabilities through innovation, strategic acquisitions, and the development of specialized products serving different parts of the freight ecosystem.

Those products have been successful because they solve meaningful customer problems.

But as the industry evolves, customers increasingly expect something bigger than individual solutions.

They want a trusted technology partner that helps them make better decisions, connect more easily with trading partners, automate more workflows, and operate more efficiently across the entire logistics journey.

That is exactly where Freightos is headed.

Our ambition is not simply to offer great logistics software. Our ambition is to build the connected platform where procurement, pricing, booking, payments, data, and decision intelligence work together to help customers move freight more efficiently.

Brand unification is an important milestone on that journey.

A Simpler Experience for Customers

As our capabilities have grown, so has the number of brands representing different parts of our business.

Each of these brands has built deep trust within its respective segment. However, as these capabilities become more interconnected, bringing our portfolio together under the Freightos name makes it easier for our partners to unlock the full value of our network. This creates a simpler and more consistent experience making it easier for customers to understand who we are, what we offer, and how our solutions work together as a platform.

To support that vision, our products will now clearly reflect the customers they serve:

Freightos for Forwarders – our digital platform for freight forwarders, bringing together Rate & Quote, Booking, Sales Portal, Payments, and other workflow solutions under a single experience.

Freightos for Airlines – our technology platform enabling airlines with digital distribution, interlining, eBooking, and payment capabilities.

7LFreight by Freightos – our North American domestic freight procurement platform. Given its strong market recognition, it will initially retain its identity while becoming more deeply connected to the Freightos platform before full integration.

Freightos Enterprise – our enterprise procurement, tender management, and market intelligence platform for multinational importers and exporters.

Freightos Marketplace – our marketplace connecting importers and exporters with freight forwarders through instant pricing, booking, and shipment management.

Our public digital presence is now centered around freightos.com, providing a single destination to discover our platform and solutions.

For existing customers, nothing changes operationally. Accounts, logins, integrations, contracts, and workflows remain exactly as they are today.

Built Around the Success of Forwarders

Throughout this evolution, one principle remains unchanged.

Freightos succeeds when our customers succeed.

That is especially true for the freight forwarding community, which remains at the center of our strategy.

Everything we build is designed to help forwarders work more efficiently, connect with more carriers, automate more of their operations, and deliver better experiences to their own customers.

By bringing our capabilities together, we can deliver greater value than any individual product could on its own.

More Than a New Brand

This announcement is about much more than a new name or a new website.

It reflects the company Freightos has become—and the company we are continuing to build.

ONE Freightos is our operating model. It is how we execute, how we innovate, and how we create value for customers.

By bringing our products, teams, and customer experience together under one identity, we can focus our investments, accelerate innovation, simplify engagement, and deliver an increasingly connected experience across global freight.

Our vision remains clear.

To build the platform that connects the global freight ecosystem through better data, smarter workflows, and more intelligent decision-making.

This brand evolution is another important milestone on that journey.

And we’re just getting started.

The post Unifying the Freightos Identity – ONE Freightos: Building One Company appeared first on Freightos.

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Air Waybill (AWB): Meaning, Number, Types, and Examples

Published

2 heures ago

6 juillet 2026

What is an air waybill (AWB)?

An air waybill, also called an air consignment note, is a required shipping document for air freight. It contains detailed information about your shipment and allows it to be tracked.

An AWB is a legally binding document when signed by all relevant parties.

Here is some of the information found in an AWB:

Carrier details
Consignor/shipper details
Consignee/receiver details
Origin airport code
Destination airport code
Quantity of items (number of packages or pallets)
Description of goods (weight, dimensions, condition)
HS code
Value of goods for customs clearance
Special handling instruction, if required
Payment information and shipping charges
Insurance details
Contract terms and conditions
Date, time, and place of contract execution
An 11-digit number

What is an air waybill used for?

Used for both domestic and international air freight forwarding, the AWB serves a number of functions:

Invoice or bill of freight
Contract between carrier and shipper
Proof of receipt by the carrier
Certificate of insurance for air freight
Essential document for customs declaration
Instrument to convey handling instructions

How can you get an air waybill?

For air shipments, the carrier and freight forwarders provide the air waybills. If you are an importer or exporter, your freight forwarder will share the air waybill with you.

Every international air waybill is issued in at least eight sets of different colors:

Green: Carrier’s copy
Blue: Shipper’s copy
Pink: Receiver’s copy
Yellow or Brown: Receipt of goods
White: 4 or more copies for various purposes, such as customs and airport

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What is an air waybill number?

An air waybill number (AWB number) is a unique identification code used to track your shipment. It is an 11-digit number divided into three parts. Here’s an air waybill example:

AWB NUMBER
11-digits
99953729071

First three digits
Carrier / Airline prefix
999

Next seven digits
Serial number of AWB
5372907

Last digit
Check digit. This number is equal to the remainder when the 7-digit serial number is divided by 7. For example, when 5372907 is divided by 7, the remainder is 1.
1

What are the different types of air waybills?

There are two types of air waybills: master air waybill (MAWB) and house air waybill (HAWB).

A MAWB is issued by a carrier to a freight forwarder. It can include a number of different shipments because when freight forwarders book freight with a carrier, they consolidate shipments and book them together. The MAWB is the forwarder’s contract with the carrier for all of those shipments.

A HAWB is issued by the freight forwarder to each individual importer or exporter after their shipment is picked up. It includes only their specific goods.

Here are some more details about these different types of air waybills:

Master Air Waybill (MAWB)
House Air Waybill (HAWB)

Has the airline or carrier’s logo
Does not have the carrier logo

Issued by the actual carrier or their agent
Issued by the freight forwarder

States the terms and conditions of the carrier
States the terms and conditions of the forwarding company

Contains only one number: the MAWB number
Contains two numbers: HAWB and MAWB

Adheres to IATA rules or any of the international air conventions
May or may not be subject to regulations put forth by IATA or other international air conventions

Air waybill vs bill of lading

An air waybill is similar to a bill of lading (BoL): both are contracts issued by freight carriers. However, air waybills are used only for air freight and bills of lading are used for ocean freight as well as rail and other freight.

Here are some more differences between an air waybill and bill of lading:

Air Waybill (AWB)
Bill of Lading (BoL)

Used for air freight
Used for ocean, road, and rail freight

Non-negotiable
Can be negotiable or non-negotiable

Signed by shipper and carrier
Signed by shipper, carrier, and receiver

Acts as a legal contract of carriage
Acts as a title and receipt of delivered goods

Not used with Incoterms: FAS, FOB, CIF, and CFR
Can be used with all incoterms