Shipping LCL

When to ship Less than Container Load (LCL) can be a big question. Depending on the commodity choosing LCL can be an extremely expensive way to ship your goods. Not as expensive as airfreight, but steamship lines do charge by the weight or measure depending on which is more, and there are still additional charges just as a full 20ft or 40ft container would have. There is also a minimum charge if you do not have a full ton or cubic meter.

There are benefits to shipping LCL as well. Since it is shipped in a standard shipping container, it will have all of the protection that a container provides. Your cargo will not be left outside on the tarmac in a rainstorm and it will definitely not be as expensive as airfreight. If you are shipping regular shipments it will be more cost effective to find a consolidator and send your cargo via groupage shipments. Since groupage and LCL are essentially the same thing without the high cost of going directly with the steamship line, many companies will use this as an alternative to LCL.

Most companies will be all right with shipping LCL on occasion, usually when there is no other option and they need the goods to ship as soon as possible. For regular shipments though there are better ways. Although LCL is more expensive, it is always better than shipping a full container that is mostly empty. This is how LCL has found its place in the shipping industry.