What Is International Shipping and How Does It Work?

Did you know that in the European Union, over 80% of exports are from shipping accounts?

In 2019, the global international trade value for shipping was over $14 trillion.

If you’ve ever wanted to ship something overseas, you’ve probably used a complex sequence of international shipping services to complete your tasks.

Usually, we drop off the package with some information and forget about the process. Most people are unaware of how international shipping actually works. But your package will exchange many hands along its journey to its destination.

So what is international shipping all about?

In this article, we will walk you through everything you need to know about international shipping and what it takes to get your product to a customer overseas.

How Long Will International Shipping Take?

Ultimately, the amount of time it takes for a package to be shipped depends on the type of freight service and the overall weight of the package. In general, shipping internationally can be as fast as two days and as slow as four weeks or more.

On average, cargo shipped through the air reaches its destination faster, typically just a few days. Conversely, moving large amounts of freight and major shipments by sea takes weeks or longer. This is because sea-born cargo needs to be packaged carefully with other major shipments one or more times during the haul.

The freight will need to be moved from its destination to the next warehouse at port and then depart to the local border.

Then the package will travel through export customs clearance. There are certain restrictions by country on what can be exported.

Transportation to the destination country and import customs clearance will then occur. They ask the same types of questions about the shipment to provide the government with the specifics of your package for trade analysis.

Finally, the importing country will haul your package to its end destination.

Overall, this can be a long process. It’s best to allot several weeks to make a large shipment. You may need more time if it is a larger shipment traveling by sea or on ground.

What You Need to Do

Ultimately, you need to have the information necessary to provide the international freight shipper. This includes starting and final destinations, and customs information.

You should think about hiring a customs broker to help with the critical stage of customs clearance of internationally shipped products.

Customs brokers have extensive expertise with moving international freight shipments. They know exactly what you need to pass, how to answer customs questions, and make your shipment transparent to local and foreign governments.

Finally, you should track your shipment to make sure that it is on track and will meet its final destination on time.

So What Is International Shipping?

The question remains: what is international shipping?

At the end of the day, packages need to go through two sets of customs patrols and many hands before they reach their final destination. It can take anywhere from 2 days to multiple months.

First, you and the shipping agency will need to collect necessary details about weight, declarations, and destination and return details. Then the package will go through foreign customs clearance with this information and use an end-stage logistic service to reach the destination on time.

If you enjoyed this article about how international shipping works, please check out our other articles on soulmete.com!