Types of Freight

There are in general two main freight options. Air Freight and Sea Freight. Both have pros and cons depending on your circumstances. We will work with you to determine the best option based on your shipment size, weight, destination, timeline, and cost. Here are some of the determining factors.

Air Freight:

Air Freight is a great option for quickly sending goods around the world. Some reasons to use air freight:

  • Speed – Sending your goods via an airline carrier is the fastest shipping method available. Hands down. So if speed and urgency when exporting from or importing to NZ is your top priority, chances are that planes will be your best friend and we look forward to introducing you.
  • Predictability – Generally, if you use air freight to ship your products, you can accurately predict when they will reach their destination. Air freight ETAs are usually more precise than other options with less weather issues or delays.
  • Flexibility – Usually cargo ships depart and arrive on a set weekly schedule while planes are much more frequent. If your shipment misses one flight, there will almost certainly be another one leaving before too long. With multiple flights departing to locations throughout the globe daily, you have a higher chance of rapidly getting your goods where they need to go giving air freight the advantage when speed and flexibility are required.

Why not use air freight? The most common reasons to not use air freight is cost and shipment size. The larger the shipment, the more expensive air freight is.

Sea Freight:

Like air freight, shipping by sea freight has many pros and cons. For example:

  • Lower price- Depending on the size and weight of what you’re shipping using a cargo ship is usually the most affordable shipping option.
  • Low carbon footprint -Many companies are concerned about the environmental impact of their business. For this reason, appropriate governing bodies regulate importing to and exporting from NZ. A cargo ship is one of the most eco-efficient way to ship goods and you can opt for this mode of transport.
  • Plenty of space – The average cargo ship can carry around 18,000 containers! Your shipment can be in a portion of one of those containers, take up a whole container, or take up several containers and still go on one ship. This is not viable with air freight.

Unfortunately, sea freight is usually a lot slower than air freight. While air freight will sometimes take a few days to get around the globe to or from NZ, sea freight can take weeks.