Don’t you wish booking flights for your cargo was as easy as booking flights for yourself ? Well now it’s as close as it gets when you use the B2B Freight digital freight forwarding platform.
Online Air Freight Quotes, Booking, Payment, and Tracking
The processes, procedures, and protocols of the air transportation industry have not traditionally been easy to navigate, as you will know if you ever used the services of an air freight forwarder.
Now there's an easy way to get an air freight shipping quote, make bookings, meet compliance requirements, and get your goods into the air without fuss—and if you're a first-time shipper, you need never come face to face with those traditional complexities.
Advantages of Air Freight on B2B Freight:
- A simple online form to request your first air freight quote.
- Thousands of air freight global shipping routes at your fingertips.
- Real-time air freight tracking and notifications to keep you updated on shipment progress.
- Airport-to-airport and air freight door to door shipping services.
- Transparent air freight rates, broken down to show you precisely what you are paying for.
- A customer support team to help you when your air-cargo needs are complex.
- Online compliance engine makes it easy to create shipping documents and complete them accurately.
Save time, money, and administration effort when you procure and manage air cargo services—use B2B Freight technology to tap into global logistics expertise and extensive global shipping network.
Air Freight Shipping With B2B Freight: The Benefits
Key Features of Our Solution
Now you know about the advantages of B2B Freight as your go-to air freight shipping forwarder, you might wish to overview the primary features of our technology platform and business model. You’ll find a brief list below, but if you’d like to know more, keep scrolling down to see some frequently asked questions about air freight shipping services from B2B Freight.
The following innovative features drive our unique air freight forwarding service, and help you to reduce cost and complexity in your global supply chain:
- Sophisticated quotation technology to deliver competitive air freight quotes.
- Integrated online quotation, booking, payment, and air cargo tracking technology.
- Customer support channels including telephone communications, live chat, and email.
- A vast global network of logistics experts and partners.
- A quick and easy signup process, free from complicated onboarding requirements.
- Live shipment tracking for total visibility into your air-freight from origin to destination.
- Simplified customs clearance via a digital compliance engine.
- Global freight guides to help you find the best routes and understand the regulatory landscape.
Air Freight FAQs From B2B Freight
Are Air Freight Rates Always More Expensive than Ocean Freight?
The cost of shipping goods by air is comparatively high, which is why, for the majority of international shipping scenarios, it is not as popular as ocean freight. However, there are some situations in which the price difference can be negligible, like when you only move small shipments of goods. That’s because port and customs fees for imports via sea can mount up quickly, offsetting the cost savings of a slower and less secure transportation mode. In these types of circumstances, you might find that booking a deferred air cargo shipment will cost little more than ocean freight, while still being a lot faster.
Is Air Shipping Secure and Reliable?
Air cargo is especially suitable for low-volume, high-value shipments because the total time between the dispatch of your goods and their receipt by the consignee is minimized, creating fewer opportunities for security to be compromised. Similarly, the less time your shipment spends in transit, the lower the risk of damage, so air transportation is ideal for fragile or perishable goods.
What is the Impact of Air Freight Shipping on Transit Times?
Of course, speed is the primary advantage of shipping by air, along with flexibility, because passenger aircraft, as well as dedicated freighters, can carry your shipments. Therefore, when it’s essential to get your products or materials from one country to another in double-quick time, there’s no better way to send them than as air cargo.
Be aware though, that international air freight is not as fast as domestic cargo aviation, because your goods are likely to spend at least a day or two undergoing customs processing at the airport of loading, as well as the airport of discharge. If you’d like to get some idea of typical transit times, you’ll find lots of details on our Global Freight Guide pages.
What’s in an International Air Freight Shipping Quote?
Quotes for international shipping, whether by ocean or air, are typically elaborate and detailed, and can be bewildering if you are not familiar with them. Air quotes typically comprise many lines, and it’s worth taking the time to understand them, because it will help you assess value when comparing forwarders’ quotations. To help you with that, here is a brief breakdown of the charges typically contained in an air freight quote:
- Base freight rate: Charged according to the actual or volumetric weight of your goods.
- Fuel surcharge: Typically imposed to protect the carrier against fluctuating fuel costs.
- Security fee: The costs of security screening are passed on to shippers by the air carriers.
- ** Terminal handling charges:** Air carriers charge shippers for the cost of airport freight handling.
- Customs clearance fees: These will appear on your quote if you choose door-to-door shipping.
- Cargo insurance fees: These are the charges you will need to pay to cover your freight against risk while it is in transit.
- Trucking fees: If you choose door-to-door, door-to-port, or port-to-door shipping, your quote will include the cost of road transportation.
- Container freight station fee: This fee is for any temporary storage of your air freight container at the airport of loading and/or airport of discharge.
How to Optimize Your Air Freight Shipping Costs?
Given the high cost of shipping goods by air, it makes sense to take any measures possible to keep fees to a minimum. Here are three quick tips for cost-effective air transportation:
- Choose air freight door to door shipping with B2B Freight. We will search for the most cost-efficient combination of transportation services, not only reducing the landed cost of your shipment, but also saving you the administrative costs of finding domestic carriers and comparing their quotes.
- Package your goods as compactly as possible. Every centimeter you add to the dimensions of your cargo will increase the base rate if your carrier charges by volumetric weight.
- Take advantage of the B2B Freight compliance engine to ensure all your shipping documents are completed accurately and in full, reducing the risk of delays and demurrage charges.
How does B2B Freight Differ from Other Air Freight Forwarders?
The main differentiator for B2B Freight is our digital-first approach to freight forwarding. Although the use of technology for air cargo management is on the rise, most forwarders apply it on a limited basis, reluctant to break away from the methodical, but inefficient manual processes used for decades.
At B2B Freight, we set out to create a digital product, not with the primary aim of internal efficiencies (although our technology does make us much more efficient than traditional forwarders) but to help our customers, especially SMEs, to access similar service levels to those enjoyed by larger-scale beneficial cargo owners.
That’s why, when you use our platform, you will find that booking your freight onto a flight is a simple, straightforward process, as close as it gets to booking flights for yourself. Of course, it is a little more involved, but you do have the convenience of a single platform with self-service quotation requests, bookings, payment, air cargo tracking, automated compliance processes and the help of human logistics experts as and when you need it.
Can I be Sure Your Services are Reliable?
B2B Freight is a global logistics platform enabling companies to quote and reserve freight and logistics services online. B2B Freight was created through a partnership between B2USA, part of the largest network of online B2B marketplaces in the Americas, and Shipa Freight with its iContainers platform, together pioneers in digital freight / logistics services.
In short, yes, you can be assured of reliable, as well as cost-effective air freight services from B2B Freight and our partners.