Selecting the best-suited terminal for your export shipment

When managing a supply chain, shippers have to make a variety of choices that affect the lead-time and cost.

Selecting the right terminal for your export shipment is, therefore, a vital component of your supply chain strategy. 

This article makes some pragmatic recommendations to optimise your selection of the best-suited terminal for your export shipment and lift your order fulfilment performance to the next level.

1. Infrastructure
Different terminals are likely to have a different infrastructure in terms of their number of anchorage points, berths, barge quays, quayside gantry cranes, yard space, reefer plugs and yard handling equipment.  

The terminal infrastructure is often highly correlated with its productivity, carriers, and vessel types that call the terminal, which affects both reliability and cost.

2. Accessibility and hinterland connections
Having the ability to move your cargo in and out of the terminal easily is crucial. Therefore, terminals with convenient and immediate access to a highway or rail network as well as connectivity with major rivers can provide you with more transport options that affect reliability and cost.

3. Container Freight Station
The availability of a Container Freight Station in a port will often let you access to a variety of value-added services that include handling of goods, maritime and trading assistance, packaging, repackaging, (re-)stowing of goods and repair and/or replacement of containers.  

4. Digital Connectivity
Terminals that come with state-of-the-art logistics and systems, and can facilitate the coordination with several big industrial parks or inland container depots can often provide you with a higher level of convenience through a “one-stop service” reducing or eliminating data replication. 

5. Water depth and tidal variation
Water depth and tidal variation can impact the windows within certain vessels can depart or arrive. This may affect service reliability, particularly on short-haul trade lanes.

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In consideration of the above factors, eShipAsia.com is designed to help you make these insight-led decisions, all in less than a minute.

1. Find the best vessel schedules within 30 seconds

On eShipAsia.com, select the origin, destination, and the number of containers you would like to ship. 

You will be shown the available carrier options, rates and ocean schedules, allowing you to compare Intra-Asia ocean freight rates and schedules across various shipping lines instantly. You can also build a customised ocean freight quotation by fine-tuning your search with our advanced filter features to find the best-suited departure date, transit time and price.
 
Our platform allows you to make improvements to your search based on the following criteria:

• Transit time;
• Container Yard Closing Date;
• ETD;
• ETA; and/or
• Service Type: Direct or Indirect

2. Get an instant quotation 

Once you find a product that meets your business needs, you can either proceed to book right away or save your quote and return to make the booking at a more convenient time. 
 
eShipAsia.com quotations not only provide you with the ocean freight rates but also gives you a detailed breakdown of the applicable local charges. This allows you to calculate your total landed costs (excluding tax and levies) instantly and avoid unpleasant surprises down the line.
 
3. Book and secure space online in less than a minute 

Our super-simplified booking form means you will need less than a minute to complete it. The booking platform will interface directly with most carrier systems to minimise delays in obtaining your booking confirmation. 

4. Track your shipment online

Shipment information is instantly available through our online track and trace – anytime and anywhere. 
 
Conveniently track your shipments, view their details and stay updated from pick-up to delivery. 
 
Depending on your preference, you can easily set up push notifications or share your shipment information with customers or colleagues via e-mail, SMS, WhatsApp, WeChat and many other channels. Now, this is convenience!

Interested? 
Sign up on eShipAsia now.