5 ms·

Wasted Space in Container Shipping

6 points by airfcl 11y ago

teilo 11y ago
The logic of this falls apart. The more the containers are filled, the more they weigh. The more they weigh, the more fuel must be expended to move them from point A to point B. While there are some gains that could be made by eliminating wasted space, there are losses that offset it. Granted, there is not a strictly linear relationship between weight and cost. However, the economics of shipping, or any distribution system (like passenger airlines), are such that the need to move a product to its destination in a timely fashion runs up against the desire to maximize the efficiency of a shipping medium. Customers expect their product to arrive on time, and they pay for this to happen. That said, I love the idea this company is proposing.
- MikeTLive 11y ago
  Think of FedEx dimensional shipping. You don't pay by weight. You pay by length width height. If the shipping containers can be parted out and packed densely to be closer to their max dimensional weight then it's a deal for me, the intermediary shipper, I can ship stuff "for free" by taking up space in an already paid for container. Just like AWS Large dedicated systems and packing it to 90% utilization by selling back the unused capacity on the spot market.
airfcl 11y ago
Hi, thanks for the comment! Wasted cost is purely the cost of shipping the air as a percentage of current cost based the cbm of a full container. Good point, you're right it will cost more and will offset slightly, but the saving in money, fuel and more importantly the environmental impact more than outweighs it!
pitaa 11y ago
I'm trying to figure out how this is any different from standard LCL. You're just working with another shipper rather than a freight company arraigning it? If that's the case, what's to stop the first guy that unloads from helping himself to some "free samples" of my goods? What ensures that the loads are balanced so the trucker doesn't have one axle overweight? What happens when the other guy's goods get stuck in customs for 2 weeks because he used the wrong HTS? I'm all for a cheaper LCL option, but LCL is expensive for a reason. I'm interested to see how these guys plan to address the issues here.
- airfcl 11y ago
  Hi pitaa, Thanks for your comments, all valid an need to be addressed by the service. LCL shipments usually consist of many different vendors and are very expensive and slow to despatch (waiting to consolidate) and deliver (unpacking the other end). What airfcl will allow you to do is 'hitch a ride' on a container with spare capacity on the same route. Less waiting time and less expensive. We are integrating a feedback/rating system to help with, amongst other things, possible pilfering by one of the importing companies. The loads will be balanced and rearranged if required at point of loading like any other shipment. Customs are always a problem, I've had goods held for weeks for no reason and you can get unlucky. Having said that, we'll integrate a tariff guide and make shipping stages/requirements very clear to all parties to make sure shipments clear customs cleanly. Please let me know of any other issues you've thought of, as they're v useful for development! Either here or jonathan at airfcl .com

6 points by airfcl 11y ago

teilo 11y ago

The logic of this falls apart. The more the containers are filled, the more they weigh. The more they weigh, the more fuel must be expended to move them from point A to point B. While there are some gains that could be made by eliminating wasted space, there are losses that offset it. Granted, there is not a strictly linear relationship between weight and cost. However, the economics of shipping, or any distribution system (like passenger airlines), are such that the need to move a product to its destination in a timely fashion runs up against the desire to maximize the efficiency of a shipping medium. Customers expect their product to arrive on time, and they pay for this to happen. That said, I love the idea this company is proposing.

MikeTLive 11y ago
Think of FedEx dimensional shipping. You don't pay by weight. You pay by length width height. If the shipping containers can be parted out and packed densely to be closer to their max dimensional weight then it's a deal for me, the intermediary shipper, I can ship stuff "for free" by taking up space in an already paid for container. Just like AWS Large dedicated systems and packing it to 90% utilization by selling back the unused capacity on the spot market.

airfcl 11y ago

Hi, thanks for the comment! Wasted cost is purely the cost of shipping the air as a percentage of current cost based the cbm of a full container. Good point, you're right it will cost more and will offset slightly, but the saving in money, fuel and more importantly the environmental impact more than outweighs it!

pitaa 11y ago

I'm trying to figure out how this is any different from standard LCL. You're just working with another shipper rather than a freight company arraigning it? If that's the case, what's to stop the first guy that unloads from helping himself to some "free samples" of my goods? What ensures that the loads are balanced so the trucker doesn't have one axle overweight? What happens when the other guy's goods get stuck in customs for 2 weeks because he used the wrong HTS? I'm all for a cheaper LCL option, but LCL is expensive for a reason. I'm interested to see how these guys plan to address the issues here.

airfcl 11y ago
Hi pitaa, Thanks for your comments, all valid an need to be addressed by the service. LCL shipments usually consist of many different vendors and are very expensive and slow to despatch (waiting to consolidate) and deliver (unpacking the other end). What airfcl will allow you to do is 'hitch a ride' on a container with spare capacity on the same route. Less waiting time and less expensive. We are integrating a feedback/rating system to help with, amongst other things, possible pilfering by one of the importing companies. The loads will be balanced and rearranged if required at point of loading like any other shipment. Customs are always a problem, I've had goods held for weeks for no reason and you can get unlucky. Having said that, we'll integrate a tariff guide and make shipping stages/requirements very clear to all parties to make sure shipments clear customs cleanly. Please let me know of any other issues you've thought of, as they're v useful for development! Either here or jonathan at airfcl .com