Freight Cost Calculator

The per-shipment lines that do not scale with volume: documentation and bill-of-lading fees, origin and destination terminal handling, customs clearance, delivery order and trucking to your door. On LCL shipments they commonly run $400–$900 total, which is why they dominate the economics of small shipments.

Usually around 13–15 CBM. LCL is billed per CBM with chunky fixed fees, while a 20ft container is one flat price for up to ~28 usable CBM. When your LCL total approaches the FCL quote — often near the mid-teens of CBM — the container wins, and it also ships faster with less handling damage.

Because the quoted ocean rate is only one line of the bill. Fixed charges spread over few cubic meters inflate the blended rate: $650 of fees over 8 CBM adds $81 per CBM on its own. Always compare forwarders on the all-in total for your exact volume, never on the headline per-CBM rate.

Not very — spot ocean rates can double or halve within a quarter on demand swings, capacity changes and disruptions. Treat any rate older than a few weeks as stale: re-quote before each shipment, budget with a cushion above the current spot rate, and consider a forwarder contract rate once your volume is steady.