Shipping Companies and the Influencing Factors of Shipping Charges
Have you ever thought that what are the factors that influence the cost of moving your cargo from one place to another via sea? Though, there are several different factors that influences the shipping charges the two most significant factors include: the shipping company’s freight charge and the port charge. Freight charge is the service fee of the shipping companies and the port charge is handling and clearing fees required at the port. Now the freight charges can fluctuate according to the two different ways of shipping, i.e. liner vessel shipping and charter vessel shipping.
Liner vessel shipping is mostly fixed route shipping and hence has comparatively more constant and standard shipping charges. With the liner vessel shipping, the frequent or heavy shippers can get discounts too on their shipment. On the other hand, charter vessel shipping moves according to the present demands of the market and hence has very fluctuating shipping charges. Some other factors that can also affect the shipping charges include: delay in collecting or loading the cargo, fluctuation in the fuel prices (BAF-Bunker Adjustment Factor) and random surcharges at the port. Some shipping companies also charge different freight according to the nature of the goods that can again change the overall shipping charges.