How Strong tradelane focused freight forwarders can benefit you

  • July 17, 2021
  • Blog

Why Trade Lanes Affect Freight Forwarding Prices

A trade lane represents a means of transportation between a combination of locations. In the freight forwarding industry, this classification explains how a shipment will travel from its source to the destination. For example, you might describe the trade lane for a national supermarket chain’s shipment of produce as “Within Australia Using Means of Transport Refrigerated Truck”.

Trade lanes for freight forwarding vary in price based on a simple supply versus demand model. If one means of transportation is popular, and many freight forwarding companies are using it, the prices are lower. Conversely, if another means of transportation is rarer, and only a few freight forwarding companies use it, the prices to ship in that trade lane are typically higher.

Paying attention to the market and trade lane popularity fluctuations is critical for a freight forwarding company to ensure competitive freight rates and quick deliveries. 20Cube has a strong trade lane focus from Malaysia, China, Germany, and Italy to Australia in cities like Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. Our variety of trade lanes allows our clients ease of scalability and freight forwarding efficiency.

More Trade Lanes Means More Scalability

You want to find a freight forwarding company that demonstrates expertise in several trade lanes. For example, if you’re distributing your products from your warehouse in Melbourne to stores throughout Australia, your primary means of transportation is ground. You might decide to work with an exclusively ground transportation-focused logistics company.
However, what happens if you want to start selling your products in stores overseas too? You’ll either have to move all of your logistics to a new company, or you’ll have to pay two different companies to handle your distribution.
Instead, by selecting a freight forwarding company which offers multiple trade lanes and means of transport, when you decide to scale your distribution locations, you can easily modify your inventory allocations, budget, and timeline to suit.

Digitisation Equals Greater Efficiency

Digitisation offers further advantages to clients managing local, national, and international distribution. Digital freight forwarders use technology to streamline freight management and notify you of important updates about your shipment. 20Cube, for instance, gives you visibility of more than 25 key milestones in a single shipment. You receive timely alerts about vendor slipping delivery, cargo pickup, and return container tracking.
Digital freight forwarding goes hand in hand with managing multiple trade lanes too. If your shipment has to go through multiple trade lanes to reach its final destination, digital tracking ensures you can account for every transfer and delivery along the way.

The Bottom Line

You have hundreds of freight forwarding companies at your fingertips, but understanding what specialisations and focuses streamline your shipment will save you time, money, and concern. Trade lanes are the foundation of every successful shipment and delivery, so freight forwarders that have multiple lanes across the globe know exactly where to send your shipment for the ultimate return on investment. Make the best use of available trade lanes and tracking opportunities.
To learn more about boosting your supply chain efficiencies, set up a consultation with 20Cube.