Made in China products are competitive when it comes to quality, cost and productivity. But international trading companies also have to take into account logistics and transportation issues. Among which, shipping cost and transit time are the most important two factors.
We have a basic guide to the freight cost in another post. So this post will focus on the other one: How long will your china freight arrive?
Delayed deliveries from Chinese suppliers or the carriers may lead to costly loss of sales and customers loyalty. There’s nothing you can do at most cases when your shipment has been taken over by the carrier. So it’s necessary to find the estimated shipping time before you actually choose the carrier and hand over to it.
Generally, here are two steps to find the transit time.
1. Find the carrier.
2. Find the carrier’s route schedule.
Luckily, all these can be done online for free. And the information provided by the official website are most accurate based on their years practical experiences.
Let’s find out one by one.
- Courier
- Sea Cargo
- Air Cargo
1. Though this article is focused on the transit time, we’ll still list the rate calculator link if available, for your easy one-stop reference.
2. There are so many airlines for air cargo shipping from China. If you can leave 10 days for delivery, you’ll never miss it. So the list below will not include the schedule links from the airlines.
Carrier Type: Courier
Courier is the best international shipping method for small items. It’s fast, and more importantly, most of them are providing Door to Door delivery. By this, you can save a lot of time on Customs and other complicated export & import processes.You can choose the expresses directly from China mainland or via Hong Kong. As you may know, the price is cheaper through Hong Kong, but customs there sometimes will check a greater percentage of shipments before allowing them to leave the country, especially for the goods that shipped via DHL, FEDEX, UPS, TNT.
Customs clearance delays at Hong Kong port may happen from time to time. While local express company (like Shenzhen FedEx, Guangzhou DHL…), they have directly flight schedule, and these customs will be not so strictly. Make sure take it into consideration when you have a very serious ETA deadline.
China Post
- Official Website
- Official Tracking Page
- Tracking Number: Starts with “R” and ends with “CN”, i.e. RA123456789CN
The time cost can be vary from 1 weeks to 4 weeks, sometimes even 2 month. And it differs every time. You got your stuff after a month this time doesn’t mean a month is the average time. So prepare for the longest and you’ll be satisfied if i.e. 28 days actually.
EMS (China Post)
- Official Website
- Official Tracking Page
- Official Rate Calculator
- Offical Delivery Time Calculator (none working)
- Tracking Number: Starts with “E” and ends with “CN”, i.e. EA123456789CN
Normally it will take about 3~8 days. It’s slower than other international express couriers. After all, a little cheaper.
EUB (eBay & China Post & AUPost & Royal Mail & RUPost & USPS)
- Official Website
- Official Tracking Page: China, Australia Post, UK Royal Mail, Russia Post, USPS
- Tracking Number: Starts with “LK” and ends with “CN”, i.e. LK123456789CN
Below is the estimate time from eBay. Make sure to double check with the seller to get the delivery time.
- Australia, 7~10 days
- Russia, 7~12 days
- UK, 7~9 days
- USA, 7~10 days
TNT
Official WebsiteCheck Transit Times
Check Price
Tracking Number: pure-numeric 9-digit code,i.e 123456789
TNT is super fast when it comes to shipping to Europe and Middle East. Some countries can be delivered the next day. Normally 3~5 days.
Besides, the price is competitive when it comes to heavy goods.
DHL
Official WebsiteGet Rate and Time Quote
Tracking Number: pure-numeric 10-digit code,i.e 1234567890
DHL is the most average international courier. Normally 2~5 days, but sometimes unstable.
- To Southeast Asia, 1~2 days
- North America & Western Europe, 2~3 days
- South America, Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa, 4~5 days
UPS
Official WebsiteCalculate Time and Cost
Tracking Number: 18-digit code
UPS is specialized in America routes, especially North America. Normally 2~6 days.
FedEx
Official WebsiteRates and Transit Time
Tracking Number: 12-digit code
FedEx has the best service, while its price is higher accordingly. Normally 2~4 days (IP) and 4~6days (IE).
We have a post sharing our ideas about how to choose a cheaper express courier. You can click here to find more.
Carrier Type: Container Carrier
Below is a list of main carriers for ocean cargo containerized from China to worldwide. Almost all of them can provide a search from port to port.For example. You are a Belgium importers, and your supplier located near Shanghai Port. So Shanghai Port to Antwerp Port. Let’s choose COSCO to give you a step by step guide.
1. Open the sailing schedule link from COSCO.
2. Fill the form as below.
3. After submit, you’ll get the result.
Attention: If you are looking for the landed time, which is the total time from your vendor to your facility in your country, make sure plus 7+7 days additionally.
After the production done, your supplier will pick up the empty container and load it at the manufacturer or warehouse. And the free container usage is 7 days. Within the 7 days, all the export process has to be done, including inland transport, loading, documentation, customs declaration, and any other handling work.
Add another 7 days at the destination. This 7+7 method applied to FCL. If LCL, you will need more days.
| Production | Before Shipping | Shipping | After Shipping | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 7 days | 37 days | 7 days | 81 days |
Leave yourself enough time is a good strategy for saving freight cost. You can do your own calculation after checking the schedule below.
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