Mr. Li's Shipment to Colombia: My International Shipping Plan Ensured Timeliness Throug...

Mr. Li's Shipment to Colombia: My International Shipping Plan Ensured Timeliness Through Three Transshipments

Let me share a small international shipping story to Colombia.

Last week, Mr. Li from the Shanghai factory needed to ship a batch of goods to Colombia and asked if I had a cost-effective plan for Colombia. The usual route to Colombia is Shanghai-Miami-Colombia. Due to Colombia's strategic geographic location, many international shipping routes to South America start from China, transfer through the United States to Colombia, and then transfer to various airports and ports in South America.

Common airlines for South America include Avianca/QT and LATAM Airlines, which are cost-effective. Due to differences in timeliness and services, prices range from 58 to 68 RMB. There are also transshipment routes from Hong Kong to Colombia, though slightly more expensive at 78-85 HKD. Airlines like QT, AV, CM, PO, and UC are commonly used for South America. Although there aren't many international shipping routes to South America, we've developed quite a few.

QT offers a high cost-performance ratio with good prices, so the conventional international shipping route is to airfreight from Shanghai to Los Angeles, truck to Miami, and then ship to Colombia via QT Airlines. However, upon arrival in Colombia, there are still several hundred kilometers to the customer's destination. This leaves two choices: air transport or ground trucking.

For a journey of several hundred kilometers, local air services are available but are primarily passenger services. Since airlines prioritize passengers, they only carry cargo when passenger demand is low, making delays highly likely. The other option is ground trucking. While trucking is slower than air transport, we control the departure times, and the total distance is only a few hundred kilometers. Therefore, overall, the timeliness of ground trucking within Colombia is guaranteed.

Mr. Li expressed concern that the multiple transshipment points in this international shipping plan might cause delays. I assured him that the international shipping agents we partner with are not chosen randomly; they must be senior members of associations to qualify as our agents.

As a seasoned international shipping company, we offer numerous plans, largely due to our membership in various logistics associations, such as:

- WCA: World Cargo Alliance, a global freight forwarder network; we are senior members (87909).

- CIFA: China International Freight Forwarders Association, AAA certified member.

- WIFFA: World International Freight Forwarders Alliance.

- ISEA: International Shipping Enterprises Alliance, an international shipping enterprise alliance.

- JCtrans: JCtrans Logistics Network, a leading international freight forwarder in China.

- Shenzhen Airlines Association: As a vice-chair unit, Hongmingda Logistics has substantial involvement and contributions in the air logistics field.

These associations help us provide reliable agent services. Foreign associations screen out strong, qualified international shipping companies for us. For an international shipping company, this is crucial.

These associations act like a firewall, filtering out small, unprofessional shipping companies and selecting strong, qualified international shipping companies abroad. For example, we have obtained AAA certification from CIFA. Starting from 1A to 2A and now to 3A, it proves our company's growing strength. Because of this, industry giants like Walmart, Costco, Huawei, and more than 100 other companies have always relied on our services. Over the past 20 years, Hongmingda Logistics has never been late unless due to natural disasters or unforeseen events.

As an international shipping company with 26 years of operation, we have our own 1800 square meter grade-A office building in Shenzhen. We welcome visits or video calls; we have our own logistics fleet and a 6000 square meter overseas warehouse in Atlanta, one of the few in the industry. Feel free to contact me.