Air Freight vs. Sea Freight – Comparison between the Cost, Speed, Safety, and Environmental Impact

The differences between transporting goods by air or sea may seem self-evident. In truth, the general differences are rather obvious. However, for business owners that regularly deliver to their customers, it is not enough to understand the generalities – the intricacies of air freight vs. ocean freight are just as important for a successful logistics operation.
And that is what this article will discuss. By the end, you will understand the differences in cost and delivery time, the limitations of ocean or air freight, and the impact on the environment. Ultimately, your decision is conditioned on what services your business needs, so let’s explain the contrast between air and sea freight.
While there are many things to debate regarding air freight vs. sea freight, the cost is not one of those things. Air freight is more expensive than sea freight. According to a study by the World Bank, transport by air is 12 – 16 times more expensive than transport by sea (and 4 – 5 more expensive than transport by land, which makes sea freight the cheapest option).
To put it into perspective – if your package were to cost $100 to ship by sea, it would typically cost between $1200 – $1600 by air. For this reason, most professionals only recommend sending packages by air if the cost is not more than 15% - 20% of the value of the item.
However, there is one additional factor that can somewhat offset the dominance of sea freight regarding the cost – the accessibility of the goods. As far as transport routes go, it is easier to deliver cargo by air than by sea.
Consequently, if you are delivering to customers and use sea freight, you may need to use multiple modes of transport before your items reach the carrier that will deliver the items to the end customer. Additionally, the high volume of traffic at seaports may cause delays, forcing you to pay detention or demurrage charges.
By no means is air freight cheaper, even if you end up paying for multiple modes of transport and detention or demurrage charges. However, these additional costs should still be considered when contracting a carrier, as they may affect the bottom line.
Similar to the air freight vs. sea freight cost, there is a clear winner when it comes to time spent in transit, just in the opposite direction. Air freight is faster than sea freight. For one, the journey time of ocean ships is longer than airplanes. On top of that, inclement weather, delays in ports, and customs can also add to the time spent in transit for ocean freight.
While air freight still needs to clear customs and planes can be affected by inclement weather, the delays are much shorter. The predicted arrival time of air freight is much more accurate. Consequently, air freight is the better option if time is of the essence. However, there is one additional relevant factor regarding the transport speed of ocean freight.
Less than Container Load shipments (LCL - when you send a smaller shipment that does not fill an entire shipping container) traditionally took significantly longer to ship than Full Container Load shipments (FCL), due to the time needed to consolidate the cargo, which added to the difference in transit time between air and sea freight.
Currently, many companies offer express/expedited LCL services, which cuts down on the time but at an increased price. Without a doubt, transporting cargo by air is still much faster, but the difference is not always as stark as it used to be.
When discussing air freight vs. sea freight, it is also important to understand what goods you can send. In short, you can send more types of goods by sea than by air. Allowable goods are regulated by both airline policies and national laws and, as such, there is no comprehensive list. However, here is a list of goods that are traditionally prohibited from being sent by air:
There is no significant difference in the safety of your cargo when sent by sea or air. Human error during handling is always a possibility, but all professional carriers have policies that minimize the chance of your packages being damaged. Still, for high-value goods, it is always a good idea to consider taking out shipping insurance.
Finally, we get to the impact on the environment – the air freight vs. ocean freight carbon footprint discussion. And the answer here is clear – sea freight produces a minuscule amount of CO2 emission compared to air freight. Consequently, sea freight is a much more environmentally friendly shipping option.
Let’s sum up the air freight vs. sea freight comparison in clear pros and cons.
Air freight:
Sea freight:
Additionally, both methods of transport are comparably safe. At the end of the day, sea freight and air freight are separate services – what the better option is depends on what services you need.
Choosing how to ship your packages can take up a lot of your time. Instead, you can partner with Unival Logistics to take care of all of your logistics needs. We provide end-to-end shipping solutions and will make sure your parcels travel via optimal routes and that they arrive safe and on time.
In addition, we provide full API integration, real-time package tracking, and full-value insurance for high-value items. Leave the logistics side of your business to us, while you focus on running it.
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.105 per ton-mile. Reducing truck transport and opting for the optimal rail transload facility can help increase expense savings through rail.</p> <h2>Rail Freight and Intermodal Strategy</h2> <p>Intermodal is the use of two or more freight transporting modes. When combining rail and road, trains are utilized for the long-haul chunk of the transport. Trucks are used to ship loads from the origin to the terminal and then from the terminal to the recipient, known as drayage.</p> <p><strong>Using rail freight as part of an intermodal strategy has many benefits</strong>, which you can discover below.</p> <h2>Rail Freight Is Eco-Friendly</h2> <p>Given the current state of our environment, caring for it is imperative. From an ecological point of view, rail freight is a great transport alternative compared to air, sea, and road freight. <strong>The biggest advantage of rail freight is the reduction of CO2 emissions</strong>. Compared to other transport modes, rail freight leaves the smallest carbon footprint.</p> <p>For example, air freight consumes 138 tons of CO2, and the combination of air and sea consumes approximately 76 tons of CO2. However, rail freight consumes only 5 tons of CO2 over the same distance. That’s why, now more than ever, rail freight deserves more attention.</p> <h2>Rail Transportation Is Safe and Efficient</h2> <p>Railway safety has notably improved over the past couple of decades. Now, <strong>rail transportation is one of the safest shipping options</strong>. With steady investments in railway infrastructure, routings, tracks, terminals, and border crossing stations, there’s a significant enhancement in the performance of rail freight.</p> <p>Moreover, GPS tracking in trains prevents theft and losses, protecting the goods in transit. Since carriers can locate their customers’ shipments and follow up on milestones, they can deliver information on container position and detect if something unexpected happens during the transportation.</p> <h2>Rail Freight Is Fast and Reliable</h2> <p><strong>Rail freight is a fast and reliable shipping mode</strong> with shorter lead times when compared to sea freight. Although not always possible, there are many situations when rail freight is a more optimal choice than other transport modes.</p> <p>For instance, one of the biggest challenges for companies with production in China is the long lead times to northern Europe when shipping by sea. Sea shipping from China to that part of Europe typically takes around seven weeks.</p> <p>With rail freight, the shipping times can be cut in half, significantly reducing the lead time. Shorter lead times can make it easier to predict business operations and costs, positively impacting capital binding.</p> <p>In addition, rail freight transport is a <strong>punctual mode of transport</strong>. Compared to sea and road freight which can be subjected to bad weather and congestion, not much can hinder the rail path, reducing the risk of unexpected delays.</p> <h2>Are There any Drawbacks of Rail Transportation?</h2> <p>Intermodal containers experience a lot of movement during transit that can damage their contents. There’s a risk of a denied claim if cargo isn't appropriately blocked and braced by rail standards.</p> <h2>Rail Freight Shipping Can Be Your Optimal Choice</h2> <p>Rail shipping has many benefits and very few drawbacks. Apart from being extremely reliable, rail freight is also cost-effective. On top of that, it leaves the smallest carbon footprint compared to other shipping modes.</p> <p>With rising challenges in sustaining our environment, it’s vital to do everything we can to reduce CO2 emissions and reduce the impact of global warming. For those reasons, using rail freight as a part of intermodal strategy can be an optimal choice for many companies that wish to see improvement in our environment.</p> <p><a href="https://unival-logistics.com/">Unival Logistics</a> provides end-to-end logistic solutions and we always choose optimal routes, so that your packages arrive on time and cause the least amount of pollution. You can also take out <a href="https://unival-logistics.com/package-insurance">full-value insurance for high-value goods</a>, track your packages in real-time, and integrate your business with Unival’s API.</p> <p>If you need a logistics partner that combines traditionally effective methods of transport with modern solutions, contact Unival Logistics.</p> <script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BlogPosting", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://unival-logistics.com/rail-freight" }, "headline": "What You Need to Know About Rail Freight", "description": "Rail freight is reliable, fast, and green and can be an excellent choice for various businesses. Learn more about it on this page.", "image": "https://dev.unival-logistics.com/img/train-on-tracks.jpg", "author": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Unival Logistics", "url": "https://unival-logistics.com/" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Unival Logistics", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://unival-logistics.com/theme/Unival1/images/unival-logo-new.svg" } }, "datePublished": "2022-07-01", "dateModified": "2022-12-01" } </script>
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