Anyone Used Rail Freight From China?

[JamieM]

My supplier in China has given us a good quote for rail freight but I have never used it before.

Apparently it’s door to door so is there a risk of being stung with excessive customs brokerage charges?

 

[MOIC]

Be careful at the moment sending goods by train.

Normally it takes 45 days and entry into Europe is normally via Poland, then on to Germany, then on to UK. Given the lockdown much of Europe is experiencing, there is likely to be delays.

You also want to ensure how it's delivered DDP or DDU.

Make sure the figures are correct.

If you need any help, let me know.

 

[JamieM]

I might give it a miss on this occasion as I can't afford further delays.

It was just because my FOB Yantian cost is looking excessive but I'd prefer a more reliable shipment.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Mister B]

We looked into it a year ago and it just didn't work for us. Negligible cost savings and no real improvement in transit time so we stuck with the ocean freight.

Mister B

 

[Mike Foulds]

Hi Jamie. With air freight so expensive these days, and sea freight too slow for alot of applications, people are exploring and using alternatives. There are 2 others which spring to mind, Rail, which you have looked at, and Air-Sea. HOWEVER, the saving, when compared to airfreight, for air-sea isn't huge, and the transit times for rail freight are longer (Depending on origin), than sea freight. If you are not in an urgent need of the product, would definitely recommend using sea freight at this time. Cost wise, it's so much lower than other options.

 

[Karimbo]

i shold start by saying that i have no experience in this area.

I would have thought even sea freight will be slower right now because cargo ships dock at countries along the way and drop off containers.

 

[Red Wood]

My experience is slightly different than the above. Sea freight is approx 30 days from the east coast of china, then usually 7 days waiting for a delivery date to our warehouse. We have used overland for FCL only, I'm not even sure LCL is possible by rail due to some operational constraints.

In our experience rail freight is slightly quicker and costing is slightly higher. However our rates might not be indicative to the general experience of others as we have relatively good volume so pricing likely reflects this.

Haven't had any reason not to use rail>truck routing, so don't be put off if you have a good rate.

 

[RSR Fulfillment (FR & DE)]

Anyone using decent agents for air freight? We have a coupe of Chinese suppliers charging up to 35% value of the boxes, when other suppliers selling the same products and sending in the same box sizes are charging us 12% value of the box. They won't tell us who they use and won't manage the boxes from the suppliers that are charging us up to 35%. They all use EMS but when I go on the EMS website the prices are not good.

 

[RSR Fulfillment (FR & DE)]

Be careful at the moment sending goods by train.

Normally it takes 45 days and entry into Europe is normally via Poland, then on to Germany, then on to UK. Given the lockdown much of Europe is experiencing, there is likely to be delays.

You also want to ensure how it's delivered DDP or DDU.

Make sure the figures are correct.

If you need any help, let me know.

Any help for me?

 

[MOIC]

Any help for me?

Send me a PM with your requirements, or alternatively use the link in my signature below.

 

[Wavecrest Ltd]

The rail freight option from China handles both FCL and LCL now. Whether it is cost effective or not will depend on the origin point of your shipment. I have LCL shipments sitting in my warehouse now that came in by rail without any major issues.

 

[Asteads]

Slightly different experience for me.

I've used rail shipping 3 times now, all with varying time frames. The most recent arrived at my door within 21 days.
My first order last summer took 40 days. I've currently got a shipment in transit, sent 20 days ago and no UK notification yet.

 

[CHUKTC]

The other factor to consider when thinking about rail freight is the location of your supplier in China. Rail heads originates in either Wuhan or Xi'an so if your supplier is near there the savings in time cn be worthwhile, but if you have to ship from the South that adds further cost and time making the benefit over sea freight much less. We also have shipped FCL and LCL by rail - both are possible but you can't send hazardous cargo by rail at the moment.

 

[Larry Fong]

The logistics system in China is very mature. The main factors you need to consider is the freight rate and the expected time to reach the destination. Multi-modal transportation is very much the norm now.