10 Strategies for Cheap Shipping to Canada and the US
We all want to get cheap shipping or reduce shipping costs to our customers in domestic and international shipping destinations. There are several things you can do to reduce shipping rates, as your shipping cost is one of your company’s biggest expenses.
The entire world’s manufacturing industries are dependent on the cardboard box industry. Cheap boxes are hard to find, and boxes are inherently expensive to ship, because of their cubic size. That’s why you often find box manufacturers near industrial areas.
Shipping companies generally charge customers based on these 7 factors:
| 1) Where the item is travelling from and to |
 |
| 2) How it is shipping (air, land, sea) |
| 3) The shipping time (speed) |
| 4) The number of packages |
| 5) The value of the packages (insurance) |
| 6) The Actual Weight of the box |
7) The Volumetric “Weight” of the box
whichever is higher) |
Shipping companies will also add a levy for an increase
in fuel prices but seldom reduce those prices when fuel costs go down.
Small businesses are often quite shocked to discover that shipping across Canada is often MORE expensive by Canada Post than it can be to ship to the southern United States! Once a shipment reaches the border, Canada Post will hand it off to the United States Postal Service to be delivered to its destination in the US.
Since America has ten times the population of Canada, they have a larger postal system that has cheap shipping rates due to volume and greater infrastructure. The result is that shipping across the US can be half price (or less) of what it costs Canadians to ship to the States. This makes it more difficult for small-mid-sizes Canadian companies to compete with their U.S. counterparts.
10 Ways to Get Cheap Shipping to Canada and the U.S.:
- Look for a Shipping Carrier that will offer you discount rates for a long-term commitment.
- Use one company for all your deliveries to get cheap shipping volume discounts.
- Consider if an extra day or two longer in delivery will make a difference as this can substantially reduce shipping rates.
- Can your freight ship by land or sea instead of air?
- Shop around to find who will give you the best deal for your popular shipping destinations.
- See if a shipping broker will offer a better shipping quote.
- See if you can re-label your goods for customs to get a reduction in border duty fees.
- Look around for local carriers that often provide better service, longer hours, faster delivery and cheaper service than the larger carriers.
- Check with several cartage companies that can be considerably less than UPS, Purolator Courier and Federal Express when shipping to overseas destinations, especially on larger shipments.
- Use exact-fit shipping boxes to reduce the overall size of your shipment cost
What AnyBox is doing Today to help YOUR company get cheap shipping to reduce your overhead and save money, in order to compete in the Global Marketplace:
Right sizing offers several key advantages:
|
