We’re here to make your global ocean freight move around the world with ease. Optimize your ocean shipping by accessing more capacity and competitive rates through our major ocean shipping alliances.
Get the right ocean service for your business, even within short timelines and tight budgets. Our experts analyze your freight characteristics in the context of current market conditions and help improve your strategy.
Connect with an expertMove your FCL ocean freight reliably and cost-efficiently—we’ll help tailor the movement of your goods for maximum speed.
For your smaller freight shipments, leverage our LCL services and scheduled departures from all major ports to ensure your LCL sea freight deadlines are met.
Explore LCL servicesAchieve the perfect balance between cost and speed—even when your freight doesn’t fill a container. Expedited LCL offers consistency, reliability and speed without the price of air freight.
Explore expedited LCLReduce your ocean freight costs and keep your ocean shipments moving. Streamline processes with our drayage services that bridge the gap between ocean, customs, and inland transportation. Work with a single provider skilled in marine drayage capacity management to improve handoffs between parties and get your ocean freight delivered.
Explore drayage servicesReduce your costs and increase your capacity options—we’ll combine and palletize your cargo with different manufacturers and load it into dedicated full-load containers.
Quickly move your freight along the Trans-Atlantic Westbound (TAWB) trade lane—from any major port in Europe to the United States. Combat delays with more capacity options and leverage transload and direct delivery services.
Deliver your time sensitive cargo from Asia to the United States via one of the fastest ocean services. Then, save even more time with transload and direct delivery services out of any U.S. port.
Explore FCL Services TPEBSave up to 60% from your transportation budget with domestic coastal shipping in Australia. It’s your natural choice over air, road, and rail service.
Explore coastal shippingIntegrate your ocean delivery with customs brokerage services to efficiently clear your sea freight through customs. Work with our Trusted Advisor® experts to get assistance calculating taxes and duties, classifying goods and ensuring compliance.
Explore customs brokerage servicesWork with our Trusted Advisor experts to help calculate taxes and duties, assist in classifying goods and conduct risk assessments—so you’re compliant with changing laws and regulations.
Explore trade policy servicesProtect the value of your ocean shipments with all-risk cargo insurance. Explore your policy choices—including transactional coverage and annual policies—to ensure your coverage matches your exposure risk.
Explore insurance servicesIn 2021 our experts moved the most cargo between the United States and Oceania, which is why C.H. Robinson is the #1 NVOCC in this lane. Take advantage of our experience, data, and scale to ship your international freight with ease.
Stay agile—no matter what the market has in store—with our expansive ocean capacity offerings and competitive rates.
As a leading NVOCC, our information advantage and full suite of logistics solutions deliver the real-time support and solutions your supply chain deserves.
Whether you have enough freight to fill an ocean container or only want to pay for the space you use, our full container load (FCL) and less than container load (LCL) solutions can cover all the angles.
Automate, optimise, and manage every aspect of the shipment lifecycle across multiple vendors with Navisphere®, our single, global, multimodal transportation management system. It’s a complete digital ecosystem that streamlines complexity and improves efficiency up and down your supply chain.
Sea freight delivery is the process of transporting containerised cargo over the ocean via carrier delivery lines.
Sea freight delivery is typically more cost-effective than other methods of cargo transportation.
Sea freight services are a more sustainable mode of transport. Ocean transport emits only a fraction of the CO2 per tonne kilometre of a truck, train or aeroplane.
Full container load (FCL) delivery is a term used to describe goods transported in a 20' or 40' sealed container that is not shared with other consignees. This option is common for large-volume deliveries and results in significantly less handling compared to LCL deliveries.
Freight of all kinds (FAK) is a pricing strategy used when multiple products with different classes are transported as a single freight rate. This option allows a single shipper to take advantage of filling a sealed container with various goods.
Buyer consolidation or freight consolidation services groups a delivery from multiple suppliers at a single origin to create one larger delivery. This option allows a business to transport multiple goods with the aim of reducing costs in the overall supply chain.
Coastal delivery is an alternative to road and rail delivery when moving goods from the east coast to the west coast of Australia. The service uses empty containers as they make their way around Australia on return to origin for a reliable, cost-efficient delivery solution.
The cost of an LCL freight delivery is calculated based on the actual volume or the space that the delivery occupies in a shared delivery container.
Ocean freight services are widely known to be a cost-effective solution when compared to other forms of cargo transportation.
Buyers are encouraged to understand universal container sizes and how much can fit in each when assessing their delivery strategy. While there are a variety of sizes and capacity, measured in cubic metres (CBM), options, the following are most common:
Yes. There is a weight limit to containers. The max gross weight for 20', 40' and 40' cube containers is 30,480 kg or 67,197 pounds.
Ocean service is ideal for containerised cargo on pallets rather than small parcels. Consider other modes of transport for delivery consisting of individual parcels.
Out of gauge cargo like large machines can be transported via ocean freight services when using open top and flat rack containers. The speciality containers are available in 20' and 40' lengths. They are designed to hold items that must be loaded by crane or that are too tall to fit in a standard container.
There are no restrictions when transporting hazardous goods via sea freight delivery. However, it is important to ensure all requirements for the handling and transporting of hazardous goods are met to protect against risks in the event of an accident.
Stay up to date with market changes that impact air and ocean capacity at the trade lane level—everything you need to navigate global shipping.
Supply chains are growing in complexity and moving faster than ever. Due to the nature of our fast-paced industry, there is a continuous need for additional services. Over the years, we have remained committed to expanding our global network in exciting new ways—including strategic acquisitions—that align with your changing needs.