Get A Quote
A Costed Freight Plan Within One Business Day
Not a range, not a call-back to qualify you. A written routing with transit time, customs treatment and the all-in cost of getting your cargo to the door.
Request a freight quotation
One business day turnaround on standard lanes. No account needed, no obligation.
What you get back
Every quotation we issue is priced on contracted space, so the number you accept is the number we invoice. Surcharges are listed individually, not buried in a single line.
- All-in landed cost, broken down by leg
- Realistic transit time with cut-off days
- Customs treatment and duty estimate
- Insurance option at declared cargo value
- Named specialist who owns the booking
Before You Send
Six Details That Get You A Sharper Price
A vague enquiry gets a padded rate, because the forwarder has to price the risk of what you did not say. Tell us these six things and the number tightens immediately.
Origin and destination, precisely
Postcodes rather than cities. A delivery two miles inland of a terminal and one in a pedestrianised city centre are completely different jobs, and only one of them needs a timed slot and a small vehicle.
- Full postcodes both ends
- Note any access limits, stairs or no forklift
- Say if either end is a residential address
Weight, dimensions and pallet count
Gross weight per piece, plus length, width and height. Air and courier charges are calculated on volumetric weight, so a light bulky pallet can cost more than a dense one.
- Gross weight per piece and total
- Dimensions of each pallet or crate
- Whether pallets are stackable
What the goods actually are
A plain description plus the HS code if you have one. Classification drives duty, licensing and whether a commodity can travel by air at all.
- Commodity description and HS code
- Declared commercial value
- New, used or returned goods
Incoterms and who pays what
EXW, FCA, FOB, CIF, DAP and DDP all move the cost and the risk to different places. If you are not sure, say so and we will recommend the term that protects you.
- The incoterm agreed with your counterparty
- Who is paying duty and tax
- Whether cargo insurance is needed
Dates and deadlines
The date the cargo is ready, and the date it must arrive. If there is a hard deadline such as a production line or an exhibition, tell us the consequence of missing it and we will plan accordingly.
- Ready date and required delivery date
- Any collection or delivery time windows
- Whether a fixed-day service is required
Anything unusual
Temperature range, hazard class, lithium batteries, out-of-gauge dimensions, high value, or a customs history that has caused problems before. Surprises at the border are always more expensive than surprises at quotation.
- Temperature or humidity requirements
- Dangerous goods class and UN number
- Licences, permits or certificates already held
Pricing
What Is In The Number, And What Is Not
Freight quotations are famous for the things they leave out. Ours are written the other way round.
Always included in our quotation
Everything we can foresee at the point of booking is priced in, so the invoice matches the quotation you approved.
- Collection, main leg and delivery
- Terminal handling and documentation
- Customs entry preparation and filing
- Standard waiting time at both ends
- Currency and fuel adjustment at the stated rate
- Cargo insurance where you have asked for it
Shown separately, and why
Some costs are set by governments or caused by events outside the plan. We disclose the rate up front rather than hide it in a margin.
- Duty, VAT and import taxes, which we collect rather than keep
- Customs inspection and examination fees, at published rates
- Port storage, demurrage and detention beyond free time
- Redelivery caused by a refused or missed delivery
- Special equipment such as a crane or a tail lift, if added later
- Charter or upgrade costs you approve in writing
How Quoting Works
Four steps, no discovery calls
We would rather spend the time planning your lane than qualifying you on a video call.
You send the basics
Origin, destination, weight and a ready date is enough for a first indication.
We check live capacity
Rates are pulled from contracted allocations, not from a stale tariff sheet.
You get a costed plan
Mode, routing, transit time, customs treatment and the all-in landed cost in one page.
You decide, we book
Accept by reply and the collection is scheduled the same day where capacity allows.
Choose Your Priority
Cheapest, Fastest Or Lowest Carbon
We quote the options side by side rather than picking for you, because only you know whether cash, calendar or carbon matters most this quarter.
Lowest cost
Ocean groupage or full container with inland collection and delivery, booked against contracted allocation so the price holds when the spot market moves.
- Best cost per kilogram by a wide margin
- Twice-weekly consolidations on core lanes
- Ideal for stock replenishment and dense freight
Fastest transit
Air consolidation, express or next-flight-out, with customs pre-cleared so the shipment is not sitting on the ground while paperwork catches up.
- Airport to airport in one to three days
- Next-flight-out and hand-carry for emergencies
- Ideal for line-stop parts and shelf-life cargo
Lowest carbon
Rail on the inland leg with ocean on the main leg, reported per shipment so you can put a real number in your own emissions accounts.
- Roughly two thirds less CO2 than road on the inland leg
- Per-shipment carbon reporting on request
- Often cheaper than road as well as cleaner
- 1–3d
Air freight, North Atlantic
Airport to airport in one to three days on standard consolidations, with express and next-flight-out available same day. Add roughly a day for customs and inland delivery at each end.
- 4–7d
Express courier, door to door
International express for parcels and small pallets, duty and tax paid delivered where you want a single landed price for your customer.
- 10–16d
Ocean FCL, New York to Rotterdam
Port to port on protected allocation, plus clearance and inland delivery. Our European inland window after clearance is fixed at 48 hours on core lanes.
- 14–22d
Ocean LCL and rail combinations
Consolidated boxes and rail inland legs, the lowest cost and lowest carbon option for dense volumes that are not date-critical.
Transit times above are indicative for planning only. Your quotation states the actual routing, cut-off and arrival window, and that is the number we are measured against.
Quoting Questions
Things worth knowing first
Is the quote binding?
Rates are held for seven days on ocean and road, and 48 hours on air where fuel and capacity move faster. The validity date is printed on every quotation.
Do you need exact dimensions?
An estimate is fine to start. We will re-check volumetric weight before booking so there are no re-measure surprises at the terminal.
Can you quote duty and taxes too?
Yes. Give us the HS code or a clear product description and we will include an import duty and VAT estimate for the destination country.
What if my volumes change every month?
Most customers sit on a rolling lane agreement with volume bands, so the rate flexes with the season instead of being renegotiated each time.
How long is a quotation valid for?
Air and courier rates are held for seven days because carrier pricing moves weekly. Ocean, road and rail quotations are held for thirty days, and contract lanes are fixed for the agreed period regardless of what the market does in between.
Can you quote DDP so my customer sees one landed price?
Yes. We will quote delivered duty paid including duty, tax and clearance so your customer receives a single price with no surprise bill at the door. We show the duty and tax element separately on your invoice so your finance team can reclaim what is reclaimable.
Do I need cargo insurance if the carrier is already liable?
Almost always yes. Carrier liability is capped by weight under international convention and rarely reflects the commercial value of the goods. We quote all-risk cover at declared value alongside the freight, and we tell you plainly when the cargo is low enough in value that it is not worth it.
What if my volumes change after you have quoted?
Tell us and we requote, without penalty. On contract lanes we build in volume bands so a good month does not trigger a renegotiation, and we review pricing quarterly rather than waiting for you to notice a drift.
Can you beat a quotation I already have?
Sometimes, and we will say so honestly when we cannot. What we will always do is check the other quotation for missing costs, because the cheaper number on paper is frequently the more expensive invoice once terminal handling, clearance and delivery are added.
Do you quote one-off shipments as well as contracts?
Yes. There is no minimum spend and no obligation to commit volume. A single pallet gets the same written routing and the same named specialist as a contracted lane.
Our Quoting Promises
Four Things We Will Not Do
Most of what customers dislike about freight quoting is avoidable. We have simply decided not to do it.
- We will not send a rate range and call it a quotation. You get a routing, a cut-off, a transit window and a price
- We will not qualify you on a call before telling you a number. Send the details and the number comes back
- We will not omit a foreseeable cost to win the booking, then add it to the invoice afterwards
- We will not quote a transit time we do not believe. If the deadline is unrealistic we say so and offer the alternative
Already shipping and just need a number?
Send last month’s invoice and we will show you, line by line, where the cost can come out without touching transit time.