Freight Shipping FAQ — Importing from Asia to the United States

As a working rule, once cargo passes roughly 13–15 CBM a 20' full container usually costs less per unit than LCL, because LCL adds consolidation, deconsolidation and terminal handling on both ends that a full container does not pay. Below that, LCL is normally cheaper. The exact break point moves with lane, season and volumetric weight, so ask for both prices on the same request rather than assuming.

For small, dense or urgent cargo it can be. Ocean carries fixed per-shipment costs — terminal handling, documentation, inland drayage — that do not shrink as the load gets smaller, so a few hundred kilos can price close to air while arriving weeks later. Past roughly half a tonne ocean pulls clearly ahead. Quote both and compare on paper.

Yes. Goods from multiple factories are collected at origin, consolidated and loaded as a single shipment, which normally beats paying LCL rates supplier by supplier. The constraint is timing rather than logistics: the container books against the slowest supplier's cargo-ready date, so confirm ready dates from all of them before a sailing is booked.

A quoted transit is a schedule, not a guarantee. Slippage usually comes from port congestion at either end, blank sailings, containers rolled to a later vessel when sailings are overbooked, or examination at arrival. We quote ranges rather than best-case figures and flag known congestion on your lane at booking, so your sell-through plan is built against the range.

Port-to-port covers only the ocean or air leg. Door-to-door adds collection at the factory, export handling, arrival processing, release coordinated through a licensed customs broker, and the final truck leg — commonly one to three additional weeks depending on lane and destination. When comparing two quotes, check which of the two each one is actually measuring.

Plan a buffer, not an average. Factories in China typically slow or stop for one to two weeks around Chinese New Year, with a backlog on both sides of the shutdown, and Q3–Q4 peak season tightens space and raises the chance of rolled containers. Cargo that must be on a shelf for a specific date should leave origin several weeks earlier than a quiet-season plan would suggest.

Incoterms are standard three-letter trade terms that define exactly where the seller's responsibility ends and yours begins — who arranges transport, who carries the risk at each stage, and who pays which charges. Two quotes for the same goods can differ by thousands purely because of the term. Read the term before comparing prices, not after.

DDP — Delivered Duty Paid — places the maximum obligation on the seller or forwarder: transport to the named destination with duties and taxes handled within the agreed price, so you receive one figure instead of a series of invoices. ARDI offers DDP quotes where contract terms confirm that duties and taxes are handled within your quote.

Both deliver to your named address. Under DAP — Delivered at Place — the goods arrive but import duties and taxes remain yours to settle, which means a separate bill after arrival. Under DDP those charges sit inside the agreed price. DAP quotes look cheaper on the page; DDP quotes are usually closer to your true landed cost.

FOB — Free On Board — puts the supplier in charge of getting cargo to the origin port and clearing it for export, and is the more predictable choice for most importers. EXW — Ex Works — makes you responsible from the factory door, including origin handling and export formalities, and looks cheaper only until those costs appear. Unless you have a reason to control the origin leg, FOB is the safer default.

The importer of record pays — in most e-commerce cases, the US buyer of the goods, not the overseas supplier. Tariffs are collected at entry, and no arrangement with a factory changes who is liable to US authorities. Under a DDP arrangement those charges can be handled inside your quoted price, but the legal obligation still attaches to the importer of record.

Duty is a percentage of the declared customs value, set by the goods' classification code and country of origin, with additional tariff measures applied on top for certain origins and product groups. Two similar-looking products can carry very different rates because they classify differently. The classification, not the invoice total, is what drives the bill.

The exemption that let low-value parcels enter the United States duty-free ended for Chinese-origin goods in May 2025 and for all origins on 29 August 2025. Direct-from-factory parcel models now pay duty per shipment, which has pushed many sellers toward the alternative: import in bulk, clear once, and fulfil domestically from US stock.

Most compliant shipments release within one to three business days of arrival once entry is filed and duty is paid. Delays are the exception rather than the rule, and they cluster around three causes: incomplete paperwork, valuation questions, or a physical examination. Filing the entry before the vessel arrives is the single most effective way to keep release on the short end.

It means the entry has been accepted, any duty assessed has been settled, and authorities have released the cargo for onward movement. It does not mean the goods are moving yet — the next step is collection from the terminal and the inland leg, which is scheduled separately and adds its own transit time.

Holds usually come from a mismatch between the paperwork and the cargo: vague product descriptions, a classification that does not fit the goods, an undervalued invoice, or missing agency documentation for regulated products. Most are preventable at booking. Detailed descriptions, an accurate classification, and a commercial invoice matching the packing list remove the majority of the risk.

You need a licensed customs broker to file the entry, but you do not need to source one yourself. Entries on ARDI shipments are coordinated through a licensed customs broker, and the filing runs alongside the transport booking rather than as a separate task you have to chase. If you already work with a broker, we can work with theirs instead.

The bill of lading is the carrier's document covering your cargo: it evidences the contract of carriage, describes what was loaded, and — in its original negotiable form — acts as title to the goods. It matters because release at destination depends on it. Errors in consignee details or description are among the most common causes of avoidable delay.

For a standard import: a commercial invoice, a packing list, and the bill of lading, plus the product classification and any agency documentation your goods require. From you we also need the importer of record details and delivery address. Sending these at booking rather than on arrival is what keeps clearance on schedule.

The HS code is the international classification number that determines your duty rate; the United States extends it to a ten-digit HTS code for import entry. Responsibility for correct classification sits with the importer, not the supplier — factories often supply a code that suits their export paperwork rather than your import. Confirm it before the first shipment, because it sets the duty on every one after.

Our core lanes run from Asia — China, Vietnam and India — into the United States, with delivery to commercial addresses, warehouses and Amazon fulfillment centers nationwide. Tariff changes have pushed many importers to add a second origin country alongside China; the booking process is the same, though documentation requirements and duty rates differ by origin. Ask about other origins and destinations on your quote request.

Six things: what the goods are, total weight and volume or carton dimensions, the origin city or port, the destination address, the cargo-ready date, and the Incoterm agreed with your supplier. With those, a quote reflects the real shipment. Without them any number is an estimate that tends to move once the cargo is measured.

Quote and booking, collection from the supplier and export handling, the ocean or air leg, arrival and entry filing coordinated through a licensed customs broker, release, then the inland leg to your address through carrier partners. You get milestone updates at each handover rather than only at departure and arrival.

For a first import from a new supplier or a new origin, usually yes. A smaller shipment exposes the practical problems — classification, packaging, labelling, paperwork gaps — at a fraction of the cost of finding them in a full container. Once the process is proven, scaling to FCL is a booking change, not a new learning curve.

Storage, prep and order fulfillment in the United States are run by ARDI Express, the group's warehousing company, from its own facilities in California and New Jersey. Freight and warehousing are quoted separately but coordinated as one plan, so cargo arriving on an ARDI booking can move straight into receiving. Details are on ardiexpress.com.

No. Hazardous and dangerous goods — including many batteries, aerosols, flammable liquids and certain chemicals — require specialist handling, declarations and carrier approvals that fall outside our scope. Worth knowing: goods declared as general cargo but containing hazardous items risk seizure of the entire consignment, so confirm the classification with your supplier before booking anything.

No. We move commercial cargo for importers and brands, not personal relocations, used household goods or unaccompanied baggage — those need movers with the right documentation and packing standards for that category. If your shipment is commercial but unusual in shape or size, ask anyway; oversized freight is assessed case by case.