ARDI Logistics — Ocean & Sea Freight
Ocean Freight from China to the USA — FCL & LCL Shipping
Full-container and consolidated sea freight from China, Vietnam and India — with port drayage, cross-docking and our own US warehouses handled by the same group, so your cargo never changes hands between companies.
The Short Answer
What Is Ocean Freight, and How Does It Work?
Ocean freight is the movement of cargo by sea in shipping containers — the method behind the overwhelming majority of goods imported into the United States. It is slower than air and far cheaper per kilo, which is why it carries almost all planned inventory: replenishment stock, seasonal builds, and anything shipping by the pallet rather than the parcel. Ocean freight and sea freight mean the same thing; the two terms are used interchangeably.
A forwarder books the vessel space, arranges collection and export handling at origin, manages arrival and entry at destination, and moves the cargo the last leg to your address. You hold one booking instead of coordinating a factory, a carrier, a terminal, a broker and a trucker separately across time zones.
FCL / LCL
FCL or LCL — Choosing Between a Full and a Shared Container
FCL means you book an entire container: a 20', 40' or 40' high cube travels sealed from the factory to destination without your cargo being handled along the way. LCL means your pallets share a container with other shippers' cargo — consolidated at origin, separated at destination — and you pay for the space you use rather than the whole box.
The choice is arithmetic, not preference. LCL wins on small volumes but carries per-shipment costs a full container avoids: consolidation, deconsolidation and terminal handling at both ends. Somewhere between 13 and 17 CBM those charges usually overtake the saving and a 20' container becomes cheaper per unit — the exact point moves with lane, season and how dense your cargo is. We price both on the same request so you compare on paper, not on advice.
| FCL — Full Container | LCL — Consolidated | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Roughly 13–17+ CBM, fragile or high-value cargo | Volumes below a container load, first shipments, test orders |
| Handling | Sealed at origin, opened at destination | Handled at consolidation and deconsolidation points |
| Transit | Direct — no consolidation time added | Add roughly 5–10 days across both ends |
| Billed on | Flat rate per container, however well it is packed | Per CBM or per 1,000 kg, whichever is greater |
| Watch for | Demurrage and detention if the box is not returned in time | Minimum billing of 1 CBM and per-shipment terminal charges |
Transit Times
Ocean Freight Transit Times from Asia to the USA
| Lane | Port to port (FCL) | Door to door | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| China → US West Coast | 18–28 days | 25–38 days | Fastest Trans-Pacific routing |
| China → US East Coast | 28–40 days | 38–56 days | Congestion and canal routing can push the upper end |
| Vietnam → US West Coast | 20–30 days | 28–40 days | Estimated on comparable Trans-Pacific lanes |
| India → US East Coast | 28–45 days | 38–55 days | Subject to Red Sea routing status |
| LCL, any lane | Add 5–10 days | Add 5–10 days | Consolidation and deconsolidation at both ends |
These are typical planning ranges, not commitments. Ocean transit in 2026 moves week to week: port congestion at either end, blank sailings, canal routing decisions and slow steaming under current emissions rules all shift the numbers, and industry indices themselves swing by two to three days from one week to the next. We quote against the range, flag known congestion on your lane at booking, and update these figures as conditions change. Other origins and destinations are quoted on request.
After Arrival — The ARDI Difference
What Happens After the Ship Docks — and Why It Decides Your Landed Cost
Most forwarders end their real involvement at the port. The container is discharged, and from there you are handed to a drayage company, then a warehouse, then whoever preps your freight — three vendors, three invoices, and three places for the schedule to break. Every handover is also a place where nobody is quite responsible for the delay.
Entry and release
Drayage
Cross-docking and transloading
Storage or onward delivery
One group owns every link: ARDI Logistics moves the freight, ARDI Express runs the warehouses. That means the drayage schedule is set against the unload slot, the unload slot is set against your outbound plan, and when something upstream slips there is one team adjusting all three — not three vendors each waiting on the other.
Door-to-Door
Door-to-Door Ocean Freight with US-Based Warehousing
Port-to-port pricing covers only the sea leg, which is exactly why it always looks cheaper. Door-to-door covers the whole movement: collection at the supplier, export handling, the ocean leg, entry and release, terminal collection, and the truck to your address. The costs exist either way — the only question is whether they sit in your quote or arrive later as separate invoices you did not budget for.
What makes door-to-door different here is where the door is. Cargo can be delivered straight through to your address, or land at our own warehouse first for cross-docking, prep and staged release — an option marketplace platforms and China-based forwarders cannot offer, because they do not own warehouse space in the United States. For importers who need inventory prepped or paced rather than dumped, that middle step is the whole point.
Cost
What Actually Drives Your Ocean Freight Cost
Ocean rates move constantly, and two quotes are only comparable when they cover the same scope. These are the variables that decide what you pay:
Demurrage vs Detention — the Two Charges Importers Confuse
Demurrage is charged for leaving cargo sitting at the terminal beyond the free time allowed.
Detention is charged for holding the carrier's container beyond the agreed return window once it has left the terminal.
Same root cause, different clock: one runs on the yard, the other runs on the box. Both are avoidable with scheduling rather than negotiation, which is why we set the drayage appointment against the unload slot rather than booking it after the fact. If charges do appear, invoices must meet specific content and timing requirements, and there is a defined window to dispute them — worth knowing before you pay one.
Documents
ISF 10+2 — the Filing That Catches First-Time Importers
Importer Security Filing, known as ISF or 10+2, is a mandatory electronic filing for every ocean shipment entering the United States: ten data elements from the importer plus two from the carrier. The deadline is the part people miss — it is due at least 24 hours before your cargo is loaded onto the vessel at origin, not before it arrives in the US. In practice the data needs to be with your filer several days earlier so errors can be caught.
Penalties for late, inaccurate or missing filings run to five figures per shipment, and they are entirely avoidable. On ARDI bookings the ISF is filed alongside the transport arrangement and coordinated through a licensed customs broker, so it happens on schedule instead of becoming something you discover after the vessel has sailed. Alongside it we collect the standard import set: commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, and the classification for your goods.
Incoterms
Incoterms for Ocean Freight — the Four That Matter Most
The trade term you agree with your supplier decides who arranges transport, who carries the risk at each stage, and who pays which charges. Two quotes for identical goods can differ by thousands purely because of it. These four cover most China and Asia sourcing conversations:
| Term | Who arranges the main carriage | What you take on | Typical fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| EXW | You, from the factory door | Origin handling, export formalities, everything after | Only when you want full control of the origin leg |
| FOB | Supplier to the origin port; you from there | Ocean leg, arrival, duties, delivery | The predictable default for most importers |
| CIF | Supplier through to the destination port | Arrival charges, duties, inland delivery | Looks simple, but destination charges are often inflated |
| DDP | Seller or forwarder end to end | Little — duties and taxes sit inside the price | When you want one figure instead of a series of bills |
ARDI offers DDP quotes where contract terms confirm that duties and taxes are handled within your quote. If your supplier is pushing CIF, price the destination charges separately before agreeing — that is where the saving usually disappears.
Origins
Shipping from Vietnam and India — the China+1 Shift
Tariff volatility has pushed a large share of importers to add a second origin country rather than replace China outright. Vietnam has absorbed most of that movement on Trans-Pacific lanes, with India growing on East Coast routings. The freight mechanics are the same — FCL, LCL, the same documentation logic — but transit ranges, duty rates and origin documentation differ, and the Indian lanes in particular move with routing decisions around the Red Sea.
We book the same service from all three origins, which matters most when you are running parallel sourcing: one provider means one set of arrival schedules to plan against, one warehouse receiving both streams, and consolidated inventory in the US rather than two supply chains that never meet.
FAQ
Ocean Freight FAQ
How far in advance should I book ocean freight?
Two to four weeks ahead of your cargo-ready date is comfortable in normal conditions. Before Chinese New Year and through peak season, allow more — space tightens and bookings get rolled to later vessels. Booking early costs nothing and protects the sailing you actually want; what causes problems is booking after the cargo is already sitting at the factory.
What is included in an ocean freight quote, and what usually is not?
Ours covers the scope you ask for — port-to-port or door-to-door — written out line by line. What is commonly missing from cheaper-looking quotes elsewhere: destination terminal handling, drayage from the port, and duties and taxes, which sit outside the freight rate unless the quote is explicitly DDP. Compare scope before comparing numbers.
What happens if my container is rolled to a later sailing?
Rolling means the carrier moved your container to a later vessel, usually because the sailing was overbooked. You hear about it as soon as we do, with the revised ETA and the next realistic option. It cannot always be prevented, but booking earlier and avoiding the final sailing before a holiday shutdown are the two things that most reduce the odds.
Can I split one shipment between your two coasts?
Yes. Cargo can land on one coast and move to the other, or you can run separate bookings into California and New Jersey and hold inventory on both. Splitting stock across coasts shortens the final leg to most US addresses and reduces Amazon placement costs — and because both warehouses are ours, it stays one account rather than two vendor relationships.
What is the difference between a freight forwarder and a shipping line?
A shipping line owns the vessels and sells space on them, port to port. A forwarder arranges the whole movement: booking that space, plus collection, export handling, entry coordination, drayage and the inland leg at destination. Lines do not manage door-to-door shipments — forwarders exist to hold the parts together.
Get a Quote
Get an Ocean Freight Quote.
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- One transparent landed cost — no hidden fees
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