How Long Does Freight Shipping Take? An Expert's Guide

Intra-state moves usually take 1 to 2 business days to arrive, regional shipments can take 2 to 4 business days, and cross-country shipments can take 4 to 6 business days. Even normal freight shipping should always be fast. For messengers serving both local and long-distance areas, transit times depend on the desired service and the distance the cargo must reach. For example, a long journey may take several days, while a local delivery will arrive sooner at its destination.

Either way, our courier service provides for the arrival as soon as possible. Shipping with less than a truck load is the most common cargo delivery option used by customers. The LTL service is usually smaller than an FTL shipment and weighs less than 4,000 pounds. The average transportation time of a shipment from point A to point B varies depending on the mode of transport used and the time it takes for shipment coordinators to get the job done.

Sometimes, due to the time difference, from the time a quote is requested until the price is confirmed and the first action of the shipping process is taken, it takes 3 to 5 business days. But in general, once the action has been carried out, the processing depends on the means of transport and can be (in general) 1 to 4 business days for the courier service, 2 to 5 business days for normal air transport, 1 to 7 days for land transport and 3 to 50 days for maritime transport. Of course, it can be more or less in some cases, but this is general practice. Daytime truck freight trips are usually projected at intervals of 2 to 3 days.

For example, your order may include 1 to 3 day lane service, 2 to 4 day service, or 5 to 8 day lane service. Projected days are business days and do not include weekends or holidays. As a result, we can only provide a rough estimate of the delivery date. In a vacuum, the fastest mode of loading is air transport, while the slowest is maritime transport (not counting some kind of horse-drawn and non-motorised method).

If the communications part took between 1 and 3 days to start the sending process and the “ping pong” emails during the shipping process (except for the messaging service) took another day, that is, 2 to 4 days in total. However, before you start moving the cargo, it takes time to communicate and negotiate in terms of pricing, shipping instructions and details, review and confirmation of shipping documents. Calculate cargo shipping time in seconds with this free international air, sea and truck transit time calculator. For example, if you're in zone 1 and need to ship somewhere in zone 1 or 2, it's reasonable to expect the cargo to arrive in a few days.

Once confirmed, you can send the shipping instructions immediately and the draft shipping documents will be issued in a matter of seconds. Realizing these trends, it was essential for carriers to divide the year into seasons so that people could have more accurate expectations regarding delivery time and determine the best time to ship cargo. The main function of zones is to allow both carriers with partial cargo and parties that want to send cargo to know how long it will take for their goods to reach a certain destination. Freight shipping can be as fast as needed or it can take a long time depending on the mode of transport, the distance traveled, the price paid by the shipper, and other factors.

Once you have collected the key loading documents you need from your supplier and calculated the weight to be paid, use this calculator to help you select a charging mode. Globitex is a freight forwarder that devised a unique concept to digitize the cargo movement process. When customers come to us with a need for freight shipping, they usually ask us how long it will take for their package to reach its destination. The complexity of customs procedures and potential delays at border crossings can also influence transit times of cargo transportation.

In conclusion, freight shipping times vary depending on many factors such as mode of transport used (air transport being fastest), distance traveled (longer distances taking longer), price paid by shipper (higher prices often resulting in faster delivery), customs procedures (which can cause delays), etc.