Read a freight quote in blocks: the base freight, the surcharges, the origin charges, the destination charges, and the conditions. Compare totals, not base rates. Most quotes are valid for roughly 14 to 30 days, so confirm the validity date and what is excluded before you accept.
What should a freight quote include?
A complete quote has five parts: the journey it covers, the freight and surcharges, the origin charges, the destination charges, and the conditions. If one part is missing, the price you see isn’t the price you’ll pay.
The journey tells you the ports or doors, the Incoterm, the cargo size, and whether the shipment is FCL or LCL. Origin charges cover pickup, export handling and documents at the sending end. Destination charges cover port handling, the delivery order, customs clearance and delivery at the receiving end. The conditions cover currency, how long the quote is valid, how much storage time you get, and what is excluded.
Have the details ready before you ask for a price: pickup and delivery locations, mode of transport, cargo type, weight, quantity and dimensions. Postkodes’ Quick Quote form asks for exactly these. It gives you an estimated cost, so confirm the line items and validity before you accept.
What do the sea freight line items mean?
Sea freight quotes split into base freight, surcharges and local charges. Names vary by carrier, so a fuel line may appear as BAF, FAF or a temporary emergency fuel charge. If a name is unfamiliar, ask what it covers.
| Line item | What it covers | Does it move? |
|---|---|---|
| Ocean freight | The base rate: per container for FCL, per CBM or tonne for LCL | Yes, it follows the market and can change often |
| Fuel surcharge (BAF or FAF) | Fuel cost swings, set by a carrier formula | Yes, reviewed periodically |
| Currency adjustment (CAF) | Exchange rate changes against the carrier’s currency | Sometimes |
| Peak season, congestion, war risk or emergency surcharges | Temporary add-ons when demand, port waits or conflict raise carrier costs | Yes, and they can be added at short notice |
| Origin terminal handling | Moving and lifting the container at the departure port | Usually fixed per terminal |
| Destination terminal handling | The same work at the arrival port | Usually fixed per terminal, often billed in local currency |
| Documentation fee | Issuing the bill of lading at origin and the delivery order at destination | Fixed |
| Security fee (ISPS) | Port security compliance | Small and fixed per container |
| CFS or deconsolidation (LCL) | Warehouse work to combine cargo at origin and split it at destination | Charged per CBM or per shipment |
| Customs clearance | The broker’s fee to file the entry. Duties and taxes are separate | Varies by cargo and country |
| Inland haulage or delivery | The truck to or from the port | Depends on distance and access |
The terminal handling charge (THC) is the line shippers overlook most. It is billed at both ends, and one quote may bury it inside the freight line while another itemises it. That alone can make two quotes look very different.
Postkodes’ sea freight services cover FCL and LCL shipments, so you can ask for both options on the same route and compare them line by line.
How is LCL priced differently from FCL?
FCL is a flat price per container. LCL is priced per freight tonne, which means the greater of one cubic metre or 1,000 kg. LCL quotes also often carry a minimum charge plus fixed warehouse charges at both ends, so a very small load can cost more per CBM than you’d expect.
Work out your volume in CBM before you ask for a price. If you’re close to half a container or more, ask for an FCL quote as well, because the flat rate can win once the LCL extras are counted.
What do the air freight line items mean?
Air freight is priced on chargeable weight, which is the greater of the actual weight and the volumetric weight. The IATA standard formula for volumetric weight is length times width times height in centimetres, divided by 6000.
Here is a worked example. A box measuring 80 x 60 x 50 cm is 240,000 cubic centimetres. Divided by 6000, that is 40 kg. If the box weighs only 25 kg on the scale, you’re billed for 40 kg. Tighter packing lowers the bill.
An air quote usually shows these lines:
- The base rate per kilogram, often with weight bands where the rate drops at higher weights
- A fuel surcharge, charged per kilogram of chargeable weight
- A security or screening surcharge
- An air waybill fee, charged once per consignment
- Airport handling at the origin and destination
- Customs clearance, plus pickup or delivery if included
- Dangerous goods fees, where they apply
If your chargeable weight sits just under a weight band, ask whether the next band would cost less in total. Sometimes it does.
Postkodes’ air freight services cover express and standard air cargo, so ask which service level a quote is based on before you compare prices.
Which charges are usually missing from a quote?
Duties and taxes, inspection or X-ray fees, storage, demurrage and detention, cargo insurance, and delivery to the door when the quote is port to port are the usual gaps. Many quotes also say that surcharges announced later, such as war risk or Red Sea charges, will be billed on top.
Quote terms often state this in small print. Look for the words “excluded”, “subject to” and “billed at cost”.
What do free days, validity and Incoterms mean on a quote?
Three conditions change what you really pay without changing the total on the page.
Free days are the days you get before demurrage (the container sitting at the port) and detention (the container sitting with you) start to be charged. A quote with three free days and one with seven can cost very different amounts if customs asks a question or your warehouse is full. Ask for free days at both ends, in writing.
Quote validity is how long the price holds. Terms of 14 to 30 days are common, but when rates are moving fast a quote may hold for only a few days. After the date passes, the price can be reset.
The Incoterm says who pays for which part of the journey. An FOB quote and a DDP quote don’t cover the same things, so never compare them as if they do.
How do you compare two freight quotes?
Put both quotes on the same lines, then compare totals. The example below uses illustrative numbers only, not Postkodes rates.
| Line | Quote A | Quote B |
|---|---|---|
| Ocean freight | 1,200 | 1,500 |
| Fuel and other surcharges | Not shown | Included |
| Origin handling and documents | Not shown | 180 |
| Destination handling | Not shown | 300 |
| Customs clearance | Not shown | 150 |
| Free days at destination | 3 | 7 |
| Total shown | 1,200 | 2,130 |
Quote A looks 930 cheaper. But if its missing lines cost about what Quote B charges for them (630), plus around 250 in surcharges, it lands near 2,080, with four fewer free days. The gap nearly disappears. Ask Quote A’s sender to confirm every line before you decide.
What mistakes make a quote look cheaper than it is?
- Comparing the base ocean or air rate only, instead of the full total.
- Not checking whether destination handling and customs clearance are included.
- Ignoring free days, which can matter more than the rate difference.
- Forgetting volumetric weight on air freight, so the real chargeable weight is higher than expected.
- Accepting a quote without checking its currency and validity date.
What should you ask before accepting a quote?
- Is this port to port or door to door?
- Which surcharges are included, and which can still be added?
- Are destination handling and customs clearance included?
- How many free days do I get at the destination?
- How long is the quote valid, and in which currency?
- What happens to the price if my cargo’s weight or size differs from what I gave?
- Is cargo insurance included, optional or excluded?
How do you track a shipment after accepting a quote?
You track it with the reference on your shipping document: the bill of lading for sea freight, or the air waybill for air freight. Use it to check pickup, departure, arrival and clearance. Watch the clearance stage closely, since that is when your free days start counting down.
How do sea and air quotes compare side by side?
Sea quotes are built around containers or volume, and air quotes are built around weight.
| Factor | Sea freight quote | Air freight quote |
|---|---|---|
| Priced on | Per container (FCL) or per CBM or tonne (LCL) | Per kilogram of chargeable weight |
| Main surcharges | Fuel, currency, peak season, congestion, war risk | Fuel and security |
| Local charges | Terminal handling at both ports, documents, CFS for LCL | Airport handling, air waybill fee, screening |
| Biggest hidden cost | Destination charges, demurrage and detention | Volumetric weight and delivery to the door |
| Typical validity | 14 to 30 days is common, confirm on your quote | 14 to 30 days is common, confirm on your quote |
Frequently asked questions
What is included in an all-in freight quote?
An all-in quote should list freight, surcharges, origin charges, destination charges and any customs or delivery fees in one total. Ask for it itemised and in writing, because some quotes called all-in still leave out destination handling, duties or storage.
Why do two quotes for the same shipment differ?
Usually because they cover different things. One may include destination handling, customs or more free days, and the other may not. Quotes also differ by date, since freight rates move fast, so compare scope and validity before you compare price.
What is chargeable weight?
It is the greater of actual weight and volumetric weight. Volumetric weight is length times width times height in centimetres, divided by 6000, the IATA standard. A light but bulky box is billed on its size, not its scale weight.
How long is a freight quote valid?
Commonly 14 to 30 days, though some are valid for only a few days when rates are moving fast. The validity date should be written on the quote. After it passes, the carrier or forwarder can re-quote at current rates.
What are demurrage and detention?
Demurrage is the fee when a container sits at the port beyond its free days. Detention is the fee when you keep the container outside the port past its free time. Both usually sit outside the quote, so ask how many free days you get.
Do duties and taxes appear on a freight quote?
Usually not. Duties and taxes are set by the destination customs authority and billed separately, often at cost. Ask whether the quote includes customs clearance as a service fee, since that is different from the duty itself.
What should you do next?
Before you accept any quote, ask for it itemised, check what’s excluded, confirm the free days and validity, and compare totals instead of base rates. Ten minutes on those questions can save more than a week of haggling over the freight rate.
When you’re ready, request an estimate through Postkodes’ Quick Quote page, and ask for the line items so you can check each one.
