Transit Time and Uncommon Routes

Generally speaking, LCL takes no longer in terms of transit time than FCL and can be less due to the need for FCL shippers to organise the filling of their dedicated container. (Part-Container Groupage freight can also suffer the same problems). An LCL customer may, if lucky, be able to nip in at the last minute and fill the remaining space on a load.

The only issue may be if you have a destination that does not have regular shipping to it: small shipment senders have no leverage in terms of getting a boat put on in the near future. However most international routes have frequent sailings. Prices will partly depend upon the destination: ports in China that have huge volumes going to Europe and the USA are in need of return traffic. Others may have a combination of more competition and less available space on board.