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When moving abroad, one of your major priorities will be shipping your belongings overseas with you. No doubt, you’ll want to do this in the most cost-effective way possible, whilst being confident that your belongings are being transported safely. There are two main types of shipping that can be used to transport goods overseas. These are full container load or groupage shipping. 

What Is Full Container Load Shipping?

Full container load shipping, often referred to as FCL, refers to when the shipper has use of their own container exclusively. This is cost-effective for people who have enough goods to fill the container. For context, a 40-foot container, which is the standard size, is usually large enough to house the entire belongings to make up a 2 bedroom house. This type of shipping doesn’t work out to be cost-effective if you don’t have enough goods to fill an entire container. If you can’t fill the entire container then you’ll be paying for excess space that you’re not using. 

What Is Groupage Shipping?

If you don’t have enough goods to fill an entire container then groupage shipping is likely to be a more cost-effective option. This process involves grouping your goods together with others that are travelling to the same destination. This means that you combine your belongings with those of other people in order to make up a full container. You may also sometimes hear this referred to as ‘consolidation’. 

What Are The Benefits Of Groupage Shipping?

The main benefit of groupage shipping is that you’re only paying for the space that you use. Rather than paying for an entire container that you may not have enough items to fill, with groupage shipping you won’t be paying any excess for wasted space that you’re not using. The price that you pay will be determined by the size and weight of the freight you are transporting. Depending on the organisation you have arranged the transportation of your goods with, you are usually charged by the cubic metre. As all goods are shipped to the same destination, this can also speed up the process, whilst improving security as the cargo is more easily traceable. 

How Do I Arrange Groupage Shipping?

You can arrange for your goods to be shipped by contacting a freight forwarding specialist. Alternatively, you can let our team at Hackworthy handle the entire process for you. As part of our overseas removal service, we offer groupage or full load container shipping, depending on your requirements. We’ll collect your goods and arrange for them to be delivered to our shipping agents. If you’ve chosen groupage shipping, the containers won’t be shipped until they’re full, however if you’re relocating to a popular location this doesn’t usually involve much of a wait at all. When the container reaches its destination port, we’ll arrange for it to be customs cleared, delivered and unloaded at your new residence. 

To hear more about groupage shipping or our overseas removals services, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.