Cross-border e-commerce first-mile transportation

Cross-border e-commerce first-mile transportation is the starting and critical link in the cross-border logistics chain, referring to the logistics process of goods being shipped from domestic warehouses to overseas Amazon FBA warehouses, third-party overseas warehouses, or platform warehouses. Choosing a suitable first-mile transportation method plays a decisive role in logistics cost control, product listing timeliness, and capital turnover efficiency. Pengsou Logistics provides customers with comprehensive first-mile transportation solutions through professional services.

Currently, the main modes of cross-border e-commerce first-mile transportation are air freight, sea freight, and rail transport, each with its own characteristics.

Air freight is renowned for its speed. Goods arrive at the destination country's airport via air transport, then are cleared through customs and delivered by local couriers. Its time advantage is significant, with major countries typically receiving deliveries within a few days to a week. However, the cost is relatively high, calculated based on weight or volume, taking the larger value. Overall stability is good, but it may be affected by flight delays. It is suitable for high-value, lightweight items, as well as hot-selling products requiring urgent restocking. Pengsou Logistics has established long-term cooperative relationships with multiple airlines, enabling it to provide customers with stable and efficient air freight services.

Sea freight, on the other hand, offers large cargo capacity and low cost. Its transportation process includes Full Container Load (FCL) or Less than Container Load (LCL), transported via container ships. Sea freight has a significant cost advantage, with pricing based on FCL or LCL, offering excellent cost-effectiveness. However, its timeliness is slower, usually taking several weeks to a month, or even longer, and is greatly influenced by port congestion and weather conditions. It is suitable for large, heavy, non-seasonal goods, or bulk goods for long-term inventory planning. Pengsou Logistics can reasonably arrange FCL or LCL transportation based on customers' cargo volume and needs to reduce transportation costs.

Rail transport, as a favored mode in recent years, has timeliness and cost between air freight and sea freight. Its transportation timeliness is moderate—faster than sea freight but slower than air freight, typically taking about two weeks. In terms of cost, it is cheaper than air freight and comparable to or slightly more expensive than sea freight. Rail transport has high stability, is less affected by weather, and has a high punctuality rate. It is particularly suitable for countries with railway networks such as Europe and Russia, applicable to goods with certain requirements for both timeliness and cost.

When choosing a first-mile transportation method, factors such as product characteristics (including weight, volume, value, and seasonality), restocking plans (urgent restocking or advance inventory planning), and cost budget need to be comprehensively considered.