If you choose to ship by sea freight, your international move will eventually come down to a container, sitting on a ship, carrying everything you own. Before it gets there, though, you must make a handful of decisions: Do you want your own container or should you share one? Is a slower, cheaper route worth the extra weeks? Why does your colleague’s move to the same country cost less than yours?
Container shipping is the backbone of nearly every international household move. Your choices affect your price, transit time, and the amount of handling your belongings undergo along the way. Understanding how it works lets you compare quotes intelligently and choose the setup that fits your shipment.
What Is Container Shipping and How Does It Work for a Household Move?
Container shipping means your packed belongings travel inside a standardized steel container, loaded onto an ocean vessel, and moved between ports.
For a residential move, the process generally looks like this: your crew packs and loads your inventory at your home, the goods travel by truck to a port, they’re loaded into a container, and that container is placed on a cargo ship bound for the destination country. Once it arrives, it clears customs, moves to a final port or warehouse, and is delivered to your new address, either still packed in the container or transferred to a delivery truck.
The container itself is the constant in this process. Whether you’re shipping from Boston to Dublin or from Miami to São Paulo, your goods are riding in the same type of steel box used to move nearly everything that crosses an ocean, from car parts to furniture to appliances.
What changes from move to move is who else’s belongings are riding in that container with yours, and that’s really the core decision behind container shipping: full container or shared container.
Full Container Load (FCL): Shipping Alone
Full Container Load, or FCL, means your household goods are the only cargo inside the container. Once your belongings are loaded, the container is sealed and isn’t opened again until customs inspection at the final destination. Nobody else’s items go in or come out along the way.
The standard sizes for household moves are 20-foot and 40-foot containers. A 20-foot container generally suits a one- to two-bedroom home, while a 40-foot container accommodates a three- to four-bedroom home. Your move coordinator will help size the right container based on your survey.
FCL is the fastest and most direct option because your shipment moves on its own schedule. It isn’t waiting on other shipments to be consolidated at origin or deconsolidated at destination. Therefore, it also tends to involve the least handling, which is beneficial if you’re shipping fragile or high-value items. The tradeoff is cost. You’re paying for the full container regardless of how much of it you actually use.
Less than Container Load (LCL): Sharing the Space
Less than Container Load, or LCL, means your shipment shares a container with goods belonging to other customers. Your items are packed separately, but they travel inside the same container as other people’s shipments, each destined for the same general region.
Your goods are packed and delivered to a warehouse near the origin port. They wait until enough shipments headed in the same direction have arrived to fill a container. Once that container reaches the destination port, it goes through the reverse process. The contents are opened, sorted, and separated back out so each shipment can continue to its own final delivery.
LCL is cheaper than FCL for smaller shipments, since you’re only paying for the volume your goods occupy. The cost is time and handling. Your shipment is waiting for the container to fill, and depending on the volume of the shipping lane, that wait can add anywhere from a few days to several weeks before the container departs. Your goods are also handled more often, since they’re packed alongside other shipments at origin and then separated again at destination.
What Is Groupage and How Is It Different from LCL?
Groupage operates on the same basic principle as LCL: shipments from multiple customers are combined to fill a container. The difference is in how that container is used once it’s full. In a standard LCL arrangement, a shared container typically moves directly to a destination port near its final customers. In a groupage arrangement, a container is used to bring multiple shipments to a regional hub, from which they’re distributed to individual final destinations in the region.
Arpin runs this kind of setup for moves to South America, which functions through our hub in Colombia. Shipments bound for various countries across South America are consolidated and shipped to Colombia. Then distributed onward by short legs to their final destinations across the region.
It’s a longer path than a direct container to your destination country would be. But, in exchange, it makes shipping to countries that wouldn’t otherwise support their container service more affordable, since the cost of getting a container across the ocean is spread across the entire region.
FCL vs LCL vs Groupage: Which One Is Right for Your Move?
The right choice comes down to the size of your shipment, destination, budget, and how much you value speed over savings.
If you’re moving a full house and your inventory alone can fill a container, FCL is the more sensible option. You’ll pay for the full container either way. Consolidating with other shipments wouldn’t save you money since your goods already take up most of the space.
If you’re moving a smaller shipment, LCL is typically the more economical route. Provided your destination has a well-traveled shipping lane. The wait to fill a container in a busy port is shorter, and you save on cost compared to FCL.
If your destination sits in Latin America, groupage through our regional hub in Colombia may be the most affordable option. The added transit time is a factor to consider, but for many residential shippers, it’s a worthwhile tradeoff for the possible savings.
How Long Does Container Shipping Take?
Ocean transit time varies by route. As a general guide, FCL shipments on well-traveled lanes take anywhere from two to six weeks in transit. That’s not counting the time needed for packing, trucking to the port, and customs clearance on either end.
LCL adds another one to three weeks on top of that for consolidation and deconsolidating, depending on how quickly the container fills. Groupage adds a leg from the regional hub to the final destination. This can extend total transit by several more weeks.
That doesn’t account for customs delays, port congestion, or seasonal demand, all of which can shift your timeline. Your move coordinator can give you a realistic estimate based on current conditions on your specific route.
Making the Right Call for Your Shipment
Container shipping isn’t one-size-fits-all. The moving company can help you make the right choice based on your needs by walking you through your options. A reputable household goods survey should tell you not just how much your shipment weighs, but which shipping method makes the most sense for its size, destination, and timeline.
If you’re planning an international move and want to know which route fits your shipment, talk to our move coordinators at Arpin. We’ll provide you with a free quote personalized to your move.
