China is celebrating the New Year properly with seven-day public holidays that affect both production and transport. How to prepare for the Chinese New Year, and what will be different in 2023?
The New Year’s reception is the most important Chinese holiday that is also celebrated elsewhere.
As the first day of the new year depends on the Lunar calendar, the new year falls on February 1 this year. As the holidays last practically all week, it should be taken into account that interruptions may occur in transport connections from Monday to Sunday (January 31 to February 6).
MyDello takes the stress out of global shipping. Understanding your shipment size can be difficult at the best of times, MyDello has built an online calculator to simplify this whole process.
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Workers at many factories and cargo hubs usually travel somewhere to enjoy their holidays. That means both production and transport will be limited at that time. A small part of the connections will continue to operate, but it is generally available for only large multinational companies under specific agreements. Companies that rely on Chinese imports should take holidays into account and consider that the shipment may be delayed, even if planned for the end of January.
A lower capacity to serve and therefore increasing demand is also the reason why the cost of logistics before and after the new year is higher than usual. In 2022, there will be some additional influencers in addition to everyday situations.
One of them is undoubtedly a Covid-19 crisis. As China is in an adamant position on the spread of the virus, increased travel and celebrations can also increase infection. This could lead to new restrictions for movement and working after holidays, meaning that loading the containers will slow down, for example.
The opening of the Beijing Olympic Games also happens to be in the same week. The Games last from February 4 to February 20 and will probably cause additional security checks. The exact restrictions are still unclear, but most possibly, the Games will bring more restrictions for the capital region and elsewhere in China. In terms of the movement of goods, possible road checks and temporary closures have probably the most significant impact.
In conclusion, China’s New Year celebration is a time when delays occur. If possible, the necessary and time-critical shipments should be planned long in advance. MyDello experts are ready to help you find the most appropriate solutions for more complex questions.
Unlike most holidays in the West, the “compensation mechanism” creates a longer and uninterrupted holiday period, meaning that the traditional Chinese holidays last from 3 days to a week.
Chinese New Year (aka Spring Festival) – January 22 – January 29th
Qingming Festival – April 5
Labor Day – Apr 29 – May 3
Dragon Boat Festival – June 22 to June 24
Mid-Autumn Festival – September 29 to September 30
Chinese National Holiday – October 1 to October 6
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Usually there are several different modes of transport available, to move your shipment from origin to destination. Which one is the most suitable option for your shipment depends on, among other things, the options that are available for your route. In this article we will help you better understand the difference between the types of cargo transport modes, so you can make an informed decision for your supply chain.
Tord Lindahl, Lindahl&Co AB
Björn Forsman, Nordisk Textil AB
Besides the availability of transport options for your route, you also need to consider how quickly your shipment should arrive (transit time), what your budget for shipping is (transportation cost), the cargo value, and the measurements of the shipment.
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There are 4 main transport type categories in global shipping:
In addition, there is multimodal transport, which means combining several different shipping modes.
In general, you can say that air freight is the fastest and most expensive type of cargo shipping. For bigger cargo quantities, and where it is possible, ocean freight has the lowest shipping cost level, but it also takes the most time. Road freight and rail freight lie somewhere in between. Although trucking is the most flexible way of transport, for bigger and long-distance transport there are several benefits for rail freight.
As things are not always so black and white, we will give a more detailed overview of the transport modes in the next paragraphs.
Air freight is the best transport mode for goods that require fast delivery and minimal inventory level. Half of the international air cargo is carried in the bellies of passenger aircraft and the other half with cargo freighters.
In air freight, depending on the operating aircraft, there are size and weight limitations for the shipments.
One of the disadvantages of air transport is its high CO2 emission per transported kg. It’s the highest compared to other transport modes.
Sometimes, on the way to the final destination airport, the shipments are moved between the middle airports by land (called road-feeder service) but are still considered as air cargo service.
Although air cargo makes up only a small portion of total international freight, it is an essential transport mode for many industries, such as high-tech, automotive, medical etc., where time-critical deliveries are needed.
Air transport:
With air transport, you can ship your cargo basically anywhere, to most countries and territories in the World.
Ocean freight is the main mode of transport for the global trade. It’s also called the lifeblood of global trade. Ocean transport is the best shipping mode for large cargo quantities, for very large cargo it is often the only option.
The biggest ocean container ships have the capacity to load more than 20 000 containers.
Ocean transport has the lowest cost per unit compared to other freight types, but it has also the longest transit time in most cases. Most of the low-cost bulk cargo, such as cereals, iron, coal etc., is moved by ocean freight. It is also the preferred mode of transport for high-volume and heavy cargo, such as minerals, metals etc., which are just not economically reasonable to move by air.
Ocean freight has the lowest environmental impact for shipped kg compared to other freight modes; therefore, many customers are preferring this.
In short, the main benefits of ocean freight are:
Most of the ocean cargo is shipped in containers. You can find more detailed info about the different container types and container dimensions on our resources page.
Full Container Load (FCL) is an ocean freight shipment in which the cargo occupies a full container. So, FCL shipment is reasonable, if the cargo volume is big and takes most of the container capacity. If a customer is ordering the FCL shipment, in most cases, the empty container is delivered to the place of loading, where the shipper loads it with cargo.
Less than Container Load (LCL) is an ocean freight shipment wherein the shipper does not contract for a full container since the quantity of shipment is not enough for a full container, and the container is filled by multiple cargos from different shippers.
Using the MyDello platform you can easily sort and compare available LCL, FCL and other transport options by total transport cost or by transit time.
Road freight is the most common mode of transport for intra-continent deliveries. For example, road freight makes about half of the total cargo deliveries inside Europe.
Sure, we also need to consider that for international air, rail and ocean deliveries, the pick-up from the place of loading to international air- or seaport is done by road transport. The same applies to the final delivery to the consignee location.
Road freight is a quite flexible mode of transport that is also available in rural areas. However, its efficient operation can be affected by weather, road conditions and traffic.
Road transport:
A regular trailer in Europe is 13.6 meters long and holds up to 33 EUR pallets. Like ocean freight shipments, trucking uses the full-load and part-load concepts.
Full Truck Load (FTL) is a road freight shipment in which the cargo occupies a full truck.
Less than Truck Load (LTL) is a road transport shipment wherein the shipper does not contract for a full truck since the quantity of shipment is not enough for a full trailer and the trailer is filled by multiple cargos from different shippers. LTL shipments can pass several terminals and different trucks on their way to the point of destination.
Historically rail freight has played an important role in international cargo deliveries. And although in recent decades its part in total global freight has reduced, Rail freight container delivers from China to Europe have shown a rapid increase since 2015 due to infrastructure development and expanded rail routes across Eurasia.
Compared to road freight, rail freight becomes more cost-efficient, especially for long-distance deliveries. One block train can have more than 100 wagons and only needs one driver.
For long-distance transportation, rail freight is one of the most environmentally friendly modes of transport. Rail transport is:
Multimodal transportation combines at least two different modes of transportation such as rail, ship, airplane and truck. For some routes, multimodal transport gives faster transit time or lower transportation costs.
Sometimes multimodal transport is the only way to move cargo to areas difficult to reach.
A good example is moving cargo out from China by rail freight up to Poland or Germany and then onforwarding from there by road freight to the final destination in Europe. This solution is about two times faster than ocean freight and has a significantly lower cost compared to air freight.
An example here is: sea/air transport solution shipments that move out from APAC ports by ocean freight up to Dubai, and from Dubai uplifted with air freight to Europe. This solution gives about 40% faster transit time compared to pure ocean freight but has a lower total transport cost compared to pure air freight. It is also more eco-friendly.
Data from 2015 show that 70% of global freight is shipped by ocean transport, 18% by road freight, 9% by rail, 2% by inland waterways and less than 0.25% by air. [source]
Inside the EU the split of transport modes used in 2023, was as follows:
[source]
Conclusion
There are several options for moving your shipment from origin to destination. Each transport mode has its advantages and disadvantages and there are several factors to consider before making the final choice. Still, in general, the decision comes down to (1) what transport options are available, (2) how urgently you need the cargo at the destination and (3) what is your budget for shipping.
MyDello takes the stress out of global shipping. Understanding your shipment size can be difficult at the best of times, MyDello has built an online calculator to simplify this whole process.
Considering your shipment’s weight and dimensions, modern logistics platforms help you to make wiser decisions between different modes of transport on transit time and price scale.
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MyDello came to life because the shoe was tight in the logistics sector. There were no comprehensive digital logistics platforms in the Baltics. Therefore the shipment management was quite messy and time-consuming. In order to solve it there were two options: either integrate with an already developed solution and modify it according to your needs or take a big bite and develop one from scratch. Here are some key takeaways that we learned during this process:
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There have been other digital platforms on the market similar to MyDello. The ideas behind them have been good on paper to solve the customers’ issues but the execution has often been far from the end-users expectations. One cannot win the battle if you don’t know the field that well. That is why the MyDello team excels with their industry knowledge as it consists of long-time logistics experts and has carefully chosen IT-industry experts on their side, combining the best from logistics and IT development.
MyDello came to life from the idea of making the customers’ life easier. One mistake that enthusiastic changemakers usually do is that they become too familiar with their idea concept and they forget to step aside and place themselves into the customer’s shoes. That’s why the MyDello team included end-users in the development process so that the ones who will use the platform can have a say in the functionalities, interface and everything else that is important to them. What the developer might consider comfortable might not be intuitive for the customer, therefore it has been important to walk this road together with our end-users.
“Oh we won’t make the same mistakes as others did!” one might think before they take up a large development project. On paper, the idea seems clear as daylight, achievable and all of the obstacles seem to be considered… Seems like smooth sailing ahead. Unfortunately, there are always unforeseeable obstacles that might set back progress. Perhaps the contracts take a longer time, a crucial UX/UI flaw is found or the end-user expresses expectations different from your initial plans. Keep an open mind towards changes and be flexible!
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, then flexibility is important, unless it has a negative effect on your budget. Cooperate with your IT partner(s) and map out every single possible step during the process. The better you prepare the closer you will perform to your initial budget. For example from MyDello’s experience – if you decide to change something fundamental halfway through the development, then if you’re lucky, it will cost you only thousands of extra money. Worst case scenario – your budget might double or more…
Even though at first the challenge seems too difficult to overcome, eventually you will get the thrill of success once you see the results. One is for sure – when the challenge seems too large at first, the experience you gain will be priceless!
Luckily development projects will never cease to surprise you, as you will always find new things to improve. Even though MyDello has reached its current phase within 3 years, it does not mean that the work is done. It is only the beginning and we will keep you posted on what we learned during the next steps!
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As MyDello launched its operations in Baltics back in May 2021, the number of customers in all Baltic states has been increasing, reaching more than 2000 clients. One of the Latvian clients that have experienced a positive collaboration with MyDello is Printful – Latvia’s first unicorn. Find out more about their experience managing cargo shipments from different countries with the help of MyDello.
Printful is a print-on-demand company that offers fulfilment and dropshipping for online businesses all over the world. One of the main benefits of working with MyDello, Printful sees easier process facilitation – there is no more preparation and dealing with loads of paperwork, and there are global representatives who can support the company at any time.
“We were looking for a logistics partner and we were approached by MyDello representatives themselves. We felt that this was a service based on high-quality communication. The whole process works very organically and it has made our internal processes much easier. We receive clear delivery times and can better understand where the product is located,” says Raivis Pētersons, Regional Director of Operations in Europe.
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One of the main benefits of Printful sees work with MyDello is being informed every step of the way – when the cargo has been picked up, where it is at any given moment, or how many days are left until its arrival. Also, Printful points out that platform “MyDello” allows requesting for cargo to be sent from any country on favourable, competitive terms.
As told by Printful, the communication process between MyDello and Printful has been exceptional, definitely, something other companies can learn from. “This is what the customer expects and efficient communication is a very important thing for any company. If a company wants to improve its operations and get a clearer vision of delivery times and favourable pricing conditions, I recommend using MyDello as a service provider,” points out Raivis Pētersons, Regional Director of Operations in Europe.
Watch Printful story about cooperation with MyDello: here
MyDello is a new digital online platform that allows Latvian entrepreneurs to simplify the planning of the international supply chain. With the help of the platform, entrepreneurs can find out cargo shipping costs and the approximate delivery time to the required destination abroad in just a few seconds. The platform allows the planning of shipments of various types of cargo by air, land, and sea transport. MyDello helps you find the best global transport options instantly. See how it works here
Printful is an on-demand printing and fulfilment company that helps people turn their ideas into brands and products. The company fulfils and ships custom clothing, accessories, and home & living items for online businesses. In 2020 the company hit a revenue milestone of $208 million and has recently become the first unicorn company (valued at over $1 billion) with Latvian roots. Since its founding in 2013, Printful’s been trusted to deliver over 38M items and has scaled to a team of 1,800+ people across nine in-house fulfilment centers around the world.
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MyDello is a new digital online platform that allows entrepreneurs to simplify the planning of the international supply chain. With the help of the platform, entrepreneurs can find out cargo shipping costs and the approximate delivery time to the required destination abroad in just a few seconds. The platform allows the planning of shipments of various types of cargo by air, land, and ocean transport.
The MyDello platform compares different modes of transport, i.e., air, sea, road, and rail, giving entrepreneurs the opportunity to choose the most convenient and advantageous offer. The origin, destination, weight, and dimensions of the shipment must be indicated in order to plan cargo transport. The choice of different logistics options helps to better plan and optimize costs.
Create Your No-Cost Account Today and experience the New Era of Logistics
“MyDello is both an innovative tool in the logistics services market and a leader in providing such services. We believe that we are fueling a revolutionary change in the logistics industry. The platform allows people to further automate the planning processes that were done manually in the past by logistics specialists, such as long electronic correspondence, countless phone calls, and the signing of documents. MyDello speeds this process up and makes it more convenient for entrepreneurs because everything is located in one place on a modern platform,” says Sigrid Ojavee, Marketing and Communications Manager at MyDello.
In addition to MyDello’s digital offer, support and consultations from experienced logistics specialists are also available for the convenience of entrepreneurs at any stage of the process, whether it’s during the planning of the shipment or after its shipping. The MyDello system provides a clear overview of the current status of all deliveries and the history of cargo movements.
MyDello is founded by Estonian entrepreneurs with considerable logistics experience. MyDello belongs to the same group that also includes the logistics company Balti Logistika.