Most slow freight quotes are not the provider's fault. They are the predictable result of a request that left out something the provider needs, triggering a round of follow-up questions that adds days. The fix is a complete brief on the first message.
The short answer
Seven fields produce an accurate quote: origin and destination, dimensions and weight, packaging, commodity, Incoterm, ready date, and any special requirements. Missing dimensions is the single most common omission and the one that makes pricing outright impossible for LCL and air.
The seven fields, and why each moves the price
| Field | Why it changes the number |
|---|---|
| Origin and destination | Port pair or full door addresses. Inland haulage at either end can exceed the ocean cost on short lanes. |
| Dimensions and weight | Per package and total. Ocean LCL prices on volume, air on chargeable weight — the greater of actual and volumetric. |
| Packaging | Pallets, cartons, crates, drums — and whether they stack. Non-stackable cargo occupies the space above it, and is priced for it. |
| Commodity | Drives duty, restrictions, and whether a specialist is needed. "General cargo" is not a commodity — an HS code is better still. |
| Incoterm | Decides which legs are being quoted at all. See Incoterms 2020 explained. |
| Ready date | Determines realistic sailings, and whether a peak season surcharge applies. |
| Special requirements | Temperature control, hazardous classification, tail lift, timed delivery, insurance. |
If you do not have volume or chargeable weight yet, the CBM calculator and chargeable weight calculator derive both from dimensions.
A copy-paste template
Paste this, fill it in, send it unchanged to every provider — identical briefs are what make the replies comparable:
- Origin: city / port / full address
- Destination: city / port / full address
- Incoterm: e.g. FCA Shanghai / DAP Los Angeles
- Cargo: commodity and HS code if known
- Packages: quantity, type, dimensions each (L × W × H), stackable yes/no
- Weight: gross per package and total
- Ready date: actual date, not "ASAP"
- Special requirements: temperature, hazardous class, insurance, delivery constraints
- What I need back: all-in door-to-door price, charges itemised, free days at destination, realistic transit, rate validity
That last line does most of the work. Asking explicitly for an itemised all-in number is what stops one provider quoting port-to-port while another quotes door-to-door.
The five omissions that cost you days
- No dimensions. LCL and air cannot be priced without them; the request gets skipped rather than answered.
- "General cargo." Providers need the commodity to check restrictions and duty.
- No Incoterm. The provider does not know where their scope starts.
- "ASAP" instead of a date. Makes it impossible to check space or apply the right surcharges.
- Weight without stackability. Common on pallets, and it changes the volume charged.
What accurate looks like
Weak: "Quote for 2 pallets China to USA, general cargo, ASAP."
Strong: "2 pallets, 120 × 100 × 145 cm each, 480 kg total, stackable, footwear HS 6403. FCA Shanghai to door, Los Angeles 90021. Ready 25 August. All-in door-to-door with charges itemised, minimum 7 free days at destination."
The second gets a real quote within a day. The first gets three follow-up emails and a week of delay.
Send the same brief to multiple providers at once by posting a freight request, then compare what comes back using the comparison method.
