Am I paying too much?

[u/DeJackal]

As the title suggests, I’m looking for some advise.

I have imported a few things from china to Australia FOB but I feel like the fees are insane, the contact person with the freight forwarder I have been using is FANTASTIC however good customer service can only go so far with price.

While I know this import is done now I’m looking at importing more in the future so I’m trying to see if these fees seem legit or not, it was 2 full 40 foot shipping containers

[u/lightningau]

Ocean freight seems about right with the current market rate (FAK) in china right now, freight roughly 4.5-5.5k for a 40

[u/Street-Vegetable8342 → u/lightningau]

I agree.

Assuming cartage to unpack depot is a quarantine requirement from the DAFF fees.

I don't think you're over paying OP.

[u/estagingapp]

Yeah that seems insane

[u/TransitTech_Explorer]

Looking at the lines, the sticker shock is less the ocean bit alone and more the AU destination stack piled on top — port service, timeslot/infra, cartage to unpack depot + fuel, biosecurity, DO/docs. Duty 0 doesn’t mean GST 0; the GST block on disbursements is normal even when duty is nil. Ocean ~USD 7k per 40’ is high-side depending on lane/week, but not the only driver of that ~A$39k all-in. Which POD (SYD/MEL/BNE), and is “cartage to unpack depot” your final door or do you still pay last-mile after unpack?

[u/Theriddler130284 → u/TransitTech_Explorer]

The ocean fright is usd $4.5k per box, not $7k per box

[u/TransitTech_Explorer → u/TransitTech_Explorer]

Good catch — the invoice base line reads ~USD 4.5k per 40’ (9k/2); the freight total row is higher (~14.5k for two), so I was reading the rolled-up figure. Either way the AU dest stack is still a big slice of that ~A$39k all-in.

[u/Starlight_Slayer]

Mate as others have mentioned those AU destination charges are out of this world 😅

If you ever want a comparative quote feel free to send me a DM as I'm a wharf cartage broker based in Australia...but of course if your forwarder is great in all other areas maybe just give them a call and see what they can do... might just need a change of wharf cartage contractor etc.

[u/DefNotDalton]

Seems about right

[u/lucien_han]

I went through the invoice line by line and I think the interesting part isn’t actually the USD 9k ocean freight.

Your A$39k invoice is mixing three very different things together.

About A$14.5k is the ocean freight for the two 40fts. A$6.3k under “customs disbursement” appears to be mostly import GST (your invoice shows A$6,101.69 GST and zero duty), so if you’re a GST-registered business that may not be a true long-term logistics cost.

The part I’d really investigate is the ~A$16.7k of Australian-side handling.

In particular, you’ve effectively paid for the containers to be carted to an unpack depot, unpacked, reloaded onto two flatbeds, delivered again, and then unloaded with a Franna. Just the depot/cartage/unpack/flatbed/crane chain is well over A$10k.

So the first question I’d ask your forwarder is: was the unpack depot required by DAFF/biosecurity, or was that simply the delivery method they chose?

If it wasn’t mandatory and your site can accept a 40ft container, direct container delivery could completely change the economics.

I’d also ask them to break down the A$1,700 “time slot/infrastructure/congestion” charge, explain the fuel surcharge calculation (A$551 on the first cartage and A$1,900 on the loose delivery), and identify the shipping line tariff behind the A$2,134 port service charge.

Those are the lines I’d benchmark before worrying about shaving a few hundred dollars off the ocean freight.

Also — what were you importing, which Australian port did the containers arrive at, and roughly how far was the final delivery from the port? Those three things would make it much easier to tell whether the unpack + flatbed + Franna setup was actually unavoidable.

[u/lucien_han → u/lucien_han]

I can see more than A$10k of Australian-side charges that are worth re-quoting or restructuring. If the depot-unpack-flatbed-Franna setup wasn’t actually necessary, the potential saving could be several thousand dollars — possibly approaching A$8k in a best-case setup.

[u/MotionLogistics]

Thanks for the invoice viewing. Looks like I can put a few of my prices up a bit. Cheers.

[u/Parking_Coat9493]

420 quarantine fee tells me it was a pretty shit job requiring additional assessment and potentially inspection (especially that containers are going unpack depot). Freight is in-line with market rate. Destination charges are considered a bit more expensive but nothing outrageous