First-mile Freight & Transfer Fees

First-mile freight and transfer fees cover domestic pickup, in-warehouse transfer and the export first leg from suppliers or overseas warehouses to the end destination - the segment where cross-border procurement costs most often slip out of control. We quote it in separate parts.

What the fee consists of

  • Domestic pickup: supplier-to-warehouse transport by parcel, LTL or full truck, charged by weight/volume or by trip.
  • In-warehouse transfer: sorting, repacking, palletising and wrapping, consolidation - charged by workload.
  • Export first leg: customs declaration, booking (FCL/LCL sea, air, China-Europe rail) plus destination clearance and last-mile delivery, quoted by route and chargeable weight.

Three variables that move the price

  • Chargeable weight: the greater of actual and volumetric weight; repack bulky goods first to cut volume.
  • Transit tier: sea, air and rail differ widely - split shipments by urgency to control cost.
  • Peak surcharges: capacity and fuel surcharges in peak seasons are shown as separate lines on the quotation.

We provide a per-shipment cost estimate up front and settle against documents after departure - every difference is visible.

Note: the above describes our standard billing basis; actual rates are subject to your quotation. For a quote or reconciliation: ELINK (Shanghai) Industrial & Trade Ltd. | Tel: +86-21-5017-0881 | Mobile/WeChat: +86-1381-777-5656 | WhatsApp: +852-5106-8641 | art@elinkmro.com