Cargo that does not fit the box, and cargo no carrier will load without the paperwork

Per-piece dimensions and gross weights, collection and delivery addresses, and the Incoterm. For dangerous goods, add the safety data sheet, the UN number, the packing group and the net quantity per package. For heavy or awkwardly shaped pieces, a drawing or photographs showing lifting points and centre of gravity. With that we answer within one business day. Without it we can describe options but we cannot price them, because on this kind of cargo the equipment decision moves the cost far more than the freight rate does.

Because the two regimes are written against different risks. The IMDG Code governs sea and assumes a vessel with segregation distances, deck and under-deck stowage options and crew on board. The IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations govern air and assume a hold nobody can reach in flight, so permitted quantities per package are much smaller, some classes are cargo-aircraft-only and some are not acceptable at all. The same UN number and packing group can therefore be routine in a container and restricted in an aircraft. Send us the safety data sheet and the mode you want, and we will confirm which set of limits applies.

Open top when the cargo exceeds the internal height of a standard box, or has to be craned in from above because it cannot be brought through the doors; the roof bows and tarpaulin come off and the door header is usually removable. Flat rack when the piece is over-width or over-length, or heavy enough that the concentrated load needs a reinforced floor, since the absent side walls allow overhang. If a piece is over-height and over-width together, or too heavy for any container, it becomes break-bulk on a heavy-lift vessel instead. We make that call from your dimensions against the equipment actually available on the lane.

More than for general cargo, and the reason is structural rather than internal to us: carriers and terminals approve dangerous goods before they confirm a booking, and some classes need a stowage position that only certain sailings can offer. We answer quote requests within one business day, but carrier approval, permit issue and route check lead times sit outside that promise and vary by class, port and lane. Contact us once you have the safety data sheet, ideally before the Incoterm is fixed, because who arranges the main carriage also determines who signs the DG declaration.

Lithium batteries are Class 9 and among the most closely regulated cargo in circulation. What governs the shipment is whether the cells travel alone, packed with equipment or installed in equipment, the watt-hour rating, the state of charge and the applicable packing instruction. These rules are revised more frequently than most, so the correct answer is the one current on your shipping date, not the one that applied last time. Send the UN number, the battery test summary and the packing configuration, and we will confirm what the current regulations allow for your mode and lane.

Rail is a core strength for us on the China–Europe, China–Central Asia and China–Russia corridors, and it does carry oversized cargo. The limits, though, are set by the loading gauge of every tunnel, bridge and platform along the route and by the wagon types available, so the constraint is fixed infrastructure rather than commercial negotiation. Some pieces that ship out-of-gauge by sea will not clear a rail loading gauge. Send the dimensions and the destination and Dominic Wang, our railway and road service specialist, will confirm whether the corridor takes the piece or whether a multimodal plan — rail for most of the route, road for the restricted section — is the better answer.

Usually, if it is treated as a routing problem rather than a truck booking. We moved 30 tonnes of overweight cargo into India by road by routing around the weight and clearance restrictions and using specialised containers together with inland transport vehicles suited to each leg. The work happens before anything moves: checking bearing capacity, overhead clearance, turning radii and permit requirements on each candidate route, then committing to the one that holds under load.

Cargo insurance is available across all our modes, and on this kind of shipment it deserves a deliberate decision rather than a default. A project consignment is often one indivisible unit whose replacement cost is the whole contract, with a manufacturing lead time no delivery schedule can absorb. Carrier liability under the standard transport conventions is capped by weight or by package, not by what your cargo is worth. Tell us the commercial value and we will quote cover alongside the freight.