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Fast Sea is a highly recommended service that we endorse. It offers greater stability and more affordable pricing compared to Regular Sea. Unlike Regular Sea, which can have lead times of 40-50 days, Fast Sea typically maintains a delivery time of around 30 days. Some freight companies refer to it as "Express Sea." While it offers a higher service level than Regular Sea, it doesn't reach the extreme service level of "Super Fast Sea," yet it remains cost-effective. If you're shipping e-commerce goods and require stable, speedy replenishments, opt for Fast Sea! It won't disappoint you.
Fast Sea typically involves rigorous selection of vessels and voyages from ocean shipping companies. It excludes major providers like MSK, MSC, or WH, known for their budget services. To ensure speed and reliability, only a small number of vessels from the OA Alliance are considered for Fast Sea. In most cases, we utilize select vessels and routes from Zim and Matson.
However, the choice of shipping company and voyage is not the only critical factor; the transportation method upon reaching the destination country is equally important. For instance, if you order goods from China and opt for Fast Sea service to the East Coast of the United States, they will disembark on the West Coast and swiftly transfer via rail and truck to the East Coast, rather than directly to ports like New York or Savannah. Once a ship passes through the Panama Canal to reach an East Coast port, it categorically becomes Regular Sea, significantly slower than combined sea and land transport.
Typically, the cutoff registration time refers to the date when freight forwarders begin closing cargo acceptance, tallying received shipments for the week, and allocating container assignments.
For Regular Sea and Economical Sea, this cutoff time is less critical because their vessel schedules are irregular and less stable, with longer transit times that might delay shipments by up to 7 days.
However, for Fast Sea services, their schedules are fixed weekly. The leading Fast Sea shipping companies depart China on Thursdays (or Wednesdays), with containers needing to be at port by Tuesdays (or Mondays). This makes the cutoff registration time crucial. With a transit time as short as 25 days, missing a ship and delaying by 7 days can account for a quarter of the total duration.
In general, Chinese freight forwarders set Saturday as the cutoff registration day, with ships departing on Thursdays. Some companies may have earlier cutoffs on Fridays or Thursdays, while others may extend to Sundays or even Mondays.
For importers, a later cutoff registration time is preferable as it forms part of the lead time.
