We move commercial cargo out of the United Kingdom every working day — pallets of finished goods, spare parts, building materials, industrial plant, retail stock and full project consignments. Whether you export once a quarter or run a weekly programme, you get held rates, a booking desk that answers the phone and paperwork that clears first time.
Most commercial customers start with sea freight because it carries the best cost per cubic metre. A full container load gives you exclusive use of the box and the tightest control over transit; groupage lets you send two, five or ten cubic metres and pay only for what you occupy. Where the deadline matters more than the tariff, we move the same cargo by air on consolidated or direct flights, or by road across Europe on groupage and full loads.
Getting commodity classification right is what separates a smooth export from a detained one. Our in-house team checks your commodity codes against the current UK tariff, raises the export declaration, validates your EORI, prepares the commercial invoice and packing list, and issues the certificate of origin or preference declaration where a trade agreement lets your customer pay less duty at the far end.
For repeat traffic we can hold your stock in our Thames-side warehouse, pick and consolidate against your orders, and release shipments to a fixed weekly cut-off. That removes the scramble of arranging haulage and space every time an order lands, and it lets you quote your own customers a reliable delivery date.
Commercial cargo we handle
- Palletised finished goods and retail stock
- Industrial machinery and production plant
- Spare parts, components and consumables
- Building materials, hardware and steel
- Chemicals and IMDG-classified dangerous goods
- Foodstuffs in ambient and reefer equipment
- Exhibition and event freight with carnets
- Project cargo, out-of-gauge and breakbulk
Routes to market: sea, air and road
Choosing the right mode is a trade-off between cost, speed and the nature of the cargo, and we quote all three side by side so you can decide with real numbers in front of you.
Sea freight for planned volume
FCL from a UK port typically starts from around £900–£1,200 to Northern Europe and rises with distance; LCL groupage runs from roughly £95–£160 per cubic metre. This is the default for anything that is not urgent and where cubic metres or weight are significant.
Air freight for deadlines
When a customer's production line or retail launch depends on the delivery date, air freight from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted or Manchester compresses transit to one to five days airport to airport, at a materially higher rate per kilo.
Road freight for Europe
Full and part loads to continental Europe move on groupage or dedicated trailers, cleared under the correct export procedure at the point of departure, with typical transit of two to five days door to door depending on distance.
How Your Shipment Moves
Quote & booking
Rates, sailing or flight options confirmed in writing.
UK collection
Nationwide collection or delivery into our Tilbury depot.
Loading & packing
Lashing, crating, palletising and photographic record.
Customs & export
Export entry, NES clearance and documentation released.
Transit & delivery
Tracking updates until the cargo lands with your consignee.
UK ports and airports we use
Our commercial traffic is split across the ports and airports that give the best combination of sailing frequency, airline capacity and inland haulage cost for a given lane.
- Felixstowe and London Gateway — deep-sea container mainline services
- Southampton and Tilbury — Europe, Mediterranean and shortsea rotations
- Liverpool — North Atlantic and West African container trades
- Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted — scheduled and freighter air cargo
- Manchester and East Midlands — northern and express air gateways
Incoterms, pricing and who pays for what
We quote on any Incoterm you need — EXW, FCA, FOB, CFR, CIF, DAP or DDP — and we will tell you plainly where the risk and cost transfer on each. Most first-time exporters are best served by FOB or CIF while they build confidence with their buyer; established traders often move to DAP so their customer sees one delivered price. Every quotation states the Incoterm, the equipment, the routing, what is included and what the consignee will still have to pay locally.
Customs, compliance and audit trail
Your export entry, movement reference number, bill of lading or air waybill and proof of export are filed against your account and available whenever HMRC or your accountant asks for them. We also advise on licensable goods, dual-use controls, sanctions screening and the documentary requirements of your destination market, so a shipment is stopped in our office rather than on a quayside three thousand miles away.
- HMRC export declaration and Movement Reference Number
- EORI validation and commodity code checks
- Certificates of origin and preference documentation
- Dual-use, licensable goods and sanctions screening
- Proof of export retained for VAT zero-rating
Packing, loading and equipment
Commercial cargo is palletised, shrink-wrapped, strapped or crated to export standard at our East Tilbury warehouse. Timber packaging is heat-treated and ISPM15-stamped for markets that require it, and every pallet is weighed and measured before loading so the freight invoice matches the goods that actually travel.
Insurance and risk
Carrier liability is limited by convention and is rarely close to the value of commercial cargo. We arrange all-risk marine and air cargo cover at 1.5% of the declared CIF value, warehouse to warehouse, including general average contribution at sea. For high-value or fragile consignments we will also recommend a packing specification that keeps the premium down and the claims history clean.
Costs and what affects your quotation
Beyond the freight rate itself, the total landed cost depends on a number of variable factors that we set out clearly on every quotation rather than folding into a single all-in figure.
- Weight versus volume — which one the cargo weighs or cubes out on
- Equipment choice — shared groupage space versus an exclusive container or trailer
- Origin and destination port or airport combination
- Free time needed before demurrage, detention or storage charges apply
- Whether destination clearance and delivery are included or handled by your own agent
- Seasonal capacity — pre-Christmas, Chinese New Year and trade-fair periods
Trade and repeat commercial clients
Regular exporters can move onto a standing rate agreement covering a named lane and volume band, with a fixed weekly cut-off so production and shipping schedules stay aligned. We can also warehouse stock ahead of despatch, consolidate multiple purchase orders into a single container, and provide monthly reporting of shipment volumes, costs and transit performance for your finance team.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we hear most often from commercial shippers, answered plainly.
Do I need an EORI number to export?
Yes — every UK business exporting goods needs a GB EORI number, and many destination markets also require the importer to hold their own local equivalent. We check this before the first shipment moves.
Can you handle destination clearance as well as UK export?
Yes, through our network of overseas agents, or we can release the shipping documents to your own nominated broker if you prefer to control that side of the transaction.
What happens if a commodity code is wrong?
An incorrect code can lead to the wrong duty rate, a delayed clearance or a customs query. We check codes against the current UK Global Tariff before the declaration is filed, and flag anything ambiguous to you for confirmation.
Why choose ShipCars UK
NLX Logistics Ltd runs its own warehouse, packing team and export documentation desk at East Tilbury, so a commercial shipment is planned, packed, cleared and tracked by one organisation rather than passed between subcontractors. You get a single named coordinator, transparent pricing, and a proof-of-export file ready whenever your accountant or HMRC asks for it.