Cargo we handle for importers
Industrial equipment, machinery, auto parts, electrical products, hardware, furniture, construction materials, batteries, solar products and special cargo, from any manufacturing province in China to your market.
Every cargo type has an origin-side job
We are not just here to quote freight. We help you coordinate your suppliers, arrange factory pickup, manage export customs clearance, consolidate cargo, book ocean or air freight, and solve origin-side issues before they delay your shipment.
What that means differs by cargo. Machinery needs a route survey and corrosion protection; furniture needs a loading plan and moisture control; batteries need a dangerous-goods classification before anyone will move them; hardware fills a container’s weight before its volume. The ten categories below are the ones our importers buy most, with the handling each needs, what to tell us at quotation, and the worked scenarios and guides we have published for each.
Industrial Equipment
Industrial equipment is priced and routed on its dimensions and weight before anything else. A piece that fits a 40-foot high-cube ships as ordinary FCL; one that exceeds the door height or the payload needs a flat-rack or open-top container, and a piece beyond container limits altogether moves as breakbulk on a conventional vessel. The equipment decision has to be made from drawings, not from the factory's description.
On the China side the work is crating to export grade with ISPM 15 timber, marking the centre of gravity and lifting points, protecting machined surfaces against condensation over a long transit, and supervising the loading and lashing. We have moved more than ten specialised containers to Mexico and a 30-tonne overweight piece to India, and both projects were won or lost at origin.
What to tell us at quotation
- Per-piece dimensions and gross weight, from drawings
- Whether the piece can be split or must travel assembled
- Delivery site access: crane, forklift capacity, road width
Machinery
Machinery differs from general equipment in two ways: it is usually part of a larger project with an installation date, and it is sensitive to moisture. A machine tool that arrives after the installation crew has left costs more than the freight, and one that arrives with surface rust from six weeks of condensation cycles costs the commissioning schedule. Both are managed at origin: booking against the installation date rather than the factory's ready date, and packing with vapour-corrosion inhibitor and a sealed barrier.
Spare parts follow their own logic. A line stoppage waiting for a component is an air-freight decision, and we price it that way rather than defaulting to the mode the original machine travelled on.
What to tell us at quotation
- Installation or commissioning date, not just the required arrival
- Whether machined surfaces are exposed, painted or oiled
- Spare parts that may need to travel separately by air
Auto Parts
Automotive parts from China typically come from several suppliers feeding one buyer, which makes consolidation at origin the default rather than the exception. Each supplier packs to its own standard unless told otherwise, so the packing and labelling specification is agreed before production ends, and the loading plan keeps each supplier's parts segregated for receiving at your end.
When a line is at risk, part of an order moves by air while the balance continues by sea. Deciding in advance which part numbers qualify for that treatment, and at what stock level, turns an emergency into a procedure.
What to tell us at quotation
- Part numbers that are line-critical and their safety stock
- Whether returnable racking or packaging is in use
- Supplier list with cities and typical monthly volume
Electrical Products
Electrical goods are the category where a purchasing decision most often becomes a customs problem. Products need the destination market's marking and test evidence, and any product containing a lithium battery is dangerous goods for transport with different rules by air and by sea. We screen every SKU for battery content at quotation and confirm the certification documents exist before the goods are collected.
Packing matters more than the value suggests: electrostatic protection, moisture barriers and inner cushioning are cheap at the factory and impossible on the quay.
What to tell us at quotation
- Whether any product contains or ships with a battery
- Certification held for the destination market and who holds the test reports
- Retail-ready or bulk packing
Hardware
Hardware and tools are dense cargo. A container fills its weight allowance long before it fills its volume, and destination road limits can be lower again than the container's rated payload. The loading plan is therefore built on weight distribution rather than cubic metres, and a heavy order is often better split across two lighter boxes than crammed into one that cannot legally leave the port.
Because hardware buyers commonly source from several factories, the origin consolidation and the carton marking discipline described under auto parts apply here too.
What to tell us at quotation
- Gross weight per carton and per pallet
- Destination delivery by container or by pallet after devanning
- Whether steel content triggers additional tariffs in your market
Furniture
Furniture is a volume business, so the cost per unit is decided by how many units fit a 40-foot high-cube. Carton dimensions are optimised at the factory, the container is loaded to a plan, and the difference between a well-loaded and a badly-loaded box is often the whole margin on the order.
Upholstered and natural-fibre goods crossing the tropics need moisture protection: desiccant, barrier lining and dry cartons. Mould on arrival usually writes off the whole load rather than part of it.
What to tell us at quotation
- Carton dimensions and units per carton
- Whether goods are upholstered, veneered or solid timber
- LCL for a trial order or FCL for a range
Construction Materials
Construction materials combine the weight problem of hardware with the scheduling problem of machinery: a site needs the scaffolding before the cladding and the cladding before the fittings, and the crane hire is booked for a day. We plan the shipments in delivery order and book each against its site window rather than as one large consignment that arrives together and waits.
Stone, tiles and bulk bags need weight-distributed loading and floor protection; scaffolding and long sections need flat-rack or open-top equipment when they exceed container length.
What to tell us at quotation
- Site delivery sequence and windows
- Weight per pallet or bag and whether a forklift is available on site
- Any pieces longer than a 40-foot container
Batteries
Lithium batteries are regulated as dangerous goods whether they ship alone, packed with equipment or installed in it, and the rules differ by mode: air is far more restrictive than sea on state of charge and on what can travel at all. Every battery product we move is classified at quotation, the UN 38.3 test summary is obtained from the manufacturer, and the packing and labelling are checked at loading by someone who knows what the label should say.
Energy-storage systems add weight and size to the compliance problem, and are increasingly project cargo in their own right.
What to tell us at quotation
- Cell or pack chemistry, watt-hour rating and whether the battery is installed
- UN 38.3 test summary availability
- Air or sea, since the answer decides what is possible
Solar Products
Solar modules are fragile under point loads and travel best on the manufacturer's pallets, loaded and strapped to a plan; inverters are electronics and need the same moisture protection as any other. The logistics are straightforward when they are planned and expensive when they are not.
The commercial risk on this cargo is often at customs rather than in transit: several markets apply trade remedies or supply-chain documentation requirements to solar products of Chinese origin, and the paperwork to satisfy them has to be assembled at the factory, not requested after arrival.
What to tell us at quotation
- Module count, pallet configuration and whether inverters ship with them
- Destination market, since trade-remedy exposure differs by country
- Project delivery sequence if the site is being built in phases
Special Cargo
Special cargo is where we have the deepest track record: dangerous goods across all modes, oversized and overweight pieces, out-of-gauge loads on flat-rack and open-top equipment, and breakbulk when nothing else fits. The common thread is that the plan is made from documents, not descriptions: the safety data sheet decides whether a chemical can fly, the drawing decides whether a machine needs a flat-rack, and the route survey decides whether the truck can reach the port.
For anything in this category we would rather have the questions at quotation than the answers at booking, because at quotation they are questions and at booking they are delays.
What to tell us at quotation
- Safety data sheet for any chemical or battery product
- Dimensions, weight and lifting points for any oversized piece
- Destination site constraints for delivery
The six things we do for every cargo type
Supplier Coordination
One contact for every factory you buy from.
How it works 02Factory Pickup
Trucks to the factory gate, anywhere in China.
How it works 03Export Customs Clearance
The Chinese export declaration, done right the first time.
How it works 04Cargo Consolidation
Several suppliers, several cities, one shipment.
How it works 05Ocean & Air Booking
Space booked on the schedule your delivery date needs.
How it works 06Origin-Side Problem Solving
Problems caught at origin, before they become delays at destination.
How it worksSpecial handling
Dangerous goods, oversized and overweight pieces, out-of-gauge loads on flat-rack and open-top equipment, and breakbulk cargo are handled under our Project Cargo & Dangerous Goods service line, with direct experience that includes more than ten specialised containers to Mexico and a 30-tonne overweight piece to India. For anything in this category we would rather have the questions at quotation than the answers at booking.
- IMO dangerous goods and the IMDG Code
- IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations
- IPPC ISPM 15 wood packaging standard
- IMO container safety (CSC)
External standards bodies and government sources, linked for reference. Transeasy is not affiliated with these organisations.