Most people moving to America are not shipping a whole house, and paying for a whole container to carry half of one is the most common way to overspend on this route.
Tell us roughly what is coming and where it is going, and we connect you with a vetted international moving company from our network that runs shared container services on your route.
The same service goes by several names. Part load, shared container, groupage and LCL all describe goods from more than one household travelling in one container, with the cost split by the space each shipment occupies.
your goods travel in a container with other people's and you pay for the space you take up. It is the cheapest sea option and the usual answer for anything short of a full house.
Ask how often the shared service actually sails to your destination. On a busy lane a container fills in days. On a thin one it can wait weeks, and that wait is invisible in a transit time.
| What you pay for | The space your goods occupy, not the container |
|---|---|
| Also called | Shared container, groupage, LCL |
| The trade | Lower cost, longer total time |
| Best for | Flats and part households rather than full houses |
| Customs | Same declaration as any other sea shipment |
| Currency | Exchange help included with your move |
Your goods are collected, packed for export and taken to a depot, where they are loaded into a container alongside other shipments bound for the same part of the United States.
At the far end the container is unpacked and the shipments separate, each clearing customs on its own paperwork before going out for delivery. Those extra handling stages are why it costs less and takes longer.
Competitor published timings put part loads several weeks behind full loads on the same route, which is a fair guide to the difference rather than a promise about your shipment.
Shared container pricing is volume pricing, so an accurate survey is the whole of the quote rather than a formality.
How often space runs to your destination decides your real timeline far more than the published crossing time does.
On a long route, a small air consignment covering the first few weeks often costs less than living without your things.
Your goods share a container with other households heading the same way, and you pay for the space your shipment occupies rather than for the whole container.
Yes. Part load, shared container, groupage and less than container load all describe the same arrangement, with different companies preferring different names for it.
Enough to matter on anything short of a full house, because you are buying space rather than a container. The saving narrows as your volume rises.
Published competitor timings put part loads several weeks behind full loads on the same route, once the wait for space and the handling at both ends are counted.
No. Each shipment is inventoried, wrapped and kept as its own consignment inside the container, and clears customs on its own paperwork.
No. The one year use test, CBP Form 3299 and the declaration of anything owned under twelve months apply exactly as they would on a sole use container.
When you are shipping most of a house, when the load is fragile or valuable, or when your dates cannot absorb a wait for shared space.
Yes, though for very small shipments excess baggage or air freight can work out better. Ask for both to be priced.
Usually at collection rather than at the depot. Once a shipment is consolidated it is not practical to open it, which is why the inventory matters at the packing stage.
Send your collection address, your US destination, the move date and a rough inventory. A moving company from our network prices the shared container option and the alternatives beside it.
A Working Member of AGM Group. Enquiries are connected with vetted FIDI FAIM certified and BAR Overseas accredited international moving companies from the network.
We do not carry out moves ourselves. Your shipment is arranged, priced and handled by the moving company we connect you with.
Written by Darren Benjamin, Founder.