From China to Southeast Asia: How YQN Managed an Oversized Cargo Shipment
YQN Operation Team | 2025.01.17 | info@yqn.com
In recent years, several Chinese car manufacturers have expanded by setting up factories abroad. This trend has increased the demand for professionalism and reliability in international logistics.
YQN has supported automotive and auto parts exports multiple times. In 2024, we received a logistics request from a car client planning to build a factory in Southeast Asia. They needed to ship construction materials and large machinery from China. With tight deadlines and the complexity of the project, YQN took the lead in identifying potential challenges. By utilizing our group resources, we developed a comprehensive solution covering sea freight, trucking, container loading, and customs clearance. Our dedicated project customer service team handled any unexpected issues, ensuring a smooth and reliable end-to-end experience.
Client Expectations
The client had several key requirements for this project:
· Multiple Shipments from Various Ports: The client needed shipments from different ports to ensure enough cargo space for all items.
· Fixed Schedule for Shipments: A fixed schedule was necessary to secure competitive freight rates and ensure timely deliveries.
· Safe Transportation of Oversized and Overweight Items: Given the nature of the cargo, the client required careful handling of oversized and overweight items, ensuring no damage or loss during transit.
Our Solutions: Leveraging Group Resources to Develop Solutions
1. One-stop National Cross-port Booking
The project required shipments from factories in five different regions across China. To manage this complexity, YQN's Dalian office formed a dedicated project team to oversee the process. The team coordinated with local branches for on-the-ground execution and provided seamless multi-port shipping services.
For instance, machinery produced at the client’s Fuzhou factory was shipped from the Xiamen port. YQN's Xiamen branch took charge of trucking the cargo from the factory to the port, handled stuffing, bundling, and securing the items, and provided expert advice on port operation modes.
The dedicated project team ensured smooth management of the overall progress, keeping direct communication with the client and minimizing coordination costs.
2. Capacity During Peak Season and Competitive Freight Rates
The project spanned a long shipping cycle, covering peak shipping seasons throughout the year. This brought potential risks such as price increases and container shortages, driven by fluctuations in capacity and freight rates. These factors placed high demands on the logistics team’s ability to work closely with shipping companies and effectively manage and predict capacity supply.
To mitigate these challenges, YQN leveraged its group resources. The Vice President of our Southeast Asia route, along with the operations management team, utilized big data from our platform to accurately forecast market freight rate trends. This data-driven approach enabled more precise rate locking and minimized risks tied to major rate fluctuations.
At the start of each month, we developed tailored plans and offered capacity options from multiple shipping companies, including Maersk and COSCO Shipping. These plans were closely aligned with the client’s production schedule, allowing us to secure space in advance and offer competitive rate quotes, even during peak seasons.
3. Professional Process Operations to Ensure Safe Transportation of Oversized Items
The shipment included a variety of oversized items, such as steel coils, large production line equipment, electrical cabinets, spray equipment, and other components, totaling over 400 containers and weighing several thousand tons.
To manage this, the YQN project team coordinated with local branches to secure high-cube and specialized containers at different ports well in advance. We arranged trucking services to transport the items to warehouses for packaging, bundling, and securing. For the oversized machinery, we used crossed and symmetrical steel wire binding, with rubber padding at critical points to prevent any damage to the surfaces.
At the port, cranes were employed to load the equipment into containers from above, ensuring no damage during the process. Throughout the loading phase at the port of departure, we implemented comprehensive securing measures to ensure the cargo remained safe and stable throughout the long-distance journey.
4. Destination Port Solutions
YQN also offers comprehensive destination port services, with our Thailand branch providing local customs clearance and land transportation solutions.
Given the oversized and overweight nature of the cargo, as well as the unique geographical challenges of the delivery point, our professional team meticulously planned the local trucking routes. We avoided mountain roads and narrow paths, considering height and weight restrictions, and selected larger roads that could accommodate medium and large cargo whenever possible.
Additionally, in response to the client’s needs, we arranged for nearby warehouses at the destination port for unloading and hoisting the oversized machinery. This ensured that the large equipment was delivered safely and securely to its final destination.
Conclusion
Through effective coordination, strategic planning, and leveraging our extensive resources, YQN successfully delivered a complex logistics solution that met all client requirements—ensuring timely delivery, safe handling of oversized cargo, and competitive freight rates. Our dedicated project team’s expertise in managing peak season challenges and optimizing transportation routes across regions contributed to the project’s success.
At YQN, we are committed to providing reliable, professional logistics solutions for projects of all sizes and complexities. If you’re looking for a trusted partner for your logistics needs, contact us today to explore how we can support your business: info@yqn.com.
