Import groupage services are now available by both sea and air from almost every major manufacturing centre worldwide. The UK customer can benefit from a wide range of service and price options.
The concept of import groupage services is that a consolidator, usually a forwarder or a haulier, groups together in a single transport unit consignments from several shippers to different consignees in the country of destination. Great care must be taken to ensure that the consignments are compatible for loading with each other and will not be damaged either during the actual transportation or the physical loading/unloading. Foodstuffs and hazardous cargoes, in particular, require special attention.
For many years import groupage services were only available from Europe with the main mode of carriage being the railway ferry wagon. With the introduction from the 1970's onwards of roll on/roll off ferry ships there was a gradual move away from rail to road vehicles and this trend increased with the construction of the Channel Tunnel.
The advent of containerization facilitated the development of import groupage services from originating points outside Europe. Initially the main countries were the USA and Canada and growth really took off when China became a major exporter of consumer goods. Nowadays the importer has an almost bewildering number of service options both by sea and air from all major worldwide manufacturing centres.
An important aspect of the service from non- European countries is customs clearance of the goods. Many operators have established their own clearance departments so that this function can be fully integrated with the physical movement of the goods creating a truly "one stop" shop.
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