Freight Forwarding
Fundamentals

The forwarder's real job

You will learn what a freight forwarder actually does all day, and why the role exists at all.

A freight forwarder organises the movement of goods between countries. They do not usually own ships, aircraft or lorries. They buy transport from the companies that do, combine it with paperwork and problem-solving, and sell the whole thing to a customer as one service.

The simplest way to understand the job is to look at what a business would have to do without one. Imagine a furniture importer in Manchester buying forty sofas from a factory in Vietnam. On their own, they would need to:

• Find a lorry in Vietnam to take the goods from the factory to the port
• Book space on a ship, in the right week, in the right size of container
• Arrange export clearance with Vietnamese customs
• Make sure the goods are packed and labelled so they survive six weeks at sea
• File an import declaration in the UK and pay duty and tax
• Get the container off the port before storage charges start
• Arrange a lorry to the warehouse and someone to unload it

That is seven suppliers, in two countries, in two languages, each with their own deadlines. The forwarder does all of it under one contract, one invoice and one point of contact.

What the job feels like day to day

In practice, forwarding is three activities repeating: quoting (working out what a movement will cost and what to charge), booking and documenting (reserving space and producing correct paperwork), and exception handling (fixing what has gone wrong). The third one takes the most time and is what clients actually pay for. Anyone can book a container. Knowing what to do when it is sitting at a port with a customs hold is the skill.

Forwarder, carrier, broker and 3PL

You will learn to tell four similar-sounding roles apart, so you always know who you are talking to.

These four words get used loosely, including by people in the industry. Knowing the real difference tells you who is responsible when something goes wrong.

The lines blur in real companies. Many forwarders have an in-house customs team, so they are a broker too. Some large forwarders own trucks for local delivery. Some 3PLs do everything. What matters is not the company's name but which role it is playing on your shipment, because that determines who is liable.

How forwarders actually make money

You will learn the four income streams in forwarding, and why the headline freight rate is the least interesting one.

Forwarders make money in four ways. Understanding all four explains why one company can quote a rate that looks impossibly low.

1. Buy-sell margin on freightThe forwarder buys space in volume at a low rate and sells it in smaller pieces at a higher one. A shipping line might charge them $1,900 for a 40ft container; they sell it at $2,250. The $350 difference is margin.
2. Service feesFixed charges for work: documentation, customs entry, handling, terminal fees. These are usually where the reliable profit sits, because they do not move when freight rates fall.
3. Consolidation profitThe forwarder buys one container and sells space inside it to several small shippers. If the container costs $1,900 and eight customers each pay $400, the container earns $3,200. This is the core of the LCL business you will meet in Module 3.
4. Ancillary servicesInsurance commission, storage, palletising, inspections, customs consultancy. Individually small, collectively significant.

NVOCC and asset-light models

You will learn what an NVOCC is and why it matters when you read a Bill of Lading.

NVOCC stands for Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier. It is a forwarder that acts as a carrier without owning a ship. They buy large volumes of space from shipping lines, then issue their own transport documents to customers.

Why this creates two documents

When an NVOCC is involved, a shipment usually has two Bills of Lading:

• The Master Bill of Lading (MBL), issued by the actual shipping line, showing the NVOCC as shipper and their overseas partner as consignee.
• The House Bill of Lading (HBL), issued by the NVOCC to the real customer, showing the real shipper and the real consignee.

This is normal and legitimate. It exists because the shipping line deals with the NVOCC in bulk, and the NVOCC deals with dozens of individual customers.

Liability: what you are responsible for

You will learn why a carrier who loses your cargo may legally owe far less than it was worth.

New importers assume that if a carrier loses their goods, the carrier pays for the goods. This is usually wrong, and the gap surprises people badly.

International transport runs on conventions that cap liability by weight, not by value. Each mode has its own limit, and the figures are expressed in SDR (Special Drawing Rights), an international unit whose value against currencies moves daily.

What this means with real numbers

Suppose road liability is capped at roughly 8.33 SDR per kilo, and one SDR is worth about £1.05. A pallet of laptops weighing 200 kg and worth £60,000 is lost. The maximum recoverable under the convention is roughly 200 × 8.33 × £1.05 = about £1,750. The shipper loses £58,250.

What Incoterms do, and what they do not

You will learn what the three-letter codes actually govern, and the three things people wrongly believe they cover.

Incoterms are standard trade terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce. The current set is Incoterms 2020. They appear in a sales contract like this: CIF Rotterdam, Incoterms 2020.

Each term answers exactly three questions:

1. Who arranges the transport, and for which part of the journey
2. Who pays for each leg, including loading, unloading and clearance
3. At what precise point risk transfers from seller to buyer — meaning who bears the loss if the goods are damaged or destroyed from that moment on

What they do not cover

This is where beginners go wrong. Incoterms say nothing about:

• Ownership. Title to the goods is governed by the sales contract, not the Incoterm. Risk and ownership are separate ideas that often transfer at different times.
• Payment. When and how the buyer pays is a separate clause. CIF does not mean "pay on arrival".
• What happens in a dispute. Governing law, jurisdiction and remedies come from the contract.

EXW and FCA

You will learn the two terms where the buyer takes control earliest, and why one of them is almost always the better choice.

EXW — Ex Works

The seller's only obligation is to make the goods available at their own premises. They do not load the truck. They do not clear the goods for export. Everything from that doorway onward is the buyer's cost and risk.

EXW sounds simple and is the most problematic term in common use. The buyer is a foreign company with no legal presence in the seller's country, yet they are responsible for export clearance there — something many countries only permit a locally established exporter to do.

FCA — Free Carrier

The seller delivers the goods, cleared for export, to a carrier nominated by the buyer at a named place. FCA solves the EXW problem: the seller handles export formalities, which they are properly placed to do.

FCA has two versions depending on the named place:

• FCA seller's premises — the seller loads the goods onto the buyer's collecting vehicle. Risk passes once loaded.
• FCA any other place (a terminal, a forwarder's depot) — the seller delivers the goods there ready for unloading. Risk passes when the vehicle arrives, still loaded.

CPT and CIP

You will learn the two terms where the seller pays for carriage but risk has already passed — the split that causes most disputes.

CPT — Carriage Paid To. The seller arranges and pays for carriage to a named destination. But risk transfers to the buyer as soon as the goods are handed to the first carrier, which may be a lorry leaving the factory thousands of miles from the destination.

CIP — Carriage and Insurance Paid To. Identical to CPT, with one addition: the seller must also buy insurance for the buyer's benefit. Under Incoterms 2020, CIP requires all-risks cover (Institute Cargo Clauses A or equivalent) — an upgrade from the 2010 edition.

Why the split matters

Goods are damaged in a road accident 100 km from the factory. The seller has paid carriage to Warsaw. Because risk passed at handover to the first carrier, the loss is the buyer's. Under CPT the buyer has no insurance unless they bought their own. Under CIP the seller bought it for them and they claim on that policy.

DAP, DPU and DDP

You will learn the three delivered terms, where risk stays with the seller almost to the end, and the trap inside DDP.

These are the D terms. In all three the seller keeps risk until the goods reach the destination, which makes them attractive to buyers and demanding for sellers.

DPU is the only Incoterm that requires the seller to unload. That sounds minor until you picture a 40ft container arriving at a site with no forklift.

The DDP trap

DDP makes the seller responsible for import clearance, duty and import VAT in the buyer's country. To pay import VAT, a company usually needs to be registered for tax there, or to appoint a fiscal representative. A seller who agrees DDP into a country where they have no registration can find that they cannot legally complete their own obligation — and often cannot reclaim the VAT they have paid.

The sea-only four: FAS, FOB, CFR, CIF

You will learn the four maritime terms and why using them for containers is technically wrong.

These four exist only for sea and inland waterway transport, and only for cargo handed over at the ship's side or on board.

• FAS — Free Alongside Ship. Seller delivers alongside the vessel at the named port. Risk passes there.
• FOB — Free On Board. Seller delivers on board the vessel. Risk passes once the goods are on board.
• CFR — Cost and Freight. Seller pays freight to the destination port; risk passes on board at origin.
• CIF — Cost, Insurance and Freight. As CFR, plus the seller buys insurance — but only minimum cover is required.

Why they are wrong for containers

With containerised cargo you do not hand goods over at the ship. You deliver a sealed container to a terminal, often several days before the vessel arrives. Between the terminal gate and the ship's crane, the container sits in a stack — and under FOB, risk has not yet passed. If it is damaged or stolen in that window, the seller bears it, despite having lost all control of it.

The correct containerised equivalents are: FAS or FOB → FCA; CFR → CPT; CIF → CIP.

Where risk passes versus where cost ends

You will learn to read any Incoterm as two separate lines on a map, which is the skill that makes all eleven easy.

Every Incoterm draws two lines across the journey. One marks where cost stops being the seller's. The other marks where risk stops being the seller's. For some terms the lines sit together. For four of them — CPT, CIP, CFR and CIF — they are far apart, and that gap is where disputes live.

SHIPMENT: 800 cartons ceramic tiles, Valencia -> Rotterdam
TERM:     CIF Rotterdam, Incoterms 2020

  Factory ---- Port Valencia ---- [ON BOARD] ---- Sea ---- Rotterdam
                                       |
  SELLER PAYS COST -----------------------------------------> HERE
  SELLER BEARS RISK ---> HERE
                        (risk passes on loading, at origin)

  Vessel suffers a fire in the Bay of Biscay. Cargo is lost.
  -> The loss falls on the BUYER.
  -> The buyer claims on the insurance policy the SELLER bought.
  -> The seller has no further obligation. The buyer still owes payment
     under the sales contract unless it says otherwise.

Read that once more, because it is counter-intuitive and it is examined constantly: the seller paid for the whole voyage and the buyer took the loss on it.

Choosing the right term for your client

You will learn a repeatable process for recommending an Incoterm instead of guessing.

1. Ask who is better placed to arrange transportA buyer importing regularly on a lane has better rates and more control than an occasional seller. Whoever has the volume should usually arrange the freight.
2. Check both parties can legally do what the term requiresCan the buyer act as exporter in the seller's country? Can the seller register for tax in the buyer's country? If not, rule out EXW and DDP respectively.
3. Decide who should carry risk on the main legWhoever can insure it properly and absorb a loss. For high-value goods, make sure the party carrying risk actually holds the policy.
4. Match the term to the transport typeContainerised or multimodal, use FCA, CPT, CIP or a D term. Bulk or breakbulk by sea, the maritime four are available.
5. Write the named place preciselyStreet address or terminal name, not a country or city. Add the edition year.
6. Check it against the payment methodIf a letter of credit is involved, the bank will require documents that match the term. A CIF letter of credit needs an insurance certificate; an FCA one does not.

The three Incoterm mistakes that cost money

You will learn to recognise the three errors that account for most Incoterm disputes.

Mistake one: FOB on a container

Covered in Lesson 2.5. The risk gap between terminal gate and ship's crane sits with a seller who has already lost control of the goods. Use FCA.

Mistake two: DDP without local tax registration

Covered in Lesson 2.4. The seller takes on an obligation they may not be legally able to discharge, and absorbs VAT they cannot reclaim. Use DAP unless the seller is genuinely established in the destination country.

Mistake three: an imprecise named place

"CIF London" is the classic. London has several terminals and no single delivery point. When goods arrive, nobody can say whether the seller's cost obligation ended at the quay, the terminal gate or a depot — and the charges in between, which can be substantial, become a fight.

Full container load explained

You will learn what FCL means, what the standard containers hold, and why "full" does not mean what it sounds like.

FCL means Full Container Load: you buy an entire container and it carries only your goods. Importantly, FCL does not mean the container must be full. If you buy a 40ft box and put three pallets in it, that is still FCL. You are buying exclusive use of the equipment, not a volume of space.

Notice the counter-intuitive line: a 40ft container often carries less weight than a 20ft one. The container itself is heavier, and road weight limits cap the total. This is why dense cargo — tiles, stone, liquids, machinery — ships in 20ft boxes while light bulky cargo fills 40ft high cubes.

Less than container load explained

You will learn how LCL works, what it really costs, and why it takes longer than the sailing schedule suggests.

LCL means Less than Container Load: your goods share a container with other shippers' goods. A forwarder collects cargo from several customers, packs it into one container at a CFS (Container Freight Station), ships it, and separates it again at the destination CFS.

How LCL is priced

LCL is charged per revenue ton — either one cubic metre or 1,000 kg, whichever produces the larger number. This is written W/M (weight or measure).

• 2.8 m³ weighing 900 kg → measure 2.8, weight 0.9 → charged on 2.8
• 1.2 m³ weighing 2,100 kg → measure 1.2, weight 2.1 → charged on 2.1

Why LCL takes longer

The sea voyage is identical to FCL. The extra time sits at both ends:

• At origin, the forwarder waits to fill the container before it sails — often several days
• At destination, the container must be unpacked and each consignment separated before yours is available — typically three to seven days after arrival

So a 30-day sailing can easily become a 45-day door-to-door LCL transit.

The break-even point between LCL and FCL

You will learn to calculate which option is cheaper, using a method you can do in two minutes.

There is no fixed cut-off. The break-even moves with rates, route and season. But the method never changes.

1. Measure the cargo properlyLength × width × height of each pallet including the pallet itself, in metres. Multiply for volume, then by the number of pallets.
2. Work out the revenue tonsVolume in m³, and weight in tonnes. Take whichever is higher.
3. Price the LCL totalRevenue tons × LCL rate, plus origin charges, plus destination charges. Destination charges are usually the biggest surprise — get them itemised.
4. Price the FCL totalThe all-in 20ft rate, door to door, including terminal handling and haulage.
5. Compare, then sanity-checkIf LCL is more than about 80% of the FCL price, take FCL: you get faster transit, less handling and spare capacity at no extra cost.

Consolidation and groupage

You will learn how forwarders build containers from multiple shipments, and how buyers can use the same idea to cut costs.

Consolidation is combining separate consignments into one container. Groupage is the same idea in road freight. Two versions matter commercially:

Forwarder consolidation

The forwarder fills a container with cargo from unrelated customers. This is how LCL exists. The forwarder takes the risk that the container sails part-empty.

Buyer consolidation

One buyer sources from several suppliers in the same region. Instead of each supplier shipping separately, all deliver to one warehouse near the port, where the goods are combined into a single container.

Container types and special equipment

You will learn which container to ask for when standard boxes will not work.

Condensation: the problem nobody warns beginners about

A steel box crossing from a hot climate to a cold one develops internal condensation — often called container rain. Moisture condenses on the roof and drips onto the cargo. It ruins cardboard, paper, textiles and electronics, and it is not the carrier's fault, so claims usually fail.

The defences are cheap: desiccant bags inside the container, moisture-barrier liners, kiln-dried pallets rather than fresh timber, and avoiding loading cargo that is already damp.

Loading plans and weight limits

You will learn how cargo should be arranged inside a container, and what VGM means for your paperwork.

Weight distribution

A container is not a box you fill randomly. Weight must be spread evenly along its length, and the centre of gravity should sit near the middle and low down. Concentrating heavy cargo at one end can make the combination illegal on the road even when the total weight is fine, because one axle exceeds its limit.

Securing the load

Cargo shifts at sea. A vessel rolls continuously for weeks. Loads must be blocked, braced and lashed so nothing can move, and voids should be filled with dunnage or airbags. A load that would be perfectly safe on a lorry can destroy itself on a ship.

VGM — Verified Gross Mass

Under the SOLAS convention, the shipper must declare the verified gross mass of a packed container — the total weight of cargo, packaging, dunnage and the container itself — before it can be loaded onto a vessel. There are two permitted methods: weighing the packed container, or weighing each item and adding the container's tare weight from its door plate.

VERIFIED GROSS MASS DECLARATION

Container no.      MSCU 447182-0
Booking ref        BK-2026-44718
Shipper            Northgate Tiling Ltd
Method used        Method 2 (sum of items + tare)

  Cargo weight            8,240 kg
  Pallets & packaging       310 kg
  Dunnage / securing         55 kg
  Container tare (door)   2,230 kg
                        ---------
  VERIFIED GROSS MASS    10,835 kg

Authorised by      ____________________    Date __________
Weighing equipment / calibration ref  ________________

How an air freight shipment moves

You will learn the real sequence of an air shipment, and why "two-day transit" is never two days door to door.

1. Collection and delivery to the forwarderCargo goes to the forwarder's warehouse near the airport, not to the airline directly.
2. Build-upCargo is weighed, measured, labelled and loaded onto ULDs — Unit Load Devices, the pallets and containers shaped to fit an aircraft hold.
3. Security screeningEvery piece must be screened or come from a secure supply chain. This takes time and cannot be skipped.
4. Handover to the airlineDelivered to the cargo terminal before the airline's acceptance cut-off, typically four to six hours before departure.
5. FlightThe part everyone thinks about. Often the shortest part.
6. Breakdown at destinationULDs are stripped and cargo sorted at the destination terminal.
7. Customs clearance and deliveryEntry filed, duty paid, cargo released and trucked to the final address.

The flight might be eleven hours. The door-to-door transit is typically four to six days. Everything either side of the flight is handling, screening, customs and trucking.

Airlines, GSAs and consolidators

You will learn who actually sells you air cargo space, and why you rarely buy from the airline.

• Airlines carry the cargo. Some are freighter operators; most carry cargo in the hold of passenger aircraft, which is called belly capacity.
• GSAs (General Sales Agents) sell an airline's cargo capacity in a market where the airline has no office of its own. They act for the airline.
• Consolidators buy capacity in bulk and resell it in smaller pieces, usually at better rates than a small forwarder could negotiate directly.

As with sea, this produces two documents. The Master Air Waybill (MAWB) is issued by the airline to the consolidator. The House Air Waybill (HAWB) is issued by the consolidator or forwarder to the actual shipper.

Chargeable weight in air freight

You will learn the calculation that decides what an air shipment costs, and be able to do it yourself.

Aircraft are limited by both weight and space. Airlines therefore charge on chargeable weight: the higher of the actual weight and the volumetric weight.

Volumetric weight (kg) = length × width × height in cm ÷ 6000

Worked example one — bulky cargo

A crate 120 × 100 × 90 cm, actual weight 150 kg.

• Volume = 120 × 100 × 90 = 1,080,000 cm³
• Volumetric = 1,080,000 ÷ 6,000 = 180 kg
• Actual = 150 kg. Chargeable weight = 180 kg

Quoting on 150 kg would have given away 20% of the freight cost out of your margin.

Worked example two — dense cargo

A pallet 100 × 120 × 80 cm, actual weight 420 kg.

• Volume = 960,000 cm³ → volumetric = 160 kg
• Actual = 420 kg. Chargeable weight = 420 kg

Worked example three — multiple pieces

Six cartons, each 60 × 40 × 50 cm, each 14 kg.

• Each carton = 120,000 cm³ → 20 kg volumetric, against 14 kg actual
• Total volumetric = 120 kg; total actual = 84 kg
• Chargeable weight = 120 kg

Screening and air cargo security

You will learn why air cargo security adds time and cost, and what a known consignor is.

All air cargo must be secured before it flies. There are two routes:

• Screening at the airport — X-ray, explosive trace detection, or other approved methods. Slower, and some cargo is difficult or impossible to screen effectively, such as dense machinery or large solid blocks.
• Known consignor status — the shipper is certified as operating a secure supply chain, so cargo is secured at their own premises and arrives ready to fly.

A company shipping by air regularly should pursue known consignor status. It shortens transit, reduces handling and avoids screening charges. It requires an audited security programme, trained staff and physical controls, so it takes time and money to obtain.

Transit times and the truth about "next flight out"

You will learn the air service levels and what each one really delivers.

The gap between standard and express is not the flight — it is priority in the queue. When capacity is tight, standard cargo gets offloaded: booked, delivered, then bumped to a later flight because a higher-paying or higher-priority shipment took the space. A shipment can be offloaded repeatedly.

When air beats sea on total cost

You will learn to compare modes on landed cost rather than freight cost, which sometimes makes air the cheaper option.

Air freight typically costs several times more per kilo than sea. Yet for some shipments air is genuinely cheaper once you count everything. Four costs make the difference:

1. Capital tied up in transitGoods on a ship for 35 days are money you have paid for and cannot sell. On a large order this is a real financing cost.
2. Safety stockLong, variable transit forces a business to hold more inventory as a buffer. That stock costs money to buy, store and insure, and it may not sell.
3. PackagingSea freight needs stronger packaging for weeks of movement and humidity. Air packaging is lighter and cheaper.
4. Obsolescence and seasonalityFashion, electronics and seasonal goods lose value while they float. Arriving six weeks late into a season can mean discounting the entire consignment.

The four questions that decide the mode

You will learn a short diagnostic that gets you to the right mode in under five minutes.

1. What is the value-to-weight ratio?Divide the shipment value by its weight in kilos. Above roughly £50 per kilo, air becomes credible because freight is a small share of value. Below £5 per kilo, sea is almost always right.
2. What happens if it is late?Nothing? Sea. Production stops, a season is missed, a contract penalty triggers? Air, and possibly express air.
3. How predictable does it need to be?Sea is cheap but variable — port congestion and rollovers add days without warning. Air is more expensive and far more consistent. Some clients are buying certainty, not speed.
4. What are the physical limits?Weight, dimensions, dangerous goods classification, temperature needs. Some cargo simply cannot fly, or cannot fly economically.

Total landed cost, not freight cost

You will learn to build a landed cost figure, which is the number a client should actually be deciding on.

Total landed cost is everything it takes to get one unit of product into your warehouse, ready to sell.

TOTAL LANDED COST - 1,200 units, Ningbo -> Birmingham

  Goods (FOB value)                    GBP  18,000.00
  Origin haulage & export charges              340.00
  Ocean freight (20ft FCL)                    1,420.00
  Destination terminal handling                 195.00
  Import customs entry                           65.00
  Duty (4.7% of customs value)                 918.00
  Import VAT                                  reclaimable
  Haulage to warehouse                          310.00
  Cargo insurance (0.35%)                        70.00
                                        -------------
  TOTAL LANDED COST                    GBP  21,318.00
  LANDED COST PER UNIT                 GBP      17.77

  Goods cost per unit was GBP 15.00
  Landed cost is 18.5% higher than the purchase price.

That final line is the one clients rarely see. A buyer negotiating a 3% discount on the goods while ignoring a badly chosen Incoterm or an avoidable duty rate is optimising the small number and missing the large one.

The hidden inventory cost of slow transit

You will learn to put a number on slow shipping, which is the argument that wins mode debates.

Every day cargo is in transit, the buyer's money is tied up in goods they cannot sell. Two costs follow.

Cost one: capital tied up

£60,000 of goods in transit for 38 days, where financing costs roughly 9% a year, ties up about £560 in financing. Modest on its own, meaningful when repeated monthly.

Cost two: safety stock

This is the larger one. Longer and more variable transit forces a business to hold a buffer. A rough rule: safety stock rises with both the length and the variability of lead time. A business selling £30,000 of stock a month with a 40-day variable lead time may need six weeks of buffer. Cut the lead time to a week and the buffer might fall to ten days — freeing tens of thousands of pounds permanently.

Multimodal combinations

You will learn the mixed options that sit between sea and air, and when they are the right answer.

• Sea-air. Ocean for the long leg to a transhipment hub, then air for the final stretch. Cheaper than pure air, faster than pure sea. Used on long-haul lanes where a natural hub exists.
• Rail. On some intercontinental corridors, rail sits between sea and air on both cost and time. Capacity, reliability and route availability vary considerably with geopolitics, so always check current conditions rather than assuming.
• Road-sea (short sea). A trailer driven onto a ferry and off again. Common within a region; door to door with minimal handling.
• Split shipments. Not strictly multimodal, but the most useful technique of all: send the urgent portion by air and the rest by sea. The client gets what they need immediately at a fraction of the cost of flying everything.

Presenting the choice to a client

You will learn to present options so a client can decide quickly and defend the decision internally.

Clients do not want a list of everything possible. They want a recommendation with the reasoning visible, and one or two alternatives so they can see the trade-off.

1. Lead with the recommendationOne sentence: what you advise and why. Not a menu.
2. Show two or three options as a tableMode, total cost, door-to-door transit, and the main risk of each.
3. Name the trade-off explicitly"Option B saves £1,900 and adds about three weeks, with more variability in peak season."
4. State what you need from them, and by whenSpace is perishable. A decision deadline is a service, not pressure.

RECOMMENDATION - 1,200 units, Ningbo -> Birmingham

We recommend Option A (sea FCL). The goods are 12 GBP/kg and not
season-critical, so the air premium is not justified.

              TOTAL      DOOR-TO-DOOR   MAIN RISK
  A  Sea FCL   GBP 2,330    32-38 days   Port congestion adds 3-7 days
                                          in peak season
  B  Sea LCL   GBP 2,050    40-48 days   More handling, higher damage
                                          risk, longer at both ends
  C  Air       GBP 7,410      5-7 days   Cost; not justified unless
                                          launch date moves

Trade-off: Option B saves GBP 280 but adds roughly a week and more
handling. For 1,200 units we do not think that is worth it.

We need your decision by Thursday 14:00 to hold space on the
vessel sailing Sunday.