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How Do I Ship Air Freight?
1. Get an Air Freight Quote
Decide which air transportation option is best for your timeline, budget and specific needs. You can calculate and compare air freight rates using the UPS® Forwarding Hub. Visit our freight shipping guide to learn about the different factors that affecting air freight rates.
2. Fill Out Your Forms
Air freight can’t be picked up without proper documentation, so gather and fill out the necessary air freight documents. Learn more about shipping documents.
3. Pack Your Freight
Determine the best packing options and materials to secure and protect your shipment and mitigate damage. You can choose from a variety of air freight packaging materials, such as paper, foam or bubble wrap padding, loose packing, edge boards, corrosion protection and shrink wrapping. If you’re shipment will be palletized, decide if you’ll use plastic or wooden pallets. Depending on the destination, determine if the wooden pallets need to be heat treated.
4. Schedule a Pickup
If you’re scheduling your own pick-up, it’s a good idea to book the pickup several days in advance of your needed pickup date. Determine if you or your recipient will require a liftgate, in the event either of you don’t have a loading dock. Contact the carrier’s local service center. If you’re using UPS, you can schedule your pick up through the UPS Forwarding Hub, where you’ll also receive your cost estimate and tracking number.
5. Transport Your Shipment
Depending on the speed of the air service you selected, your shipment is either transported to a local hub to wait for its departure or it’s directly transported to the airport to be shipped to its destination on the next flight out. If you have a tracking number, you can keep track of your shipment, or if available, be alerted at key milestones or if any exceptions occur.
6. Clearing Customs
When your shipment arrives at its destination air gateway, it is processed for Customs clearance, which can take up to three days. If the shipment clears Customs before 9 a.m. that day, it can be loaded onto a truck to be driven to its final delivery destination. Your shipment only has to clear customs in the country of its final destination. UPS has over 100 years of customs brokerage experience. If you have any questions or would like UPS to broker your cross-border shipments, you can speak with one of our brokerage experts.
Ship Now on the UPS Forwarding Hub
Our all-in-one customer portal lets you get and compare quotes, book, and track shipments all on one modern, easy-to-navigate platform.
