Shipping abroad and importing goods for a typical American is an arduous and complicated process. One has to call shipping companies and ask for rates, and oftentimes getting on the line is difficult. As well, many companies do not allow for the transport of common goods or even allow typical citizens to ship their goods. To revolutionize this system, freightcalculator.com was created to give instant rates and allow for the shipping of such goods. As the Vice President of Operations at Freight Calculator, Virginie Mondragon, will tell you “we are able to give shippers the opportunity to produce large amounts of quotes per day, allowing users to query air and see instantly through the power of the internet.”
This power allows freight-calculator.com to give top notch service as you can instantly get a price without the tedious draw of talking with a sales associate. On top of this, Freight Calculator keeps consistent prices for all customers. Virginie told us that “you could be the price of Arabia or John Smith and you will still get the same price.”
Now, since the internet has been around for over 20 years, one may think that other shipping companies have adopted a similar strategy. But, this is not the case. As Virginie puts it, “a lot of groups have tried to emulate our calculator, but no one has truly been able to do it. Frankly, it is pretty unique for us. Before our transition to the calculator, we were bombarded by emails, and now with it, we are able to easily control our order flow. I expect that other companies feel the same push for consumers and are unable to transition these orders to a calculator.”
During the time of our interview, the Suez Canal was still plugged and we discussed the immediate impact of the blockage. Virginie stated “the Suez Canal is the main channel for goods from Asia to Europe. Due to the block, resources will be blocked for up to a week, hurting the European economies immediately. We will feel the damage later, in terms of delays, but there is a chance that there will be an increase in oil prices.”
We also discussed the imports and exports from and to Africa. She told me that her company was shipping many things to Africa. She noticed that most transport are either purchases abroad that are sent by Freight Calculator or objects sent back to the families of the customers such that they may move back home. As of now there is more import from the USA to Africa than there is from Africa to the USA.
Virginie also told us about the company’s efforts during worldwide crises. When there are earthquakes or other natural disasters, Freight Calculator helps bring notice to the crises and facilitates donations and shipments. These shipments are key, as without the transport of necessary goods, people in need will be without goods.
Near the end of our talk, we discussed how you can ship with Freight Calculator. “There are 3 ways: Freight transport via a container, if you have enough goods to fill one; Share space transport, where you pay for a space in a container; finally air transport, where Freight Calculator works with airlines to send your goods. If you want to ship via Freight Calculator and get immediate rates, you can go to their website freight-calculator.com