Factory to dock

Door-to-Door Shipping from China to USA

One chain of custody from your supplier's loading dock to your delivery address — and a clear statement of which charges are inside the number and which ones are not.

Get a door-to-door quote Estimate the landed cost

No obligation — every figure we send states its caliber and the date it was issued.

One chain of custody

Supplier dock to delivery address

Pickup, export declaration, main leg, entry, bond, inland transit and final mile — each named.

Not port-to-port plus a bit

What you are actually buying

The inland leg and the customs process move to the forwarder, and so does their risk.

Access prices the last mile

Residential · limited access · appointment

Each one is a named surcharge. Declare the site type at quoting stage.

Data last verified: Oct 16, 2026

What this service actually covers

Four things that decide the price and the risk on this lane. Each one is expanded below.

Every leg is named in the quote

A quote that says 'all-in' without listing the legs is not all-in. Ours names pickup, declaration, main leg, entry, bond, inland transit and delivery.

The inland risk moves to us

That is what the premium buys: one party accountable when a chassis is short, a gate is congested or an entry is queried.

Free time is set by the carrier

Demurrage, detention and per-diem accrue against the carrier's clock. Ask what the free time is and what happens on day six.

Duty is not automatic

Unless the terms say DDP, duty and government fees sit alongside the chain rather than inside it. Read the term before you compare two numbers.

What is included, and what is priced separately

A quote is only comparable when both sides are named. This is the boundary on this service — anything on the right is quoted on its own line, with its own date.

Inside this service

Pickup at the supplier and inland haulage to the port or airport
Chinese export declaration
The main leg: ocean container or air cargo
US entry filing, the customs bond and inland delivery

Priced separately

Duty and government fees, unless the terms say DDP
Exams, storage and demurrage beyond the carrier's free time
Residential, limited-access and appointment accessorials
Return handling if a delivery is refused at the door

What door-to-door shipping from China to USA actually includes

A door-to-door quote should name every leg. If it says “all-in” without listing the legs, it is not an all-in quote — it is an invitation to a second invoice. The chain is:

Pickup at the supplier and inland haulage to the load port or airport
Chinese export customs declaration
The main leg: ocean container or air cargo
US entry filing, the customs bond, and any examination costs
Inland transit to your region and final delivery to the address

Duty and government fees sit alongside that chain rather than inside it, unless the terms say otherwise. For the itemised view of every group, see the shipping cost from China to USA breakdown.

Door-to-door cost from China to USA versus port-to-port

Door-to-door is not “port-to-port plus a bit”. It moves the risk of the inland leg and the customs process onto the forwarder, and that is what you are paying for. Two consequences follow:

It is more expensive on paper and more predictable in practice. If a port-to-port quote plus a self-arranged broker and trucker comes in lower, make sure you have priced the delay risk as well as the invoices.
Fee caps. Demurrage, detention and per-diem accrue against free time set by the carrier, not by the forwarder. Ask what the free time is and what happens on day six.

Residential, limited-access and appointment deliveries

US trucking prices delivery by access, not only by distance. A commercial address with a dock, a forklift and receiving hours is the baseline. Anything else is an add-on.

Delivery types that change the last-mile price. Confirm yours before the shipment lands.

Delivery type	What it usually adds	How to avoid a surprise
Residential address	Residential accessorial, and often a liftgate if there is no dock	Tell us at quoting stage, not after arrival
Limited access (schools, farms, storage units, military bases)	Limited-access surcharge plus possible redelivery attempt	Name the site type explicitly
Appointment-only receiving	Appointment fee, and detention while waiting at the gate	Get the receiving window in writing before dispatch
Amazon FBA fulfilment centre	Appointment, pallet compliance and possible transload	Confirm the inbound spec before the container is sealed

Door-to-door versus DDP: two different promises

Door-to-door answers “where do the goods go”. DDP answers “who is the importer of record and who pays duty”. A quote can be door-to-door with you as the importer of record on DAP terms, and it is still door-to-door.

This matters because the duty number is now the biggest single line on many US imports, and it is the one that changes most often. The DDP page walks through who is accountable when the classification turns out to be wrong.

What we need to book a door-to-door shipment

Supplier name, address and contact — for the pickup
Commercial invoice and packing list with accurate carton counts and weights
HTS code where you know it, and a product description including materials
Delivery address, delivery type and receiving hours
The Incoterm you are buying on, and whether you or the supplier is the seller of record

Missing HTS codes are the single most common cause of a quote being issued late or being issued as a range. If your supplier does not know the code, we can review the description before you commit.

Line by line: what belongs in a China-to-USA quote

Most "why is this quote higher" arguments come down to one party including a group of charges the other left out. Use this list against any quote you receive — ours included.

Origin charges (China)

Export customs declaration
Terminal handling / THC
Documentation (B/L, AMS/ISF data)
Pickup trucking from factory
Inland haulage to load port

Usually billed to: Ocean carrier or forwarder, billed on the origin invoice

Fixed per shipment or per container. Should be itemised, not folded into "ocean freight".

Freight and carrier surcharges

Base ocean or air freight
BAF / bunker
PSS (peak season surcharge)
GRI (general rate increase)
Congestion or war-risk surcharge where applicable

Usually billed to: Ocean carrier, passed through by the forwarder

Surcharges are the single biggest reason two quotes for the same port pair differ. Ask whether the quote is "all-in" or "base + current surcharges".

US destination charges

Terminal handling / DDC
Chassis and per-diem
Freight release / document fees
Pier pass or equivalent where billed

Usually billed to: The named consignee / importer of record, unless the quote is DDP

Often quoted separately on arrival. A door-to-door quote that omits these is not comparable to one that includes them.

Customs filing and bond

Entry filing (CBP Form 7501)
ISF 10+2 filing
Continuous or single-entry customs bond
Broker fee

Usually billed to: Importer of record

ISF must be transmitted 24 hours before loading at the foreign port; late or incorrect filings are subject to a USD 5,000 penalty per violation (19 CFR Part 149).

Government fees (not duty)

Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) 0.3464%, minimum USD 32.71 / maximum USD 634.62
Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF) 0.125%, ocean shipments only

Usually billed to: Importer of record, collected at entry

These are fees, not tariffs — they apply even on duty-free goods. Rates change; confirm against CBP at the time of entry.

Duties and taxes

MFN (Column 1 General) rate
Section 301 layers
Section 232 where applicable
AD/CVD where an order covers your product

Usually billed to: Importer of record — unless the terms are DDP and the seller is the importer of record

See the 2026 duty stack page for each layer, its effective date and its HTSUS Chapter 99 line.

Cargo insurance

All-risk cover on CIF + 10%

Usually billed to: Whoever holds the insurable interest under the Incoterm

Carrier liability is capped far below cargo value. Rate depends on commodity and route; it is quoted per shipment.

Charges caused by delay or inspection

Demurrage (container at the terminal)
Detention / per-diem (container off-terminal)
CBP exam, X-ray, CES and storage

Usually billed to: Whichever party the bill names — agree this in advance

These are never included in a rate. Free time and per-day rates come from the carrier tariff, not from the forwarder.

How a shipment runs, step by step

The same sequence every time. What changes between shipments is who owns each step — and that is what the quote makes explicit.

Booking and space

We confirm the sailing or flight, the cut-off at your supplier, and the documents required before cargo moves.

Factory pickup in China

Trucking from your supplier to the consolidation warehouse or directly to the load port, with a loading plan that respects stacking limits.

Export declaration

Chinese export customs declaration under your supplier’s or your forwarder’s licence, matched to the commercial invoice and packing list.

Ocean or air leg

Container loaded and sealed, or cargo tendered to the airline. ISF for ocean shipments is transmitted 24 hours before loading.

US entry filing

Entry prepared by a licensed broker, bond in place, HTS classification and duty calculated before the goods arrive rather than after.

Clearance and release

Duty paid or secured, any CBP exam handled, and the container released for pickup or the cargo released for delivery.

Inland transit

Rail or truck to the destination region. For intermodal moves this is where the free time clock starts running against you.

Final delivery

Delivery to your dock, 3PL or home, with the accessorials agreed in advance rather than discovered at the door.

Where to go next

Sea freight, port-to-port

The main leg, priced on its own.

Air freight

When the door date cannot wait for a vessel.

ISF 10+2 filing

The 24-hour rule and who is responsible for it.

Door-to-Door Shipping from China to USA: common questions

What does door-to-door shipping from China to USA include?

Factory pickup in China, export customs declaration, the ocean or air leg, US entry filing and the customs bond, and delivery to your address. What it does not automatically include is duty — that depends on whether the quote is DDP or DAP. Read the inclusions on the quote, not the label on the service.

Is door-to-door the same as DDP?

No. Door-to-door describes the physical journey and where the goods are delivered. DDP describes who is legally the importer of record and who pays the duty. A door-to-door quote can be DAP, where you pay duty on arrival, and it is still door-to-door. Confusing the two is the most common source of a surprise invoice.

How long does door-to-door take from China to the USA?

Roughly 18–30 days to the US West Coast and 36–52 days to the East Coast by sea, and 5–10 days by air. Plan on the upper end of the range during peak season, and remember that the last mile is frequently the least predictable part.

Will you deliver to a residential address?

Yes, but it is priced differently from a commercial dock. Residential, limited-access and appointment-only deliveries carry accessorials, and a liftgate is often needed if there is no dock. Telling us the delivery type at quoting stage avoids a second invoice later.

Can you deliver to more than one address from one shipment?

Yes. That is a transload: the container is delivered to a US warehouse, devanned, and the cargo is split onto outbound trucks. It is usually the right structure for multi-warehouse distribution and for Amazon FBA, where individual fulfilment centres need their own appointments.

How we work

A China-based forwarder on the US lane. No US subsidiary, no borrowed logos.

China-based, US-lane only

One Shenzhen office, one trade lane. That focus is why the tariff detail stays current.

Every rate is dated

Date, caliber and inclusions on every quote. No undated price sheets.

US brokers and 3PLs, named

Licensed US brokers file the entry; vetted 3PLs run the warehouse. We tell you who does what.

We say what we do not know

Where a tariff measure is unsettled in law, the page says so rather than picking a number.

Send us the delivery address, not just the port

Door-to-door pricing depends on the last mile more than on the ocean leg. Tell us the address type and the receiving hours, and you get the whole chain quoted in one dated figure.

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