Winter International Express: Meeting the Challenges of Cold Weather and Securing Safe Parcel Delivery

With the onset of winter, there is a gradual increase in inclement weather such as low temperatures, snowfall and freezing temperatures, which brings many challenges to international express delivery services. For cross-border e-commerce sellers and consumers who rely on international express delivery to transport their goods, it is crucial to understand these challenges and take corresponding countermeasures.

I. Impact of winter weather on international express parcels

Increased risk of parcel fragility: In a low-temperature environment, items made of plastic, glass and other materials will become more brittle, and if they contain liquids and the liquid freezes, the items are more likely to break, rupture or be damaged. This is for the transportation of fragile or liquid goods international express parcels, undoubtedly increasing the risk of damage to the goods.

Transportation time frames affected

For ground transportation: snowfall and freezing caused slippery roads and reduced visibility, slowing down the speed of transportation vehicles, which led to an extension of the time limit for ground transportation.

For air transportation: Heavy snow and icy weather may trigger flight delays or even cancellations. The disruption of flight schedules stalls parcels in the air transportation chain and prevents them from arriving at their destinations on time, greatly lengthening the delivery time of parcels.

Maritime transportation: Cold wave gales will not only cause ports to be closed, inbound and outbound vessels will be forced to cancel their plans and be stranded at terminals waiting for the right time to leave the port, but they may also trigger storm surges at sea and form huge waves, posing a serious threat to the safety of vessels at sea. In addition, extreme cold weather with ice in the harbor makes it difficult for ships to dock and operate, and may even lead to temporary closure of ports, which is a series of factors that make the timeliness of maritime transportation greatly reduced.

II. Measures to address the challenges of international express delivery in winter

Packaging protection and insulation

For fragile and liquid commodities, multi-layer protective measures, such as bubble wrap and foam blocks, should be used to effectively cushion the collision and extrusion during transportation. Meanwhile, for temperature-sensitive commodities, foam boxes are added for heat preservation to maintain a suitable temperature environment for commodities and reduce the risk of freezing.

Clearly label the outside of the package with warnings such as “put it down carefully and gently” and “don’t press it” to remind the transportation personnel to be extra careful in the handling and loading and unloading process to avoid damage to the package due to improper operation.

Choosing the right transportation company and service

Transportation Time Guarantee: Despite the unpredictability of bad weather in winter, transportation companies like Meest China are able to maintain a relatively stable transportation time under normal circumstances. Sellers can pay close attention to the weather changes when shipping, and keep close communication with the one-to-one customer service of the transportation company to get timely information on transportation dynamics, so as to flexibly adjust the shipping plan according to the actual situation.

Paid Packing Service: If sellers find winter transportation packaging complicated and cumbersome, they can choose paid packing service from professional transportation companies. Taking Meest China as an example, it has abundant packing materials and professional staff, which can provide heart-saving packing solutions to ensure that the parcel packaging meets the requirements of winter transportation, reduce the burden of sellers’ packing, and allow sellers to focus on their core business.

Other Important Notes

Enhanced Insurance: There is an increased risk of packages being broken or lost during winter shipping, so sellers are advised to choose a shipping company that offers a cargo compensation policy, such as Meest China, and purchase shipping insurance for their shipments to reduce potential losses.

Real-time tracking and customer service support: Choose a transportation company that provides real-time tracking services to keep track of the parcel’s location and shipping status. Meest China not only provides real-time tracking, but also one-on-one customer service support to deal with any problems that may arise during the shipping process in a timely manner, so as to provide a full range of services for both sellers and consumers.

Advance stocking and utilization of overseas warehouse: For hot-selling goods in winter, sellers should stock up in advance and store the goods in overseas warehouse. For example, Meest China provides overseas warehouse service in Ukraine, which includes 7 days of free storage. Sellers can reserve goods in the overseas warehouse in advance, and then ship the goods directly from the overseas warehouse when there is an order, which can greatly shorten the delivery time, effectively cope with the risk of delayed transportation in winter, and ensure that the goods are delivered to the buyers on time.

The bad weather in winter brings many challenges to international express delivery, but through reasonable packaging, choosing the right transportation company and adopting effective coping strategies, we can minimize the impact of the weather on the parcel, guarantee the smooth conduct of international express delivery services, and ensure that the parcel is delivered to the customer safely and on time. Both cross-border e-commerce sellers and consumers, when choosing international express delivery services in winter, should fully consider these factors and be fully prepared to deal with possible problems.