In early August, my old customer Herman came to me. He said he had car brakes to send via air freight to UAE, 9cbm/4000kg, and the car assembly plant there was in urgent need of them. After calculating based on his cargo volume, I quoted him the price for direct flight from Shenzhen to UAE. But Herman was different from usual—he was eager to get a price reduction this time… What was going on?

I got it. He must have randomly found a bunch of freight forwarders online again. There must be one freight forwarder in the urban village that quoted a very low price and was very persuasive. Even the shrewd Herman couldn’t resist the smooth talk of the merchants in the urban village. I was about to explain, but on second thought, it would be better to let him learn a lesson from the low price. That was that.

Sure enough, Herman fell for it. Teaching through experience is the best way.

The low-price freight forwarder first lured him with a low price, saying everything was ok. But on the day of the flight, they told him that these pallets couldn’t be loaded and would have to wait for consolidated cargo. As a result, he waited for several days. His customer was so anxious that he kept calling, and Herman was so worried that he got blisters on his mouth. Then he had to pay extra for expedited service—that’s the price for choosing a low price.

Now he understands. DL has bought out the pallet positions of two major airlines for a year, with 20 self-controlled pallet positions guaranteed every week—our capacity is 10 times that of small freight forwarders. Who are we? We are one of the top 5 freight forwarders in China for air freight to Middle East, a direct carrier for air freight to Middle East. Our price is definitely reasonable and low. 90% of the prices lower than ours are unreliable.

The freight forwarders in the urban village are just shell companies. They get one order with a low price and sell it to small freight forwarders with insufficient strength. Small freight forwarders only have 2-3 pallet positions every week. If a direct carrier receives a large shipment, it may squeeze out the pallet positions of small freight forwarders. To compete with direct carriers, small freight forwarders offer low prices, but customers with bad luck cannot guarantee the air freight time limit.

Air freight is originally for saving time. Instead of waiting and waiting, it’s better to take sea freight directly.

In mid-September, Herman came back. He needed to send 12cbm of auto parts to UAE via air freight. With the lesson from last month, he realized that direct carriers have the right to speak with airlines and can guarantee the time limit. He didn’t say much and asked me to directly lock the pallet position for the third day. This shipment went very smoothly. Herman felt very relaxed, and the freight was even cheaper than the time he was cheated.

DL Logistics, one of the top 5 for air freight to Middle East, has bought out 20 pallet positions per week from two major airlines. We have a priority channel for customs clearance at UAE air ports, can skip the queue to pick up goods at the warehouse, and have local logistics staff available to answer calls at 2 a.m. Deliveries in the morning arrive at noon, and deliveries at noon arrive in the afternoon. We are truly one of the top 5.

Everyone who has used DL’s air freight to Middle East says it’s smooth.