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Do you want to send packages effectively and economically abroad? Then bulk split might be the right type of shipment for your business. We’ll take you by the hand, as we explain and guide you through the procedure and your options.
A lot of money can be saved by using bulk split, if you have a big shipment volume abroad. In Shipmondo you can make your shipment booking more efficient, with easy to manage bulk split shipments, and packing documents such as bulk waybill, routing label, and consolidated invoice.
We tell you how to put bulk-shipping into operation, here, and put you in the know about your options for sending effectively abroad.
What is bulk shipment?
A bulk shipment is a type of shipment for export, which consists of a large collection of packages and pallets through one shipment. The shipment is divided into separate shipments, once it arrives at the country of destination, and each package is distributed to the final recipient.
A dear child has many names and so you may also come across these terms: bulk split, bulk shipment, split shipment, bulk parcel, samsending, or bulk transport.
Typically, a bulk shipment will be a pallet, on which many smaller packages are stacked. The pallet is transported to a given country, and, once it arrives at the distribution center in the country, the shipment will be unpacked, and the smaller packages will be distributed domestically. Each package is provided with a shipping label, which will get the packages from the distribution center to the final destination of the recipient. That’s why, the shipment is called “bulk split”, because the shipment is split into smaller parcels in the recipient country and further distributed to the recipient.
Why send bulk split shipments? Pros and cons
There are many advantages - most of them are economic- to sending a bulk split shipment abroad, instead of sending multiple smaller packages individually. Generally speaking, it will be cheaper to send a combined and collected shipment across borders rather than smaller packages. If you are shipping as a company inside the EU to a country outside of the EU, e.g. Norway, then you will only need to pay clearance once, for your collected shipment, instead of paying for each package individually.
There is also an administrative advantage. Rather than creating and printing multiple customs papers, with a bulk split shipment it is enough to create one collected for the entire shipment.
In order to benefit from bulk split shippings, you need to have a certain amount of volume. If you don’t want your customers to be waiting too long to receive their package, you need a certain amount of volume in order to make bulk shipments on an on-going basis, in order to benefit from the advantages that bulk split shipments offer. Furthermore, in order to make bulk split shipments, it is required that you have an agreement with your respective carrier. If you make your own freight agreement with either PostNord in Denmark or Bring, you can gather all of your shipment bookings in Shipmondo.
Send bulk shipments with Bring - Bulk split
Have you negotiated your own agreement with Bring in Sweden, Norway, Finland or Denmark regarding bulk spilt? Then you can easily gather together your bulk shipments in Shipmondo and make your bulk booking and the printing of the accompanying paperwork more effective and easy to manage.
You can make bulk shipments with the following Bring products:
- Home Delivery Parcel
- PickUp Parcel Bulk
- Business Parcel Bulk
If you wish to send your packages as Home Delivery Parcel, then you need to opt for the bulk split service during the booking process or on to your shipping template.
PickUp Parcel Bulk is a good option for those of you, who want to ship packages cheaply and effectively for private recipients in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
If you send many packages simultaneously to companies in the same country, you can book your bulk split shipment as Business Parcel Bulk.
Before you book your shipment with Bring, you need to create a bulk waybill on to your Shipmondo account. Firstly, when you have booked your shipment with Bring, which should be included as part of your bulk shipment - then you, secondly, need to complete your bulk waybill. You can follow the practical guide below.
Send bulk shipments with PostNord - Samsending
You can also send bulk shipments with PostNord Denmark. However, this requires you to have negotiated your own freight agreement with PostNord Denmark and it needs to includes the Samsending service. You can add on the Samsending service, during your booking process or on to your shipping template on your Shipmondo account.
You can use bulk shipments with the following PostNord products:
- MyPack Home
- MyPack Collect
- PostNord Parcel
- PostNord Pallet
If you want to send packages to the customers’ home address for your private customers, you can choose to use the MyPack Home service, when you book shipments.
If you want to send packages to a delivery service point for parcels, then choose MyPack Collect and send shipments effectively to private recipients abroad.
Are you shipping to companies? Then you can use the PostNord Parcel product. If you need to send bigger packages and pallets, then you need to book the PostNord Pallet service.
Before you book your shipments through PostNord, you need to create a bulk waybill on to your Shipmondo account. Firstly, when you have booked your shipment with PostNord, which needs to be included as part of your bulk shipment - then you, secondly, need to complete your bulk waybill. You can follow our guide here:
How to prepare a bulk split shipment in Shipmondo
Regardless of which carrier you choose to use for your bulk shipment, Bring or PostNord, it is necessary that you provide a number of accompanying notes and documents for your parcel.
You can create these easily in Shipmondo. You can efficiently create associated documents and routing labels. When you book your shipping labels, you only pay a fixed low price per shipping label. The more shipments you have, the lower the price per shipping label. No subscription. Read more about our prices.
Procedure for preparing bulk shipments:
- You need to provide each package included in your bulk shipment with a shipping label.
- Routing labels for your bulk shipment are being created, and must be affixed to the pallet with packages.
- 4-5 copies of the bulk waybill are created per bulk shipping, depending on the carrier. Your waybills must be handed over to the carrier at the time of collection, and you should keep a copy for your records.
- If you are shipping outside of the EU, the bulk shipment must be furnished with a consolidated invoice in several copies, which needs to contain product- and customs information.
All accompanying notes, documents, and labels are automatically created in Shipmondo, when you create your bulk waybill. Read more about how to manage your bulk split shipments in Shipmondo, and how conveniently your accompanying documents are created:
You can also book bulk shipments through our API.
Always make sure that you check your carrier’s current terms and conditions, in the agreement you have negotiated - also when it comes to preparation of bulk split shipments. Below you can read a detailed explanation of the individual documents.
Accompanying documents for bulk shipments
When you use a bulk shipment with either Bring and/or PostNord, the following documents must be included:
- Bulk waybill
- Routing label
- Consolidated invoice (for parcels outside of the EU)
What is a bulk waybill?
A waybill is an international document (an international consignment note) issued by your carrier, which provides detailed information about the shipment for the destination. It contains information about sender, recipient, country of destination, and your client number with the carrier. This acts as a contract between sender and carrier, as well as a receipt for the goods that the parcel contains. As the sender of the parcel, you keep a copy of the relevant waybill.
A bulk waybill is a bill of lading, that contains information about the bulk shipment and destination, the number of load carriers, and which freight products have been booked, and the way it is packaged.
If you are sending a bulk shipment with Bring, you will receive 4 copies of your bulk waybill:
- Place of destination in the receiving country.
- Recipient of the parcel.
- Dispatch terminal.
- Copy for sender.
If you are sending a bulk shipment with PostNord, you will receive 5 copies of your bulk waybill:
- Billing basis.
- Dispatch terminal.
- 2 copies, which should be attached to the shipment to the receiving country.
- Copy for sender.
In Shipmondo you can easily create and print your waybills.
Example of a bulk waybill
Your waybills can differ in appearance, depending on the carrier, the same way that shipping labels can vary in appearance depending on the carrier. Here, you can see an example of a bulk waybill from Bring:
What is a routing label?
A routing label is only used for bulk split shipments. It provides the carrier with information about the division of the parcel, as well as information about how the packages should be distributed domestically when the bulksplit has reached the destination country.
Example of a routing label
Below you will find an example of a routing label from Bring. It provides information about recipient, sender, your client number with Bring, the relevant waybill, the number of load carriers (e.g. the number of bearing pallets), the number of pallets, that are the number of pallets which are a part of the waybill, and it includes the number of packages and pallets on the individual load carrier.
What is a consolidated invoice?
A consolidated invoice is a document that gathers information about several shipments on one consolidated invoice. It is used for customs processing regarding export and import outside of the EU. The invoice provides information about the goods that you are exporting, the value and weight of the goods and associated product codes. You need your consolidated invoice, when you send bulk shipments to countries outside of the EU e.g. from Sweden to Norway.
You need to print all the copies of the consolidated invoice and place it inside a transparent delivery note pocket, which you stick onto the shipment, in order for the customs authorities to be able to access and read the invoices.
The benefit of a consolidated invoice and bulk split shipping is that the entire assembled batch of packages is cleared through customs and your costs for customs clearances are reduced. You only need to pay for customs clearance once, for the entire bulk shipment, instead of paying for each package individually.
Example of a consolidated invoice
Below you will find an example of a consolidated invoice generated by Shipmondo with a Bring bulk split shipment:
Automatic customs duty
When you are exporting goods, you must fill out and attach the necessary customs documents. The typical customs documents are proforma, which the customs authorities in the recipient country must use, in order to know the contents and value of the shipment. However, it can quickly become tiresome and time consuming to manage it manually, when you have many export shipments.
In Shipmondo you can automate the completion of the customs documents and save even more time on your export.
Bulk shipments to Norway
Many Danish and Swedish webshops and companies use bulk split shipping, when they need to send parcels to countries like Norway. Norway is not a part of the EU, so packages, pallets, goods, etc. need a customs clearance, when they are exported to the country. Here you can minimize your expenses by bulking your shipments and only pay for customs clearance for the collected shipment.
In order to make bulk shipments to Norway, you need your own freight agreement with PostNord Denmark, in order to make use of their bulksplit services. Hence, you need a shipping system like Shipmondo, which can generate your accompanying documents.
Do you want to ship to Norway? Below you will find a few of our other guides, so that you can find the best course of action for your business:
