Why are rail freight appraisal fees more expensive than sea and air freight?
Rail freight appraisal fees are higher than sea and air freight, primarily due to factors such as the specificity of appraisal standards, market demand, technical complexity, and regulatory compliance. The reasons are as follows:
1. Rail freight appraisal standards are more specialized, requiring higher adaptability.
Cargo transported by rail (especially international rail combined transport, such as the China-Europe Express) must adapt to the physical environment and safety regulations of rail transport. The core differences from sea and air transport are:
Specialties of the transportation environment: During rail transport, cargo is subject to prolonged vibration, temperature fluctuations (especially cross-border transport passing through different climate zones), and carriage loading restrictions (such as stacking stability and dimensional adaptability). Therefore, appraisal requires additional attention to the safety of cargo under vibration, stacking, and temperature fluctuations (such as the risk of packaging damage and leakage). Compliance requirements for cross-border railways: International rail transport must comply with the **Syndicate on the International Maritime Transport of Goods by Rail (SMGS)** and the railway regulations of transit countries (such as the railway safety standards of China, Kazakhstan, Poland, and other countries). Assessments must cover "multi-country/regional compliance verification." Ocean freight primarily adheres to the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG), while air freight adheres to the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) Dangerous Goods Code. Both are "global unified standards," eliminating the need to adapt to multiple regional regulations, making the assessment process more uniform and simplified.
Second, Small Market Demand and Weak Ability to Share Assessment Costs
Ocean and air transport are the mainstream international transportation modes: Ocean freight accounts for approximately 80% of global freight transport, air freight accounts for approximately 10%, and rail accounts for less than 5% (especially for cross-border rail, which primarily operates on specific routes). This massive demand has led to a mature market landscape for ocean and air freight assessments, with a large number of assessment agencies and standardized processes. Costs can be shared through scale (e.g., assessment templates for the same type of goods can be reused). The demand for railway transport appraisal is scattered: the types of goods transported by rail are relatively concentrated (such as machinery, electronic products, chemicals, etc.), and the overall transportation volume is small. In order to cover fixed costs such as equipment, personnel, and standard research, appraisal agencies can only increase the cost of a single appraisal.