North America, unlike Europe or Asia, is made up of just three nations: the United States, Canada and Mexico. This makes international shipping to North America a far less complicated process than trying to land a shipment on the coast and travel across multiple international borders to get it to its final destination. International shipping to North America can be targeted by region. There are seaports all along the East and West coasts that are ideal for delivering to certain areas so overland hauling can be kept to a minimum.



Here's an example: You manufacture a product in Marseilles, France and need to transport it to a retail distributor in Burlington, Vermont. Your port of departure is obvious because Marseilles is a seaport. The international shipping route to America will go across the Mediterranean and into the Atlantic Ocean. But where do you go from there? If you look at a map of North America it's not too difficult to determine where your ship should put in to offload. The nearest major seaport on the Atlantic Ocean to Burlington, Vermont is Boston, Massachusetts. Your international shipping route, if planned properly, should go from Marseille to Boston and then overland to Burlington. Cargo ships generally land in Charlestown, a part of Boston located at the mouth of the Mystic River. Containers are inspected and customs duties are paid, then they are loaded onto a truck or train to be transported to their destination. In this case it would most likely be by truck. The overland portion of your international shipping will require the use of only two major highways. The truck will go North on I-93 into New Hampshire and then turn West onto I-89. Within four hours of when your shipment leaves the dock the international shipping process will be completed with a delivery to your retail distributor in Burlington, Vermont.

The ease with which this process was completed is typical of any international shipping done to the United States. Canadian transport is very similar and Mexico has the largest concentration of its population located on the coast, so overland hauling is not usually an issue. The highways throughout the continent are interconnected and there are very few areas that would be deemed inaccessible. Even shipments that need to be sent far into the interior to destinations like Omaha or Denver are rarely held up or arrive late.

Major international shipping ports on the East Coast include Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Atlanta. Most West Coast shipments go through Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle or Portland. There is also a major seaport in San Diego that is the California home for the U.S. Navy and a good debarkation point for shipments going into Mexico. Canadian ports include Halifax, Nova Scotia and Vancouver, British Columbia. These are all major international shipping ports and all offer convenient methods of overland hauling that can get your shipment to its final destination in a timely and safe manner. For additional information you can search on the internet or inquire at the United States Customs Department.