The sailing is the easy part. The delays that ruin a delivery schedule almost always happen at the port, in customs, or on the truck — not on the water. This guide gives you the sailing times, then the realistic total, then how to protect your schedule.
Transit times below are indicative for October 2026 and vary by carrier, service rotation, port congestion and season. Always confirm against a specific sailing before committing to a delivery date.
Port-to-port sailing times
| Route | FCL transit | LCL transit |
|---|---|---|
| Yantian / Shenzhen → Los Angeles | 14 – 18 days | 20 – 28 days |
| Yantian / Shenzhen → Long Beach | 15 – 19 days | 21 – 29 days |
| Shanghai → Los Angeles | 15 – 20 days | 21 – 30 days |
| Ningbo → New York | 28 – 34 days | 34 – 44 days |
| Shanghai → Savannah | 30 – 36 days | 36 – 46 days |
| Qingdao → Seattle | 16 – 21 days | 22 – 31 days |
| Shenzhen → Houston | 32 – 40 days | 38 – 50 days |
West coast routes are faster because they are shorter and served by more frequent sailings. East coast and Gulf routes take longer, and most go through the Panama Canal, which adds both distance and a queue.
From booking to delivery: the realistic total
Sailing time is roughly half the story. Here is a typical door-to-door timeline for a Shenzhen to Los Angeles shipment.
| Stage | Working days |
|---|---|
| Booking confirmation and space allocation | 2 – 5 |
| Container pickup, loading and export declaration | 2 – 4 |
| Vessel loading and departure | 1 – 3 |
| Ocean transit | 14 – 18 |
| Discharge, terminal release and customs entry | 3 – 7 |
| Drayage to final warehouse | 1 – 5 |
| Total, factory to warehouse | 23 – 42 |
For the east coast, add roughly 14 days. For LCL, add another 5 to 10.
What actually causes delays
Port congestion
When a terminal is backed up, vessels wait at anchor and containers sit on the quay. Congestion is seasonal and hard to predict, but it is visible in carrier advisories a week or two ahead — which is why a forwarder who tells you about it early is worth more than one who quotes lowest.
Rolled bookings
Carriers overbook. If a vessel is full, your container is "rolled" to the next sailing, which costs you a week or more. Rolling is more common in peak season and on heavily booked routes. Booking earlier and accepting a slightly higher rate reduces the risk.
Documentation problems
This is the most avoidable cause and the most common one. Missing or mismatched documents — an invoice that disagrees with the packing list, a wrong HS code, an ISF filed late — stop your container at the port while it accrues storage and demurrage charges. For US-bound ocean cargo, the Importer Security Filing must be submitted before the vessel loads, not on arrival.
Customs examination
A percentage of containers are selected for examination. A routine x-ray adds a day or two; a full devanning inspection can add a week and a substantial fee. You cannot eliminate the risk, but accurate, consistent documentation makes selection less likely.
Inland haulage and chassis shortages
At busy inland hubs, chassis and truck capacity tighten, especially around month-end and during harvest season. If your final delivery is time-critical, book the drayage with the ocean leg rather than leaving it until arrival.
Weather and canal restrictions
Typhoon season in the western Pacific runs roughly June to November and can shut ports for days. Drought conditions have periodically restricted daily transits through the Panama Canal, adding both delay and cost on east coast routes.
How to protect your schedule
- Book two to three weeks earlier than you think you need to, especially from July to October.
- File ISF and prepare entry documents before the vessel sails. Never after.
- Ask for the vessel name and voyage number, so you can track the actual sailing rather than assume it.
- Confirm the destination free time. Demurrage and detention clocks start on arrival, and the free window is short — what those charges are and how to stop the clock.
- Build a buffer. If your stock must land by a fixed date, plan for the high end of the range, not the low end.
- Consider a mixed strategy. Use ocean freight for the bulk of your stock and air freight for the portion you cannot afford to run out of.
Frequently asked questions
How long does sea freight take from China to the USA? Port-to-port, 14 to 18 days to the US west coast and 28 to 34 days to the east coast. Door to door, allow 23 to 42 days for the west coast including customs and inland delivery.
Why is LCL slower than FCL? Consolidation at origin and deconsolidation at destination add 5 to 10 days. The ocean transit is the same.
What is the fastest port pair? Yantian or Shenzhen to Los Angeles is generally the shortest China–US sailing, at 14 to 18 days.
Can I speed up customs clearance? Accurate, consistent documentation is the main lever. Filing ISF on time and having your broker instructed before arrival also helps considerably.
How much buffer should I allow? For a delivery date you cannot miss, allow the top of the range plus one week.
Plan your shipment with real numbers
Tell us your origin, destination and required delivery date and we will tell you which sailing gets you there, and where the risk sits.
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