Vietnam → USA · FCL · Flat rack · Open top · Breakbulk

Shipping from Vietnam to USA: FCL, OOG and Project Cargo

Origin handling for shipping from Vietnam to USA ports: trucking, export customs, OOG acceptance and loading at Cai Mep, Cat Lai or Hai Phong. You keep the US side and the customer.

Send cargo details for a US quote

For US forwarders, freight agents and buyers sourcing heavy or oversized goods from Vietnam. · Document checklist

Most guides on shipping from Vietnam to USA ports stop at a 40′ box of furniture or garments. That part is simple.

The trouble starts when the cargo is 3.1 m wide, 4.7 m tall or 18 m long. Then the rate on the screen means little until someone has the OOG acceptance, the road permit and a truck that fits under the bridges on the way to the port.

This page covers the Vietnam side of that job: which equipment to book, which port to load at, what documents the US side needs from origin, and where shipments usually lose a week. Below you will also find a real export of LNG ducting that we trucked for a US project.

FCL, OOG or breakbulk: how should your cargo travel to the USA?

Pick the mode from the size of each piece, not from the total volume. One oversized crate can push a whole order from standard boxes onto flat racks or a breakbulk vessel.

For box sizes see our guide to flat rack container dimensions and the open top container. If a piece is too big for any rack, read what breakbulk cargo means before you ask for a vessel.

Which Vietnam ports ship to the USA, and how long does it take?

Vietnam has three main gateways for shipping from Vietnam to USA ports. Deep-sea transpacific services call at Cai Mep–Thi Vai in the south. Cat Lai in Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong in the north connect mostly through transshipment hubs or feeder links.

Transit times change with each service and season, so treat the table as a range, not a promise. For example, a seasonal Maersk loop linking Cai Mep, Busan and Long Beach made its first call at Cai Mep in June 2026. We check the actual sailing and cut-off before we quote.

Terminal by terminal details, including which ones handle flat racks and breakbulk, are in our Cai Mep port guide and the wider Vietnam ports guide.

Shipping from Vietnam to USA on flat rack and open top

Flat racks and open tops are the usual answer for machinery, steel structures and tanks going to the US. They are also where most delays start, because each line approves OOG cargo case by case and the Vietnamese road leg needs its own permit.

• OOG acceptance first. We send packed dimensions, weight, centre of gravity and lifting points to the line. You get the approved size and the surcharge in writing before you confirm to your customer.
• Lost slots priced in. An over-width unit blocks the slots beside it, an over-height unit blocks the slot above. The line charges for them, so the rate depends on the overhang on each side.
• Equipment held early. Flat racks are short at peak season. We confirm the empty rack and the depot before the cargo is ready.
• Lashing with certificate. Our in-house team lashes racks and open tops and issues our own lashing and securing certificate.

The road leg to the port

In Vietnam the permit rule looks at the loaded truck. A vehicle with its load wider than 2.5 m, taller than 4.2 m (4.35 m for container vehicles), longer than 20 m or heavier than 48 t needs an oversize permit under Circular 12/2025/TT-BXD.

Our own trucks already hold a permit for over-width flat racks of about 3.3 m. That covers the most common OOG width with no permit wait. Wider or heavier units need a route survey and a specific permit: plan 3–5 working days on a known route.

More on equipment and acceptance rules on our OOG cargo in Vietnam page.

Real case: LNG ducting from Ho Chi Minh City to the US Gulf Coast

In October and November 2025 we moved several lots of large steel ducting for an LNG project in the United States. The sections were made at a fabrication yard in Ho Chi Minh City and discharged at Houston.

Steel ducting for a US LNG project (Oct–Nov 2025)

Cargo

Large steel ducting sections, up to about 18.6 × 2.3 × 2.9 m and about 14 t each

Route

Fabrication yard, Ho Chi Minh City → export port (one lot via Gemalink, Cai Mep) → Houston, USA

Equipment

Flatbeds for the shorter sections, multi-axle trailers for the long ones

Challenge

Pieces too long for any container, several lots timed to vessel windows

Our scope

Lots of 4–6 packages trucked to the port, photos at loading and at the quay

No container takes an 18.6 m piece, so the sections shipped as breakbulk, which is common when shipping from Vietnam to USA project sites. The hard part was not the sea leg. It was getting every package to the quay in the right order, on trucks that matched the vessel’s loading sequence.

The same lots appear on our breakbulk and heavy lift page, with photos of the quay crane loading.

Documents for shipping from Vietnam to USA

US Customs looks at the import side, but much of the file for shipping from Vietnam to USA is built from origin documents. If these do not match, the US broker finds out first and the cargo waits at the US port.

The general Vietnam export steps, HS codes and C/O forms by market are in our export from Vietnam guide.

What happens on the US side: ISF, entry and duties

We handle the Vietnam side. The US importer and its licensed customs broker handle US entry. Three points need input from origin, so we plan them at booking.

• ISF timing. For container cargo the Importer Security Filing is due 24 hours before loading at the foreign port, under 19 CFR 149. For qualifying breakbulk the deadline moves to 24 hours before arrival in the US. We send the stuffing location and consolidator data as soon as the cargo is packed.
• Customs bond and entry. The US importer needs a bond and a broker to file the entry. If your customer is new to importing, sort this out before the vessel sails.
• Duties. US duty on Vietnamese goods changed several times in 2025 and 2026. Ask your US broker to confirm the current rate for the HTS code before you price the job. We do not quote US duty.

What does shipping from Vietnam to USA cost?

Ocean rates on the transpacific move week to week, so we do not publish a fixed price. We quote with a validity date. What you can plan for is the structure of the bill.

A complete quote for shipping from Vietnam to USA should show each block below separately. If a rate looks low, check which blocks are missing.

Line-by-line local charges for each carrier at Vietnamese ports are on our Vietnam local charges hub. US destination charges, drayage and duties come from your US partner.

Five mistakes that delay shipping from Vietnam to USA

Each of these has cost someone a vessel. None of them is about the ocean rate.

• Booking by catalogue size. The crate or cradle adds 50–150 mm per side. The line approves the packed size, so measure after packing.
• Late OOG acceptance. If the line rejects the size after the cargo reaches the port, it waits for the next sailing. Ask for acceptance before the factory finishes packing.
• No permit for the road leg. A 3.4 m wide unit on a standard truck will not pass the terminal gate in Vietnam. The permit needs days, not hours.
• Untreated wood. Skids and crates without the ISPM 15 mark can be refused at the US port. Ask the supplier for heat-treated timber in the purchase order.
• Mismatched documents. Invoice, packing list, B/L and ISF must show the same pieces and weights. A mismatch is found in the US, where it costs the most.

A short pre-shipment check with the supplier removes most of these. We do it for every OOG and breakbulk shipment we handle at origin.

How we work with US forwarders and buyers

Most of our partners in shipping from Vietnam to USA are forwarders who own the US customer and the destination side. We work as their origin desk.

• We never contact your customer. Updates, photos and documents go to you unless you ask otherwise.
• Net rates for network members. We are in WCA (including WCA Projects) and OPCA; members get net origin rates.
• One desk at origin. Trucking, permits, customs and lashing sit with one team, so nothing falls between sub-contractors.

Overseas partners can read our short partner page at projectshipping.vn/agents or download the company profile (PDF).

FAQ: shipping from Vietnam to USA

Related pages

Last updated: October 2026