Freight Mode
by
Shipping mode decisions for ecommerce teams: price ocean, air and expedite against the stockout each one prevents, then recommend the mode with its landed cost.
Freight mode gets decided on freight cost, which is the one number that makes air look indefensible. Air is four to six times ocean per unit, so it only ever gets approved in a panic, usually two weeks after the moment when it would have been cheap. The comparison that matters is not air against ocean, it is air against the margin lost while the SKU is out of stock and the customer buys from someone else. Sometimes ocean is still right and the stockout is acceptable. This skill prices all three modes against the stockout each one prevents.
What It Does
- Prices ocean, air and expedite per unit including duty and handling.
- Projects the stockout each mode would prevent, in days and in lost margin.
- Reads observed transit time per lane rather than the quoted transit time.
- Accounts for the cash tied up longer by the slower mode.
- Splits the shipment across modes where that is cheaper than either alone.
- Recommends the mode per shipment, with the implied landed cost.
Use Cases
- Decide air on the margin it protects rather than on how expensive it looks.
- Catch the moment when expedite stops being worth it.
- Split a shipment so the urgent portion flies and the rest sails.
- See the real landed cost per unit before the mode is booked.
Example Session
This order is going to land after we run out. Should we fly it?
Fly 600 units and sail the rest. That is cheaper than either mode alone.
- Mode | Units | Freight per unit | Landed cost | Stockout days | Margin lost
- Ocean, all | 2,000 | $1.40 | $11.90 | 24 | $38,400
- Air, all | 2,000 | $7.20 | $17.70 | 0 | $0
- Expedite, all | 2,000 | $11.50 | $22.00 | 0 | $0
- Split, air 600 | 2,000 | $3.14 | $13.64 | 0 | $0
All-ocean saves $11,600 in freight and gives up $38,400 in margin over 24 days out of stock. All-air closes the gap and costs $11,600 to do it. The split flies only the 600 units needed to cover the gap and sails the other 1,400, costing $3,480 in extra freight to protect the same $38,400. Book the split.
Why This Beats Prompting It Yourself
Freight Cost vs The Margin The Stockout Costs: The Hidden Risk
A generic prompt compares freight quotes, where air is five times ocean and the recommendation writes itself. It has no view of the 24 days out of stock or the $38,400 of margin that walks during them. Freight is a cost line and the stockout is a revenue line, which is exactly why they are never compared in the same conversation.
When You Still Need The Split Rather Than The Mode
The question is usually posed as air or ocean, and the answer is frequently neither. This skill sizes the portion that actually has to arrive early, 600 units, and sails the rest, which protects the full $38,400 for $3,480 instead of $11,600. Framing the decision as one mode for the whole shipment is what makes air look unaffordable.
Known Limitations
Observed transit time needs several completed shipments per lane, and a new lane is priced on the quoted time with that labeled. The stockout projection assumes demand continues at its current rate, so a SKU about to be promoted will be under-protected unless the promotional plan is available. It recommends the mode and does not book freight or amend purchase orders.
Install It
- Download the ZIP.
It is free and there is no account to create. - Unzip it into your agent's skills folder.
Claude Code reads ~/.claude/skills/, which is hidden by default: the command in the folder block opens it. Other agents scan their own directory, so drop the same folder there instead. - Ask your agent to use it.
Restart the agent if it was already running, then it picks the skill up with no config.
skills folder
Copy
~/.claude/skills/freight-mode/
SKILL.md
references/lane-times.md
decisions/
# one file per shipment, with the landed cost
# macOS: create the folder and open it in Finder
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && open ~/.claude/skills
# Windows: paste in the Explorer address bar
%USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\Frequently asked questions
How is this different from comparing freight quotes?
Quotes compare cost per unit, which is one side of the decision. This prices each mode against the days out of stock it prevents and the margin those days cost, then reports landed cost per unit for each option. Air wins more often than freight quotes suggest, and sometimes neither mode wins.
Which agents does the skill run in?
Any agent that supports the open SKILL.md format: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Manus, Grok and others load it unmodified. The format is portable, the location is not. Each agent scans its own skills directory, so you drop the same folder into whichever one yours uses. There is no config file to edit and no API key to provision.
What does it need connected to work?
Open purchase orders with quantities and dates, stock on hand, demand per SKU, freight rates by mode and lane, plus duty rates. Without completed shipment history it uses quoted transit times and says so.
Does it always recommend air when there is a stockout?
No. Where the margin at risk is smaller than the freight premium, ocean and a short stockout is the correct call and the skill says so with both numbers. A slow-moving SKU rarely justifies air.
How does the split work in practice?
It sizes the quantity needed to cover the gap until the ocean shipment lands, flies that portion, and sails the remainder. Most suppliers and forwarders handle this as two shipments against one purchase order, which is worth confirming before you rely on it.
What is included with the skill?
The skill itself, the lane time reference, the decision format, and the landed cost model. It is free and security scanned. We re-publish the ZIP when duty or the cost model changes, so download it again if your landed costs shift.
Air buys time and spends margin.
Polar prices ocean, air and expedite into contribution margin across 45+ sources, so the mode you pick shows its cost before the PO is cut.
<script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How is this different from comparing freight quotes?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Quotes compare cost per unit, which is one side of the decision. This prices each mode against the days out of stock it prevents and the margin those days cost, then reports landed cost per unit for each option. Air wins more often than freight quotes suggest, and sometimes neither mode wins."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which agents does the skill run in?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Any agent that supports the open SKILL.md format: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Manus, Grok and others load it unmodified. The format is portable, the location is not. Each agent scans its own skills directory, so you drop the same folder into whichever one yours uses. There is no config file to edit and no API key to provision."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What does it need connected to work?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Open purchase orders with quantities and dates, stock on hand, demand per SKU, freight rates by mode and lane, plus duty rates. Without completed shipment history it uses quoted transit times and says so."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does it always recommend air when there is a stockout?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No. Where the margin at risk is smaller than the freight premium, ocean and a short stockout is the correct call and the skill says so with both numbers. A slow-moving SKU rarely justifies air."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How does the split work in practice?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It sizes the quantity needed to cover the gap until the ocean shipment lands, flies that portion, and sails the remainder. Most suppliers and forwarders handle this as two shipments against one purchase order, which is worth confirming before you rely on it."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is included with the skill?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The skill itself, the lane time reference, the decision format, and the landed cost model. It is free and security scanned. We re-publish the ZIP when duty or the cost model changes, so download it again if your landed costs shift."}}]}</script>