There are essentially three components to freight and cargo businesses in the UK; these being air freight, surface freight and sea freight. In addition to these, it is also prudent for those interested in the freight and cargo business in the UK to consider customs and clearance fees, warehousing requirements and so on.

Air freight is a generic term applied to all the activities that loosely relate to the movement of goods and cargo through the medium of aircrafts. The term is an umbrella for a lot of activities, some of which are industries in their own right. The main components involved in air freight are airport control and management, management of airlines, liaisons with agencies or freight handlers, express operators and couriers, truck operators and transit shed operators. In addition to this, transporters will also have to make a selection from the variety of airlines available and also decide on whether to send the goods via passenger or cargo; and by chartered or scheduled flights.

Surface freight encompasses both road freight and rail freight. The significant increase in petrol prices has resulted in road freight becoming less popular, especially with the availability of other more affordable options such as rail freight which is soon expected to supplant road freight. Additionally, the amount of cargo a single train can carry is almost equivalent to the cargo load of 50 heavy goods vehicles.

Sea freight is perhaps the oldest method of cargo transportation. It is a valuable transport medium to send large quantities of cargo over long distances. This particular method is the least expensive of all other transportation options and as a result is highly popular. Another important factor for sea freight gaining in popularity is the significant reduction in road congestion and environmental concerns. Also, sea freighting is considerably less accident prone than road transportation.

Customs and clearance are a major part of any goods transport, whether it is via air, sea or surface. There are a number of restrictions on the type of cargo that can be carried; for instance firearms, explosives and aerosol cans are not permitted under any circumstances.

Adequate documentation is vital for transporters to clear goods from the shipyards, docks, stations and airports. Since all imported material is taxable, customs duty and VAT has to be paid before the goods can be transported.

Most UK businesses prefer to hire a freighting agency to handle the entire course of transportation of goods as the whole process can take a considerable amount of time, and entail a lot of red tape and documentation.