Reshoring & Tariff Strategy worked example

Ocean vs Truck Cost at 29% share routed by costlier mode: a worked example

Suppose share routed by costlier mode falls to 29%. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Quantifies the freight cost difference between ocean and truck transport across a lane, including transload and setup costs.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Annual containers shipped: 1,200 containers/yr (held at the documented default)
  • Cost gap per container: 1,800 $/container (held at the documented default)
  • Share routed by costlier mode: 29 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 40)
  • Mode-change fixed cost: 15,000 $ (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Annual mode cost delta ($) = containers shipped x cost gap per container x costlier-mode share% + mode-change fixed cost.
  • Total ocean vs truck cost works out to 641,400 $ at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Ocean vs truck cost per unit works out to 535 $ / piece at these inputs.
  • Variable ocean vs truck cost works out to 626,400 $ at these inputs.
  • Fixed ocean vs truck cost adder works out to 15,000 $ at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where share routed by costlier mode sits at 40% and the headline result is 879,000 $, this scenario comes in 27.03% below the baseline at 641,400 $.
  • It computes the annual cost delta from routing a share of containers by the costlier mode, plus a fixed mode-change cost, and the resulting per-container freight gap. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Total ocean vs truck cost: 641,400 $ (headline result)
  • Ocean vs truck cost per unit: 535 $ / piece
  • Variable ocean vs truck cost: 626,400 $
  • Fixed ocean vs truck cost adder: 15,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Ocean vs Truck Cost calculator, set share routed by costlier mode to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.