Guides / Cost

Plain-English Incoterms for a Heavy Machined Part

September 28, 2026

Incoterms decide who arranges freight, who insures the load in transit and at what point the risk transfers from shop to buyer. On a small part shipped by courier this barely matters. On an oversized machined part, where freight is its own specialist booking, the choice of term changes the actual logistics, not just a line on the invoice.

The four terms that come up most on large parts

EXW, Ex Works. The shop’s responsibility ends at its own dock. You arrange and pay for everything from that point: loading, transport, customs if it crosses a border and insurance in transit. This is the most common default on large machined parts, for reasons below.

FCA, Free Carrier. The shop delivers the part to a carrier or a named point you specify, sometimes still at the shop’s premises. It sits between EXW and FOB in terms of how much the shop handles, and it is used when the buyer wants the shop to at least manage loading but nothing past that.

FOB, Free On Board. More common in traditional sea freight terms, where the shop’s responsibility runs until the goods are loaded onto the vessel. For an oversized machined part this term needs to be read carefully, because loading a heavy, awkward piece onto a vessel is itself a specialist operation, not a formality.

DAP, Delivered At Place. The shop arranges and pays for freight all the way to a named destination, and risk transfers there rather than at the shop’s dock. This gives you a single landed number but puts the shop in charge of a freight leg it may not run often.

Why EXW is the common default on large parts

Oversized freight is not a generic shipping problem. It needs a forwarder who knows how to book flatbed or specialized trailers, arrange the right permits for an overweight or over-dimension load, and coordinate cranes at both ends. Many buyers who deal regularly in heavy equipment already have that relationship in place, and it is often a better one than a machine shop’s occasional freight arrangement.

EXW also keeps the shop’s quote focused on what it actually controls: machining, inspection and packaging. Adding freight it does not run often adds a margin for risk it cannot fully price, and that margin usually costs more than it needs to. See shipping oversized machined parts for the mechanics of what that freight booking actually involves once you are the one arranging it.

What changes if you ask for a landed price

Asking a shop to quote DAP instead of EXW is a reasonable request, but it changes what you are asking the shop to do.

• The shop has to get its own freight quote first, which adds time to an already longer quote turnaround on large parts.
• The freight number in a DAP quote usually carries a margin, because the shop is taking on a risk it may not manage often.
• Risk transfer moves later in the process, at the named destination rather than at the shop’s dock, which matters if anything goes wrong with the load in transit.
• Insurance responsibility shifts to the shop for that leg, and it is worth confirming what coverage it actually carries rather than assuming.

Neither approach is universally cheaper. A DAP quote trades a known, single number for a markup on freight the shop does not control as tightly as you might. An EXW quote keeps freight cost visible and separate, but puts the coordination work on you.

What to put in the RFQ either way

State the term you expect up front rather than letting it default silently. If you want EXW, say so and confirm your forwarder can handle the part’s dimensions and weight before the shop finishes machining. If you want a landed price, ask for both an EXW and a DAP number on the same RFQ so you can see the freight cost broken out rather than buried. See what to put in a large part RFQ for the rest of what belongs in that first request.

What to do next

Decide early which side is arranging freight, because it affects how the part gets crated, what documentation travels with it, and who is on the phone if a crane appointment falls through. Confirming this before the part is finished avoids a scramble once it is sitting crated on a dock with nowhere booked to go.

Related reading: shipping oversized machined parts, hidden costs in a large part machining quote, what to put in a large part RFQ.

Frequently asked questions

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