AboutWho publishes this, and how it is paid for
Who publishes this, what it measures, and how it stays independent
SeaRates is an independent publisher, not a broker, a forwarder or a marketplace. It measures what can be checked about the companies that move cargo across oceans to and from the United States — the licence behind the ocean leg, the bond it implies, the tariff a carrier publishes — and it publishes the date every figure was read. It does not book shipments, quote rates or recommend a provider.
What we do
Three things, and nothing beyond them.
- We read primary records. The Federal Maritime Commission register, CBP fee schedules, carrier tariffs, published indices. Every figure on this site carries the date it was read, because these sources change weekly.
- We measure the market that writes about them. Before writing anything, SeaRates read 2,001 pages across 22 question clusters and counted what they publish: how many name a licence number, how many date a price, how many state a method.
- We publish what we do not have. Where a ranking would need data nobody publishes, the page says so and names the missing rows instead of scoring on adjectives.
What we are not
| We are | We are not |
|---|---|
| A publisher of dated, sourced measurements | A freight forwarder or NVOCC |
| A reader of federal registers | A regulator, or affiliated with one |
| A place to check a licence claim | A certifier — we issue no badge or seal |
| Free to read, with no account | A marketplace or a lead broker |
SeaRates is not affiliated with the Federal Maritime Commission, FMCSA or Customs and Border Protection. Where this site links those agencies, it links them so you can read the record yourself, not because they endorse anything here.
Authorship
Pages are published under the masthead rather than under a named author, and that is a real limitation stated plainly: a named specialist with credentials is a stronger signal than an institutional byline. What stands in its place is method — every figure carries its unit, the date it was read and the corpus behind it, and how each of those is produced is written down.
When a correction arrives with a source, it is published with the date it was made and the original figure stays visible in the change note. Corrections go to the contact page.
How this is paid for
No outbound link on this site carries a referral arrangement today, and no company has ever paid to appear, to move or to be removed. If such a link appears, its rate is published on the page that carries it. The standing terms are set out under how we make money.