Hate to do this, but it depends on the commodity. You can ship a ton of toilet paper easier that a ton of 155mm ammo. However, the toilet paper will take up a LOT more space than the 155mm ammo. There are some templates available for military planners but it all depends on the size of the force and make up of the force you are shipping for.

The numbers for air and sea travel were derived from transport of a million pounds of wheat for humanitarian aid. The rail cost is from per ton cost of shipping toxic waste. I thought sea was cheaper then rail. It probably is over extreme distances for large packages where time of arrival is not as relevant.

If those are the numbers examples than the prices are bogus. For accurate numbers you need to use the same commodity. Sea prices for wheat are jacked up because humidity standards have to be kept. Cannot dump it in a connex and put it on the deck of the ship like I can with the other example, TP. Also have to look at distance, So a better question is "How much to move one ton of widgets, from point A to point B. If I want to ship a package from Ft Lauderdale to Tampa. Truck will be cheaper, followed by airlift then sealift. I think No rail service between those two points, but would fall between truck and airlift. But if the question was between Ft Lauderdale and Charleston SC. Sealift, rail then truck and Air. Both have international port facilities. Its the airline question of who gets you there cheaper. United or piedmont. I found out once it was cheaper to fly Piedmont to Charlotte,rent a car to Greenville SC, than United to Orlando> So the simple question isn't.

As other have said - it depends. Generally speaking it cost about 2500 US$ for a 20' TEU across the Atlantic - at the present rate; but that varies with supply and demand. Normally you hire a company to forward your stuff including the paper work. the interesting thing is that the US Navy is moving more towards this solution. The largest container shipping line Maersk-Sealand is a Danish-American company, and the fusion of the 2 had to be confirmed in the US Senat, as Maersk is probably the only single company in the world capable of moving a US Corps. During GW1 mr. Møller not only deferred emergency payment from the US Navy, but loaned them 2 ro-ro ships free of charge. That soured the world for US shipping lines. Not only did he not jack up prices, but he has a reputation for NOT mislaying your stuff in obscure harbours around the world. So the US commercial shipping could not convince the senat of the danger to US security by letting their freight be handled by a danish company. Mr. Møller is as sharp as they come.

I've been quoted $2,500 (not including BAF) for a regular 40' from HK to Rotterdam recently, but you've got to add loading, unloading, storage, etc... I've paid as low as $1/kg for door-to-door air freight from NYC to Paris, but that was at a time when oil was cheaper.

Sorry meant 40'. Freight rates are moving up at the moment, as Maersk have filled all capabel shipyards with orders.