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Precautions for LCL shipping in America

Mar 26, 2024|View:12

With the rapid development of international trade and the continuous extension of transportation services, the LCL transportation of containers is widely used, but the LCL transportation is different from the FCL transportation by sea, and its transportation requirements have their particularity and independence. Now some problems encountered in the actual operation process are put forward here and discussed with you.

1.Less Than Container Load (LCL) refers to the classification and sorting of the cargo according to the nature and destination after the carrier (or agent) accepts the cargo of less than the whole container consigned by the owner. The goods bound for the same destination, concentrated into a certain number of boxes.

Because the goods of different owners are packed together in a container, it is called a LCL. This condition is used when the consignor consignes less than the full case. The classification, sorting, centralization, packing (unpacking) and delivery of LCL cargo by sea shall be carried out at the container freight station of carrier terminal or inland container transfer station.

LCL by sea can be divided into direct LCL or translCL. Direct LCL means that the goods in LCL containers are loaded and unloaded at the same port and are not unpacked before the goods arrive at the destination port, that is, the goods are at the same port of discharge. This kind of LCL service has a short delivery period, convenient and fast, and generally powerful LCL companies will provide only this kind of service. Transshipment refers to the goods in containers that are not at the same port of destination and need to be unpacked and unloaded or transshipped halfway. Such goods due to different port of destination, long waiting time and other factors, so the delivery time is long, and even the freight is high.

2. Generally speaking, a specific shipping company cannot be designated for LCL cargo. Shipping companies only accept booking space for FCL cargo, but not directly for LCL cargo by sea. The LCL port in East China is basically Shanghai Port. Due to the limitation of the supply of goods, the general freight forwarders can only focus on a few shipping companies to book space, rarely can meet the needs of the designated shipping companies, so in the transaction of LCL goods by sea, try not to accept the designated shipping companies, so as not to meet the requirements when handling consignment.

3. When negotiating with customers, special attention should be paid to the relevant transportation terms, so as to avoid that the transportation terms cannot be met only when the other party's letter of credit is issued and the shipment is handled.

4. Strive to be accurate in billing tons of LCL goods. Before shipping LCL goods, the factory should be required to measure the weight and size of the goods as accurately as possible. When the goods are delivered to the warehouse designated by the forwarder for storage, the warehouse will generally re-measure the goods, and the re-measured size and weight will be charged standard. If the factory changes the packaging, the factory should be required to timely notify, do not wait for the goods to be sent to the forwarder warehouse, through the forwarder to feedback the information back, often the time is very tight, and then change the customs declaration documents, it is easy to delay the customs declaration, or produce urgent customs declaration fees and port fees.

5. Due to the shortage of LCL goods and high cost in some ports, the freight forwarders specializing in LCL by sea adopt the minimum charging standard for the goods with small volume. If the minimum starting point is 2 freight tons, that is, less than 2 freight tons, the price and charge will be calculated and charged according to 2 freight tons. Therefore, the quantity of goods is small, the port is more partial to the goods in the transaction should consider some such factors, so as not to be passive in the future.

6. for some routes and ports are more remote, and the customer proposed to deliver to the inland point of LCL goods, it is best to consult before signing the contract, confirm that the shipping company and freight forwarding company can undertake the handling of these remote ports, inland point delivery and related costs before signing the contract.