Booking is simply the process of booking a space for your cargo from a shipping company in order to use their shipping company. This article explains some of the main steps to take before booking a LCL shipment with a freight forwarder. These precautions help you handle LCL shipments with your forwarder for smooth delivery and cost savings.
Cargo booking regarding transit time
First of all, don't expect the goods to arrive faster than the whole box. As a reminder to exporters, when booking LCL shipments with a forwarder copy, the cargo will be stuffed into the container as the cargo is a Less Container (LCL), once the forwarder has received enough cargo to make the container 'full' instead Receipt. The place of receipt may be close to the port of loading or container freight station, far from the port of loading depending on where your factory is located, export cargo is booked.
Second, they may have one or more transshipment ports before the goods reach their final destination. There may also be a delay of one or more days at the transfer point. Before appointing a freight forwarder, you need to have a clear understanding of the arrival of the goods at the destination. Have your forwarder provide you with the closing date (container packing date), the planned vessel schedule, the vessel schedule at the transshipment port (if any) and the estimated time of arrival (ETA). Once the cargo booking is delivered to the forwarder, the arrival schedule is properly monitored according to the planning details given by them.
Get a quote before booking
If any shipping is involved, what is the cost of inland shipping? How much is the sea freight to the final destination port, etc.? As the cargo booking is for Less Container Load (LCL), the freight forwarder quotes a fee per cubic meter basis (CBM basis). Learn how the CBM is calculated if the weight is more.
Destination service fee
Get written information from your local freight forwarder about "the amount of the fee, what their counterparty at the destination charges your buyer." This is important because in the LCL world, different freight forwarders charge different "delivery note fees" to the consignee. Because, as the forwarder gets to know each other at the port of loading and the final destination, the price quoted at the port of loading may be lower, but the “freight” price at the final destination is higher. Here, once the excess is charged to the consignee at the port of discharge as a "Bill of Lading fee" and a certain "rebate" is refunded to the forwarder at the port of loading!
Booking type
Shipping incoterms are international standard codes used to determine when and where to transfer cargo bookings between suppliers and importers.
For example, FOB (Free on Board) only includes transportation from the factory to the port of destination (ie, Hong Kong). In addition, FOB also includes all export formalities that are necessary to ensure that the goods can be exported legally. However, from the port of destination, you must arrange for transshipment to the final destination.
You can also pre-order DAP (Delivered in Place), which includes shipping from a factory in China to a designated address overseas. For example your office or warehouse when the cargo is booked.
