FCL&LCL

Shipping Full Container Load (FCL) and shipping Less Container Load (LCL), the bill of lading is essentially the same, with the three basic attributes of the bill of lading - the cargo receipt function, the proof of the contract of carriage, and the certificate of title. The difference is as follows.

Different bill of lading types

When shipping the whole container, the shipper can request the owner's order (MBL), or the freight forwarder's order (HBL), or both. But sea LCL, the owner can get is the freight forwarding. Because Consolidator collects the goods of several different shippers to book the shipping company according to one order (container liner companies only accept FCL booking, not LCL booking), the shipping company will only issue one FCL Bill of lading (MBL) to the LCL company, which contains the goods of several different shippers. LCL companies can only issue multiple freight forwarding orders (commonly known as sub-orders or small orders) to the owners according to different owners.

Different ways of handover

For Full Container, "FCL-FCL" or "CY-CY" will usually be marked on the ship owner's bill of lading or freight forwarder's bill of lading (site to site). FCL is short for Full Container Load.

CY is short for Container Yard -- it's a place where containers are stacked.

For LCL, the manifest will usually indicate "LCL-LCL" or "CFS-CFS" (station to station).

LCL is short for Less Container Load - meaning less than one container, that is, less than one container;

CFS is short for Container Freight Station, which means container freight station. It is a place where LCL is processed, unpacked, divided and delivered.

The main ways of shipping container cargo transfer are:

(1)FCL/FCL- FCL receiving, FCL delivery (i.e. CY-CY: on-site)

The whole container is basically in this form by sea. This handover method is the most common and the most efficient, because it does not involve unpacking and dividing the goods from beginning to end.

The shipper loads the goods by himself and hands them to the carrier in the form of Full Container Load. The consignee receives the goods in the full container, unloads the goods by himself, and unloads the goods by himself.

(2)LCL/LCL- LCL receiving, unpacked delivery (CFS-CFS: Station to station)

Marine LCL is basically in this form.

The shipper hands the goods to the Consolidator in the form of Less Container Load, and the consolidator is responsible for packing the goods. The destination agent of a LCL company is responsible for unpacking and unloading the cargo, which is then delivered to the final consignee in the form of bulk cargo (LCL).

(3)FCL/LCL- full container receiving, unpacked delivery (i.e. CY-CFS: field to station)

For example, a shipper has a batch of goods enough for a container, but this batch of goods to be distributed to a number of different consignees after the destination port, then you can use FCL/LCL in the form of consignment.

The consignor delivers the goods to the carrier in the form of full container (FCL), and then the carrier or freight forwarding company issues multiple sub-orders or small orders according to different consignee; The destination agent of the carrier or freight forwarding company is responsible for unpacking, unloading, and dividing the goods according to different consignees, and then handing them to the final consignees in the form of bulk cargo (LCL).

(4)LCL/FCL- LCL receiving, FCL delivery (CFS-CY: station to site)

Multiple consignors deliver the goods to the carrier in the form of bulk cargo (LCL), and the carrier or freight forwarding company gathers the goods of the same consignee together and assembles them into FCL; At the destination, the carrier delivers the package (FCL) to the final consignee.

Shipping marks vary in importance

The shipping mark of the whole container is relatively not so important and necessary, because the entire transportation and handover process is based on the container, and the middle does not involve unpacking and dividing the goods. Of course, this is relative to the relevant parties in the logistics process, as for whether the final consignee cares about the shipping mark, it has nothing to do with logistics.

The shipping mark of LCL is very important, because the goods of many different owners share the same container, the goods are mixed together, if the shipping mark is not clear, it is difficult to distinguish the goods, and it is very easy to confuse and make mistakes. Therefore, the shipping mark of LCL is very important, and the LCL company should not only distinguish the shipping mark of customers, but also distinguish the shipping mark of customers. A shipping label with important information such as the bill of lading number (main and minor) and the packing case number should also be affixed. When the destination agent unpacks and divides the goods, the goods are picked up strictly according to different small bill numbers and consignee, and the goods are also released strictly according to the bill number (small bill number).