LCL, problems that have to be paid attention to

With the rapid development of international trade and the continuous extension of transportation services, container LCL transportation is widely used, but LCL transportation is different from FCL transportation. Its transportation requirements have their particularity and independence. Some problems encountered during the operation are brought up here and discussed with you.

　　1. LCL (Less Than Container Load, LCL) means that the carrier (or agent) will classify and sort the cargoes according to the nature of the cargo and the destination after the carrier (or agent) accepts the cargo consigned by the consignor with less than the whole container. Consolidate the goods going to the same destination into a certain number and pack them into boxes. Because there are different cargo owners in a box assembled together, it is called LCL. This situation is used when the consignor's consignment quantity is insufficient to fill the entire container. The classification, sorting, concentration, packing (unpacking) and delivery of LCL cargo are all carried out at the carrier's terminal container freight station or inland container transfer station.

　　 LCL can be divided into direct consolidation or transfer consolidation. Direct consolidation means that the goods in the LCL containers are loaded and unloaded at the same port, and the containers are not opened before the goods arrive at the destination port, that is, the goods are in the same unloading port. This type of LCL service has a short shipping period and is convenient and fast. Generally, a powerful LCL company will provide only this type of service. Transshipment refers to goods in containers that are not at the same port of destination and need to be unpacked and unloaded or transshipped halfway. Due to factors such as different destination ports and long waiting time for such goods, the shipping period is longer and the freight is even higher.

2. LCL cargo generally cannot accept the designation of a specific shipping company. The shipping company only accepts FCL cargo bookings, and does not directly accept LCL cargo bookings, only through freight forwarders (some powerful shipping companies pass their logistics The company) can book the space with the shipping company after consolidating the LCL cargo. Almost all the LCL cargo is transported through the 'centralized handling and centralized distribution' of the freight forwarding company. The LCL distribution ports in East China are basically It is the port of Shanghai. General freight forwarders can only book space from a few shipping companies due to the limitation of cargo sources. They rarely meet the needs of designated shipping companies. Therefore, when transacting LCL cargo, try not to accept designated shipping companies to avoid consignment Time can not meet the requirements.

　　3. When negotiating a deal with the customer, pay special attention to the relevant transportation terms, so as not to discover that the transportation terms cannot be met after the other party's letter of credit is issued. In our daily operations, we often encounter L/C regulations stipulating that LCL cargo transportation does not accept freight forwarders’ bills of lading. Because shipping companies do not directly accept bookings for LCL cargo, shipping companies’ ocean bills of lading are issued to freight forwarders, and freight forwarders re Issuing HOUSE B/L to the shipper, if the L/C regulations do not accept freight forwarding B/L, there will be no choice in the actual transportation process, which will cause L/C inconsistency. For another example, when we were handling transportation, we found a consignment note stating: Goods must be shipped in container on LCL basis and Bill of Lading to evidence he same and to show that all LCL. handling charges, THC and delivery order charges at thd port of discharges are prepaid. It can be seen from the original text of the above paragraph of L/C that the consignee transfers all the expenses that should be borne by him to the consignor. This is the consignment of the consignor and the customer during trade negotiations. It was caused by the failure to negotiate in detail the terms of transport.

　　4. The billing ton of LCL cargo shall be accurate. Before delivery of LCL cargo, 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, the warehouse will generally re-measure, and the re-measured size and weight will be charged. standard. If the factory changes the packaging, the factory should be required to notify in time. Don’t wait for the goods to be delivered to the freight forwarder’s warehouse and feed back the information through the forwarder. Often time is already very tight. If you change the customs declaration documents, it is easy to delay customs declaration or incur expedited customs declaration fees And port charges.

5. In some ports, due to insufficient supply of LCL goods and high cost, freight forwarding companies specializing in LCL adopt the lowest charging standard for goods with a small volume. For example, the minimum is 2 freight tons, that is, less than 2 freight tons. All charges are based on 2 freight tons. Therefore, when the cargo volume is small, some of these factors should be taken into account when the cargo is transacted in the port to avoid passiveness in the future.

6. For some routes and ports that are relatively remote, and customers propose to deliver LCL goods to inland points, it is best to consult before signing the transaction and confirm that there are shipping companies and freight forwarding companies that can handle these remote ports and inland points. Sign the contract after delivery and related expenses.

　　7. At present, in order to cooperate with the “WTO”, local customs will focus on inspections of sensitive and trademark-protected commodities. For goods involving intellectual property rights, the 'Intellectual Property Declaration Form' should be filled out in advance. Regardless of whether there is a brand, whether it is a trademark registered by the company or factory, or a customer's order, the relevant registered trademark information should be prepared in advance Or the customer’s authorization letter; for a wide variety of goods, there are many different types of goods in a consignment note, the various goods names and goods numbers should be listed in detail when making the order, do not use a general product code instead, it will be It caused questions from the customs, and it was found to be inconsistent with the actual goods during inspection, which caused the trouble of not being released.