| Reading LCL Rate | Destination Charges | Sample of Total Charges | Avoiding Common Mistakes |

LCL – LESS THAN CONTAINER LOAD

LCL – an abbreviation for “Less than Container Load”. This term is commonly used to describe a sea freight service that designed for shipping boxed, crated or palletized cargo from or to the USA that cannot fill an entire 20 or 40 foot sea freight container.

There are many advantages of using LCL sea freight service when using a direct service from a Freight Forwarder (International transportation company) Vs. using FCL (full container load) or International moving companies services.

IT SHARPLY DECREASES SHIPPING COST ON SMALLER SEA FREIGHT SHIPMENTS AND:

• When you share a 40 foot sea freight container with one or more exporters that import or export goods to or from the USA. You pay only for the space used but not for a whole sea freight container. 
   
• As a rule the transit time will be the same as if you would ship a full container and most likely it will be faster if you use a service from an International moving company. 
   
• Typically the LCL ocean freight rates are calculated is BY VOLUME (per cubic meter/cubic foot) but NOT BY WEIGHT. Since vessel capacity is not really limited by weight of cargo but by the hold of the ship, in general WEIGHT OF LCL CARGO IS NOT A PRICING FACTOR (you may find more about dimensional weight in respect of sea freight and inland (LTL) trucking in our website).
   
• You may save on inland trucking. If you self-deliver your boxed, crated or palletized goods, that easily fits into your own or rented truck, to a sea freight ship terminal of ocean carrier (International transportation company) then you will eliminate pre-carriage expenses that with FCL or International moving company's service may be comparable to or even exceed the ocean freight shipping cost itself.
  
  Notice: In the International Cargo Transportation by Sea Industry the term Ocean Freight means the price paid by shipper for the transfer (sailing) his/her cargo between sea freight carrier's terminals in countries of origin and destinations. Shipping Costs of ocean freight may not include origin and/or destination charges. See samples of total shipping costs calculations on Import or Export to or from the USA by sea below.

IT IS FLEXIBLE:

• If you self-deliver your boxed cargo to an International transportation company sea freight ship terminal then you may request to palletize your loose boxes in one or more shipping units directly at the ship terminal. By palletizing your boxes you make it safe for shipping from or to the USA in a sea freight container. You may palletize smaller boxes and request to ship bigger items loose. Then your eliminate shipping cost and extra-volume charges related to palletizing (you may find more about palletizing of sea freight in our website in this link).
  
  Notice: International moving companies may box, crate and palletize your goods for the international shipment as well. However they will charge you for the labor and materials used for your Import or Export with their profit on top of that.
    
• You can ship cargo of any sizes and forms as long as it fits into a 40' sea freight container with internal dimensions as follows:
  Length - 39'5" = 12 meters
  Width - 7'5" = 2.35 meters
  Height - 7'10" = 2.39 meters
   

HELPFUL HINTS. READING LCL SEA FREIGH RATE

Ocean freight rates may be ALL-IN (all-inclusive) or to be subject to surcharges related to a particular origin-destination. Surcharges can be a percentage of the rate offered on top of the sea freight rate and/or lump sums added to the sea freight rate.

Important!: Do not confuse total shipping cost on your Import or Export shipment with a sea freight rate obtained from an International transportation company in a sea freight quote provided. Refer to samples of calculations of total shipping cost on Export and Import cargo to and from the USA below.

• Typically LCL sea freight rates offered by International transportation companies on EXPORT cargo from the USA include origin charges, but do not include destination charges.
• Sea freight rate offered by International transportation companies  on IMPORT to the USA may not include charges at origin as well.

Notice: These rules may not apply if you use service from an International Moving Company.

OCEAN FREIGHT CHARGES. SAMPLE OF LCL SHIPPING COST RATE CALCULATION ON EXPORT FROM THE USA:

ORIGIN: CFS Los Angeles, CA, USA (CFS - Container Freight Station, i.e. an international shipping company's shipping or receiving bonded warehouse)

DESTINATION: CFS Haifa, Israel

ETT: 33 DAYS (ETT - Estimated Transit Time. The expected arrival time once the cargo has been shipped by sea. Notice: Even though typically shipments depart and arrive as scheduled, for ocean freight Estimated Time of Departure (ETD) and Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) cannot guarantee a specific transit time.

RATE PER CUBIC METER: USD130 w/m; MINIMUM: USD260

BAF 17% (BAF - Bunker Adjustment Factor, i.e. fuel surcharge, a sample of “percentage” surcharge, which must be added to the sea freight rate)

CAF 3% (CAF – Currency Adjustment Factor)
WAR RISK USD15 per shipment (a sample of “lump sum” surcharge, which must be added to the sea freight rate)

Origin charges at CFS are included in the sea freight rate.

!!!*** Destination charges are not included ***!!!

Then your ALL-IN CFS-CFS sea freight rate will be $156 per cubic meters + $15 l/sum on the total.

If you export from the USA 3.25 cubic meters of your boxed or crated cargo and self-deliver it to CFS (an International Transportation company's ship warehouse) in Los Angeles, CA your total shipping cost excluding destination charges will be:

$(130 + 130 X 0.17 + 130 X 0.03) X 3.25  + 15 = $522

Always compare the total ocean freight rate to a minimum in the initial rate. You will pay total or minimum, whichever is greater.

Be prepared to pay destination charges at the destination upon arrival of your sea freight to the destination.

SAMPLE OF DESTINATION CHARGES. IMPORT TO THE USA BY SEA:

1. ENTRY FILING AND U.S. CUSTOMS. U.S. GOVERNMENT RELATED CHARGES - These charges include, but are not limited to: (1) U.S. Customs Duties and taxes assigned by the U.S. Government; (2) U.S. Customs brokers’ fees for filing entry and entry summary in the United States; (3) Other U.S. Government-related charges, which in general consist of a Customs Bond, Merchandise fee, and Harbor Maintenance Fee. The charges are payable by the consignee (recipient) directly to U.S. Customs or to an U.S. Customs Broker.

Example of charges per entry, related to U.S. Customs clearance that should be added to total shipping cost and paid at a time of recovery of sea freight arrived in the U.S. Commerce Zone:

• Entry filing for Commercial Shipments - $125. 
• Entry filing for Personal Shipments depends on the complexity of documents submitted for a shipment and can vary from $195 to $350 or more. However, as long as it is an informal entry, it will not require Customs Bond. 
• Single entry Customs Bond (for formal entries, commercial shipments) - $75 or $7.00 per $1,000 of value + duty. Applies if the importer does not have a Continuous Bond on file with US Customs. (+250% when entry is processed thru another government agency, FDA, USDA, EPA, etc). 
• U.S. Duty depending on commodity if not exempt from paying duty.
• Filing additional tariffs (Harmonized codes) - $7 per HTS tariff after two. 
• Merchandise processing fee – 0.21% of value. Minimum $25; Maximum $485. Applies to all imports except temporary imports. 
• Harbor Maintenance Fee – 0.125% of value. Apples to all imports. 
• Disbursement Fee - 25 min / 6% on amount paid on behalf of importer of records (consignee)

2. THC - TERMINAL HANDLING CHARGES ON OCEAN FREIGHT SHIPPED TO THE USA:

These charges vary depending on commodity, weight and volume. These charges are payable to the destination station (CFS, receiving terminal).

Example of U.S. destination terminal(s) charges for LCL cargo around 3 CBM / 300 kilos:

• Staffing fee - $18
• CFS docs fee - $25 
• Handling charge - $75 
• Pier pass - $5 
• Storage (if any) 
• Port of entry CFS release - $75

3. CHARGES RELATED TO CARGO RELEASE:

• Carrier’s destination agent release fee - $55-95. If the destination agent is a CFS itself, then this charge can be included in a Port of entry CFS release.
• Messenger fee - $25-55. Covers express mail for payments and documents transfers in order to get an entry and entry summary within a time slot allowed by U.S. Customs – no longer than in 15 working days. 
• Place of Delivery warehouse release fee (if Immediate Transportation. I.e. port of entry is NOT a final destination. As a rule applies on cargo transfers to landlocked cities) - $55-105.

4. DELIVERY (IF A DELIVERY IS REQUIRED)

SAMPLE OF TOTAL SHIPPING COST RELATED TO LCL SEA FREIGHT SHIPMENT IN USD (Import to the USA):

Very important to understand that typically ocean freight quots received from an International Transportation company contains just a part of total shipping cost of your sea freight shipment. Consider this example below for an import to the USA. This rule may not apply if you are using service from an International Moving Company.

Notice: for export from the USA origin charges, as a rule, are included in the ocean freight quote offered by a freight forwarder.

AVOIDING COMMON MISTAKES WHEN APPLY FOR AN LCL SERVICE FROM AN INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION COMPANY:

A. Do not confuse a parcel service with LCL sea freight service

LCL shipments with international shipping companies are always subject to origin* and destination charges and have a minimum charge on the ocean freight. Usually that minimum is equal to shipping cost of at least one cubic meter. I.e. if you ship 0.5 cubic meters you will be charged for shipping of one cubic meter anyway. (For certain origins-destinations the minimum can be much higher. Always pay attention to the minimum in ocean freight.)

*Notice: for export from the USA by sea origin THC - Terminal Handling Charges, Customs formalities and documents turnover fees, as a rule, are included in the ocean freight rates.   

If you ship small cargo less than 0.3 cubic meters of total volume, possible using a parcel service would be more cost-effective that service provided by an international freight forwarder. 

B. Do not confuse LCL with an international moving company's service

Yes, most of the time you can use LCL service from an international transportation company and/or freight forwarder for shipping household goods or personal belongings from and to the USA.

However, in order to use LCL service all your shipping items must be properly boxed or crated and labeled for shipping purpose.

If you move oversea you may consider a service from international moving companies. For sure theirs services would be extremely expensive. However, an international moving company may send to you a surveyor, estimate packing cost and provide total pricing for your move oversea. International shipping companies may provide to you all-in service for the total shipping cost including all charges related to your shipment. But always ask the international moving company either all charges included in their shipping cost offered or not. You may try http://www.123movers.com   

C. Shipper’s responsibilities on commodity and shipping documents submitted to a sea freight Import or Export shipment

In respect of dealing with a freight forwarder, shipper should clearly understand that he/she is responsible for description and legality of commodity and sufficiency of documentation submitted to an international shipment by sea.

Carrier’s bill of lading on sea freight, the final document that acts as title to the shipped goods, as a rule states ‘SHIPPER'S LOAD AND COUNT’ and ‘SAID BY SHIPPER TO CONTAIN’. That means that the ocean carrier (and a freight forwarder who represents this carrier) is not responsible for information provided by shipper on his commodity that is imported to or exported from the USA. 

A freight forwarder should guide shipper in complexity of international shipment procedures. However, it is shipper’s responsibility to provide all necessary documents related to his sea freight shipment that will be required by origin and destination country officials.

Below is the list of common used documents required to be submitted to an international shipment by sea:

MANDATORY DOCUMENTS:

A. Bill of Lading – Ocean carriers' (international transportation company's) transport document. Title on shipped goods. Shows cargo routing, consigner, consignee, cargo description, etc.

B.1. For commercial shipments - Commercial Invoice. Complete description of commodity being shipped using ocean freight service provided by an international transportation company or an international moving company.

B.2. For shipping household goods and personal belongings – Valued Packing List. An inventory list with value assigned to each item being shipped by an international transportation company or an international moving company.

Notice: some courtiers require proforma commercial invoices for personal shipments as well. However, having a complete Valued Packing List submitted at origin, upon destination customs request, you will be able easy to transfer your Valued Packing List in form of proforma commercial invoice.   

In respect of U.S. Customs, all Commercial Invoices (and Valued Packing Lists) must be in English and show:

• Value of cargo in US Dollars (exchange rate = date of export);
• Shippers full name and address (M.I.D. – manufacturer’s identification); 
• Consignee full name and address; 
• Detailed description of cargo/freight; 
• Quantity of cargo shipped; 
• Weight of cargo shipped;
• Cargo’s Country of Origin

ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS DEPENDING ON COMMODITY AND COUNTRY OF ORIGIN USED IN SEA FREIGHT INDUSTRY:

D. Packing List – Breakdown description: pieces, weights and packing materials. (Examples - Wood Pallets, Skids, Crates, Boxes, Dunnage, Straw Packing, etc.)

E. Fumigation Certificate– Certification that cargo and packing materials were fumigated after cargo had been containerized and is free of Infestation.

F. Special Documents – Dependent on commodity and country of origin.

Visa
Quota
Visa/Quota
Certificate of Origin
North American Free Trade Agreement Certificate of Origin (N.A.F.T.A.)
Packing Declaration
Dangerous Goods Declaration – hazardous materials
Fish and Wildlife Declaration
Consular Legalized documents
F.D.A.
U.S.D.A.
Anti-Dumping

D. Storage/demurrage at a destination sea freight shipments.

In several days before your cargo will arrive to the destination port of entry your consignee (recipient) should receive a notification. As a rule it will be an arrival notice faxed or e-mailed to the consignee by agent of the international transportation company used on your sea freight shipment. Otherwise it can be a phone call or mail from the international transportation company's destination agent. Make sure that contact information of consignee initially provided in your booking request and transffered to your ocean freight b/l is correct and valid.  

Act promptly. Your free storage time at a destination warehouse is limited. Depending on destination ocean carrier’s station policy it varies between 7 to 14 days. Thereafter storage/demurrage may increase total shipping cost for your international shipment by sea dramatically.

Laws allow your consignee working on the cargo recovery directly with destination county’s customs and other parties related to your shipment.

However, if the consignee is not familiar with import procedures on sea freight imprt or export, we recommend him immediately request the international transportation company's destination agent to complete the cargo release on your behalf or forward the notice of arrival along with other documents required by destination authorities to a freight forwarder or destination customs broker. They will charge a reasonable fee for its service. However, they should obtain customs and warehouse releases with no (or minimum) storage/demurrage charges on your sea freight shipment.