LCL - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS)

LCL means Less than Container Load. If a shipper does not have enough goods to fill an entire container, he or she can enlist the services of an LCL consolidator. An LCL consolidator will combine LCL cargo from various shippers and transport it to the required destination. Such shipments are called LCL shipments.

Two of these include Full Container Load (FCL) and Less than Container Load (LCL) refers to two types of shipments. FCL refers to shipments in which all the goods in a container are owned by one party and LCL shipments refer to cargo belonging to multiple shippers packed together in a single container.

When you ship cargo as an FCL shipment, you pay a flat fee for the use of the entire container as opposed to paying for the amount of space that you use. As a result, the cost per CBM may work out to be cheaper than the cost per CBM on LCL in some instances. However, if the volume of the cargo is not significantly large, LCL may prove to be a more feasible option. It is best to rely on an expert who can offer seamless, customized solutions that cater specifically to your needs.

The ocean freight charge for LCL is often labelled “W/M” which stands for weight or measurement. As described above, this indicates that charges are expressed either in terms of the shipment weight or its volume in CBM (cubic metres).

One 20' (Twenty Feet) Full Container Load, i.e. a container loaded at and shipped by a single sender (usually under one single Bill of Lading), destined to one place/one consignee.

LCL costs more than FCL per unit of freight. That's because freight agents prefer a full container load as it is easier than bundling many LCL shipments in a single full container. When an FCL shipment arrives at the port, it is unloaded from the vessel and delivered to the buyer without hindrances since it destined to one place/one consignee which is not the case for LCL shipments. The documentation and formalities are significantly higher for LCL shipments. Hence, most businesses

who need to transport cargo which is not enough to accommodate a full container, opt for the services of an expert LCL consolidator.

An LCL (Less than Container Load) shipment is when a consignment of goods is shipped via sea freight and loaded into a shared container with other consignments.