What Is Fcl And Lcl Container

Lcl less than container load.

What is fcl and lcl container. For example a 20 full container rate at the beginning of the month can decrease or increase by mid month depending on what market forces are present at the time. A full container load fcl is a container that is for the use of a single consignee. Thinking inside the box. Let s look into the fcl and lcl shipments and how they operate.

In the case of fcl the cost is borne by one party while in lcl the cost is divided among different owners. As it will be the cargo for one specified consignee. Fcl shipping or full container load is the option where shipper uses a full container exclusively for his shipment. This difference is only on the surface.

This suggests that fcl caters to exporters requiring a full sized container to load their cargo whereas lcl caters to exporters that do not need a full container to load its cargo. The lcl per cbm rate will likely not be affected by the fcl s price fluctuation or if it is it will take the consolidator time to apply the changes. Thus fcl full container load and lcl less than container load are not only frequently used in shipping but also in transport by truck rail and air freight. Fcl refers to shipment for which all the goods in the container are owned by a single party while in lcl the goods belonging to multiple owners are packed together.

The terms lcl and fcl refer to the two main modes of container shipments. If for example shipments are transported by truck forwarders use the very similar terms ftl which means full truck load or ltl less than truck load. The shipper doesn t have to share the container with cargo booked by other shippers. Many will summarize fcl as full container load and lcl as lesser container load.

An fcl refers to one full container load and the decision whether to go for fcl or lcl will be a product of cost time underlying product transport method amongst many other elements. Even if the container isn t enough completely filled to the brim with cargo the shipping party can choose to still opt for it. An fcl shipment or full container shipment as its name suggests is a shipment that occupies the entire space of a container without having to share it with other merchandise. Lcl shipment or less than container load.

Fcl full container load. In shipping practice an fcl means a single container that is booked by the shipper exclusively for the transportation of their cargo only. Full container load fcl is a container shipping option where a container is exclusively used for a single shipment and the container is not shared with other cargo shipments and the costs are borne by one party.