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As your business grows, you may look to expand your footing beyond your existing customer base and extend your reach to attract potential customers. To access a seamless network of distribution and shipping, it is essential to utilize containerized shipping. Earlier, goods from the smaller shipments would be loaded and sorted only at the time of onboarding. But today, the shipping process has been revolutionized, for smaller and larger shipments alike, with the help of Container Freight Station (CFS).
What is Container Freight Station (CFS)?
A CFS is an area, typically a warehouse near shipping ports or crucial railway hubs. These container freight stations are either owned by private stakeholders or shipping terminals. Their primary function involves the consolidation and de-consolidation of less-than-container load (LCL) cargo. Consolidation includes bringing together multiple LCL shipments to form a full container load (FCL) whereas de-consolidation is the process of segregating the LCL shipments.
Moreover, a Container Freight Station is also utilized as a temporary storage space for goods for import and export. As per the latest government data (March 2017), India is home to 168 container freight stations.
Why Container Freight Station?
CFS has become an integral part of the shipping business. It has made the import-export business seamless at both, origin and destination points. And so, container freight stations are segregated into origin CFS and destination CFS.
With the exponential increase in the demand for LCL shipments, the stations have become a sought-after facility for import-export. It offers an advantage of a centralized shipment location, in turn contributing immensely to streamline and ease up the entire process.
What Does A CFS Do?
Chalk out a
viable container load plan
Obtain and
consolidate LCL shipments for export
De-consolidate
the container at destination CFS. Then, dispatch the shipment for delivery
Loading and
unloading of containers
Assign specific
marks and seals to the containers for identification purposes
Arranging and
rearranging empty containers from container yards
Managing
transportation of laden containers to corresponding port or terminal
Keeping an
account of containers before & after shipping and sort accordingly
Regular
maintenance and timely servicing of the containers
Overlooking the
customs clearance procedures while ensuring the goods are kept safe until
shipped or picked up
Utilizing free
spaces to become a temporary storage facility for cargo
The Import and Export Process at CFS
As the Container Freight Station (CFS) simplifies the shipping process for LCL and FCL cargos, here's how the process works:
Export:
Exporter arrives
with goods at CFS along with a shipping bill
The goods are
unloaded and the CFS custodian accounts for receival of the goods
Customs
authorities initiate customs clearance procedures for the goods
Once the
procedure is completed and customs authorities issue a shipping bill with “let
export order”
CFS begins
loading the goods into the container
The container is sealed and marked. CFS dispatches it to port/terminal for export
Import:
As the container
arrives, the importer files an import general manifest (IGM) at the port. This
consists of details regarding the cargo, exporter, importer
The container is
then forwarded to the destination CFS
CFS offloads the
cargo and sends it for cargo clearance process
Cargo owner or
their clearing agent files bill of entry. Once the cargo clearance and duty
payment is done, it is forwarded to the customs authorities
Customs issues
bill of entry with an “out of charge” order
The CFS
custodian then dispatched the cargo to the importer with a gate pass
As the Container Freight Station acts as an extension of the port, it allows the ports to reduce congestion while streamlining the entire process.
How does the CFS charge?
For every activity the Container Freight Station performs, it levies a charge accordingly. Moreover, the charges for 20-foot, 40-foot and 45-foot containers vary and the charges for reefer, hazardous and over-dimensional cargo (ODC) are higher. And so, it is essential the exporters and importers must know about these charges.
If these charges are not taken into consideration, it can lead to shipment delays, a rise in logistics cost and most importantly, it could deteriorate your relations with customs authorities, which could be a bad sign for your business.
Undeniably, with the introduction of CFS, the process of shipping has been optimized. But we believe that it takes a trustworthy container freight station to understand what your needs are and ensure the delivery of the best services. Which is why we at Movemax, have India's widest ISO-certified CFS network at your service.
With our
Container Freight Station network across India, we aim to bring you everything
you need in a “one-stop” service. The state-of-the-art services along with our
several years of experience are designed to cater to all your shipping
requirements. We understand what it takes to ensure seamless delivery of your
products and provide you with results that exceed your expectations.
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