FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – IMPORT CARGO TO THE USALCL – Shipping Boxed or Crated Cargo & GENERAL QUESTIONS 1. How differs an Import from Export shipment?
2. What are FOB and DDP? What is the meaning when I deal with a freight forwarder?
3. How it works? What should I expect on my LCL import shipment step by step?
4. Why can’t you provide a precise cost on my cargo release in U.S. when quoting?
5. How can I estimate destination charges in the USA?
6. What documents should I submit to my import shipment at the origin and destination?
7. Can I amend my Bill of Lading?
8. What are Cubic Meter and W/M – weight or measurement?
9. Should I palletize my boxes or not?
10. What about insurance on my goods?
11. Do you guarantee transit time on my shipment?
12. What are ISPM15 rules - wood packing restrictions?
FCL – Full Container Load 1. What should I know about FCL?
LCL – Shipping Boxed or Crated Cargo & GENERAL QUESTIONS
1. How differs an Import from Export shipment? / Back to import LCL cargo | Back to Import from the USA In respect of dealing with an U.S. Freight Forwarder, when importing goods to the USA, shipper should understand that unlike with export, U.S. Freight Forwarder initiates import via its worldwide service partners network and continue to work on shipper’s behalf as soon as goods are entered in the U.S. Commerce zone. I.e. when importers tender goods to the international shipment they work directly with a carrier’s agent in the country where goods are being shipped. Contact information of carrier’s agent at origin provided in booking confirmations and/or shipping instructions. 2. What are FOB and DDP? What is the meaning when I deal with a freight forwarder? / Back to import LCL cargo | Back to Import from the USA FOB and DDP are Incoterms terms. Incoterms are not actually transportations, but trade terms that are widely used in International Trade practice to indicate responsibility and ownership of goods when it is transferring from seller to buyer. This topic is not intended to be a concise definition of Incoterms abbreviations, but rather to provide the meaning as they may apply when you are dealing with a freight forwarder. We will go around just two terms: FOB - Free on Board (1), and DDP - Delivered Duty Paid (2), which are most commonly used by freight forwarders. We use an example for importing goods to the USA by LCL. However the procedures are common regardless of type of service in the seafreight.
1. FOB -- Free On Board means that freight forwarder’s responsibilities are limited by setting up a shipment at the origin and issuing to the importer carrier’s Bill of Lading. I.e. for shipments on FOB, after goods are submitted to the carrier, loaded on board of vessel and carrier’s B/L is issued to the importer, all cargo recovery formalities and charges at the destination are importers responsibilities. - TERMINAL–TO-TERMINAL on FOB -- Origin charges are payable directly to carrier’s agent at the origin. Freight forwarder’s invoice includes charges and fee related to the ocean freight only. Destination charges are payable directly to carrier’s agent at the destination.
- DOOR–TO–TERMINAL on FOB -- Besides tasks with the TERMINAL–TO-TERMINAL, Freight forwarder arranges pickups goods at origin on behalf of importer. However, the pickup charges (or part of these charges) may still be payable directly to carrier’s agent at the origin. Freight forwarder’s invoice includes full or partial charges and fee related to the pickup at origin as well as charges and fee related to the ocean freight. Destination charges are payable directly to carrier’s agent at the destination.
2. DDP -- Delivered Duty Paid means that freight forwarder will continue his work on shipment after the shipment had departed from the port of origin. However destination charges on DDP shipments can be assessed only after the goods enter in the U.S. Commerce Zone. Therefore, destination charges in quotes on DDP are provided as an estimate.
With us, in order to proceed on DDP, FOB invoice must be fully paid before we will proceed to DDP. Actually this approach has an advantage for importers. After FOB is paid and carrier’s bill of lading obtained by importer, the importer has a time to make his/her final decision: either to continue using our service on DDP when goods will arrive to the USA or be directly involved in the cargo recovery at the destination and/or use service of any U.S. Customs Broker of his/her choice. - TERMINAL-TO-TERMINAL on DDP -- On top of the TERMINAL–TO-TERMINAL on FOB freight forwarder handles entry, U.S. Customs and warehouse(s) release(s) on behalf of importer. Importer must arrange pickup of released goods from the destination terminal.
- TERMINAL-TO-DOOR on DDP -- On top of the TERMINAL-TO-TERMINAL on DDP freight forwarder handles delivery service to the importer in the USA.
- DOOR-DOOR on DDP – Freight forwarder handles the complete door-to-door shipment and collects all charges on it. Not always available.
| | FOB | DDP | | | Terminal-
to-Terminal | Door-
to-Terminal | Terminal-
to-Terminal | Door-
to-Terminal | Door-
to-Door | | | | X | | X | X | | Customs at origin and export formalities |
| | X | | X | X | | THC: Terminal Handling Charges |
| | X | | X | X | | X | X | X | X | X | | | Entry, Duty and Taxes, U.S. Custom release |
| | | X | X | X | | THC: Terminal Handling Charges |
| | | X | X | X | | Charges Related to Cargo Release(s) |
| | | X | X | X | | | | | | X |
3. How it works? What should I expect on my LCL import shipment step by step? / Back to import LCL cargo | Back to Import from the USA Import shipments with us, unlike export, are always separated into two parts: FOB (1st) and DDP (2nd). Our policy states that we may proceed to the second part of shipment - on DDP, only after the first part - on FOB is completed and we had issued to the importer carrier’s Bill of Lading. In ohter words we will accept responsibilities to work on your shipment in the United States only after we got: A confirmation that your goods had been departed from the port of origin; All import ship documents are provided by you in proper order; Our FOB invoice is paid.
Seven steps that you should be aware of: 1st STEP – BOOK YOUR SHIPMENT ONLINE. The first and absolutely necessary step to begin a shipment is to schedule the shipment online on our website. In order to avoid misinterpretation, misspelling and mistyping we do not accept bookings over the phone or via fax. 2nd STEP – FIRST-TIME CUSTOMERS PAY SECURITY DEPOSIT. After submitting your booking request online you will receive our e-mail with a Reference number of your shipment and: If it is your first shipment with us, then you will receive an e-mail with request to pay a security deposit. Typically this deposit is equal to 75% of the estimated total price of FOB part of your shipment obtained in our quote. The deposit will be applied to the final cost of the FOB part of your shipment. Consider this e-mail an invoice on your deposit.
We accept major credit cards online. We accept business and personal checks, money orders and wire transfers. Please review the Payment Conditions and Return Policy. 3rd STEP – RECEIVE SHIPPING INSTRUCTIONS VIA E-MAIL, SUBMIT YOUR SHIPPING DOCUMENTS AND SEND YOUR GOODS. Scheduling Import shipments may take up to five working days from the day of booking. In certain circumstances it may take more time. You will receive our e-mail with a booking confirmation on your shipment. It will contain: Our Reference No. and Carriers Booking No.; Carrier agent’s contact information at origin; Sailing details on your shipment
Contact the agent at the origin in order to proceed with your shipment. Follow theirs instructions. NOTICE: We may email to you links to fill out your Valued Packing List and/or Commercial Invoice online. However, we strongly recommend you to follow requirements from your agent in all aspects related to your international shipment at the origin. IMPORTANT: You may be asked to pay entire or part of origin charges directly to the agent. Keep records and receipts of your payments. We will ask you to re-confirm all those payments before issuing our final invoice on FOB. 4th STEP – PAY THE FINAL INVOICE AND HAVE YOUR CARGO SHIPPED TO THE DESTINATION. W/M. It is too hard to predict precise w/m (i.e. total size and weight) of shipment at a time of booking. Actual w/m on your shipment most likely will differ from those that you had provided in your booking request. After a ship terminal will accept you cargo, the carrier send to us w/m verification on your cargo, i.e. the actual size and weight of your shipment. Based on this information we e-mail you our final invoice with total charges on FOB less the security deposit and charges and fees (if any) that you had paid directly at the origin already. Upon your payment on FOB we will send you confirmation e-mail. Consider this e-mail a receipt on your FOB invoice paid. 5th STEP – RECEIVE YOUR BILL OF LADING. THE FOB PART OF YOUR SHIPMENT IS COMPLETED. In several days after Estimated Time of Departure (ETD) (sometimes it takes a little longer) we e-mail your copies of house and/or master Bill of Ladings (consider the B/L a title for your goods). Bill of Lading will show you complete information on your shipment and contact details of the carrier’s destination receiving station in the USA. Print the Bill of Lading and keep it in your records in order to recover your cargo at the destination. Shipments on Express Releases should be released upon providing a copy of the B/L. No originals required. 6th STEP – REQUEST TO CONTINUE ON DDP (OPTIONAL) OR MEET YOUR GOODS IN THE USA. In several days before ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival, you should receive a Notice of Arrival. If for any reasons you do not receive an arrival notice on the ETA day, then we strongly recommend you contact us or carrier’s agent immediately in order to find out status of your shipment. No later then on the day of receiving the arrival notice you have to request or re-confirm via e-mail that you need us to continue working on your behalf on DDP. Not receiving this e-mail from you means that you will work on recovery of your cargo in the USA by yourself and/or use a service from an U.S. Customs Broker of your choice. IMPORTANT: By requesting our service on DDP you authorize us to collect and pay on your behalf all charges related to your cargo release. You guarantee that all destination charges assessed on your shipment will be timely re-paid to us upon issuing to you our final DDP invoice. NOTICE: We do not add any fee on top of the actual destination charges assessed on your cargo release. Our service fee is a flat sum. You will be advised of this fee in advance. NOTICE: Importers who do not have an account with us may be asked to pay a security deposit equal to 75% of total estimated release charges. 7th STEP – HAVE YOUR CARGO RELEASED TO YOU. In order to obtain U.S. Customs release on your shipment, you must give us a complete set of documents related to the shipment. We cannot be held responsible on any delays with your cargo release or/and additional charges occurred due to insufficiency of documents provided. Our customs broker will inform you on the required documents list in advance. Having your cargo released by U.S. Customs and carrier’s terminals we will e-mail you our final DDP invoice. It will combine all DDP charges assessed on your shipment. Upon your request we may furnish you with copies of documents that confirm each charge on the invoice. After our invoice is paid, we issue you customs and warehouse releases. Now you can pickup your goods at the destination warehouse or request us to deliver your shipment to your door. 4. Why can’t you provide a precise cost on my cargo release in U.S. when quoting? / Back to import LCL cargo | Back to Import from the USA Destination charges and fees are time sensitive matter. - Customs duty and entry related charges are effective on the day of entry goods in the U.S. Commerce Zone;
- THC - Terminal(s) Handling Charges and terminal(s) release related charges are effective on the day of release;
- Delivery charges (if any) are upon dimensional weight verification.
However, we do not add any fee on top of actual destination charges occurred on your cargo release. Upon your request we may furnish you with copies of documents that confirm each charge in our invoice to you. Our service fee is a flat sum. You will be advised of this fee in advance. 5. How can I estimate destination charges in the USA? / Back to import LCL cargo | Back to Import from the USA Follow this link to estimate destination charges in the USA http://www.amid-logistics.com/ser_lcl.php#dest_charges 6. What documents should I submit to my import shipment at the origin and destination? / Back to import LCL cargo | Back to Import from the USA Find about shipping documents when importing in the USA at http://www.amid-logistics.com/shipdoc_impg.php 7. Can I amend my Bill of Lading? / Back to import LCL cargo | Back to Import from the USA Any amendment in a Bill of Lading after it had been issued is a headache for you. It may not always be possible. Especially when goods had arrived to the destination. We strongly recommend you pay extreme attention to information that you entering when booking your shipment. While submitting your shipping documents online you will have several opportunities to verify and correct the entered info. However, as soon as a Bill of Lading is issued, any amendments to it are subject to carrier's amendments' fee. This fee varies from $70 to $200 or even more.
If you still need amendments, we suggest you to contact a carrier’s destination agent first and request them to re-issue your B/L at the destination, if possible. Otherwise, we will work on these amendments on your behalf (if the amendments will be possible). However, we will charge you for this depending on the complexity on top of the carrier’s amendments fee. Notice that completing B/L amendments is not guaranteed and may take an uncertain amount of time. 8. What are Cubic Meter and W/M – weight or measurement? / Back to import LCL cargo | Back to Import from the USA One cubic meter is a considerably large volume.
A cubic meter is a measurement of volume, equal to space that is one meter wide, one meter long, and one meter high.
One metric meter = 3.28 metric feet.
ONE CUBIC METER = 35 CUBIC FEET.
Find more about Cubic Meter at http://www.amid-logistics.com/shipref_cbm.php W/M – weight or measurement, whichever is greater. W/M presents cargo density limit. Typically per Cubic Meter. Find more about W/M at http://www.amid-logistics.com/shipref_cbm.php#wm 9. Should I palletize my boxes or not? / Back to import LCL cargo | Back to Import from the USA Palletized and shrink-wrapped cargo has much higher probability to reach its destination without damages or loss. However additional charges for palletized cargo will appear: Cost of pallet and labor
A charge due to extra chargeable volume for palletized cargo
Find more on this topic at http://www.amid-logistics.com/shipref_pon.php 10. What about insurance on my goods? / Back to import LCL cargo | Back to Import from the USA Find more about insurance at http://www.amid-logistics.com/shipref_mi.php 11. Do you guarantee transit time on my shipment? / Back to import LCL cargo | Back to Import from the USA ETT - Estimated Transit Time, i.e. a time slot between ETD - Estimated Time of Departure and ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival in quotes are not precise and should be verified upon a booking request. Transit time in booking confirmations on shipment by sea cannot be guaranteed as well. Although ocean freight cannot guarantee transit time, normally shipments depart and arrive as scheduled. 12. What are ISPM15 rules - wood packing restrictions? / Back to import LCL cargo | Back to Import from the USA Find about ISPM15 rules - wood packing restrictions in this link http://www.amid-logistics.com/shipref_wpf.php
FCL – Full Container Load 1. What should I know about FCL? / Back to import FCL cargo | Back to Import from the USA Click on this link for general info on FCL http://www.amid-logistics.com/ser_fcl.php |