Consolidated cargo and a full container

Consolidated cargo (LCL) travels in one container or truck with other clients’ goods. It goes to a consolidation warehouse, is combined with other batches and split again at destination. Consolidated road freight from China works the same way and arrives at the carrier’s warehouse.

A full container (FCL) is booked for one batch. The shipper seals it and the consignee opens it. The price is fixed per container.

Sea LCL is billed weight-or-measure: 1 m³ equals 1 t and the greater is charged. A 6.5 m³ batch weighing 1,200 kg goes as 6.5 units. Consolidation warehouse fees at both ends come on top.

Nominal volume: 20 ft about 33 m³, 40 ft about 67 m³, 40 ft High Cube about 76 m³. Cartons never stack without gaps, so the real load is below nominal. A curtain-sider truck’s capacity depends on the body.

Carton volume is length × width × height in metres. 50 cartons of 60 × 40 × 40 cm give 50 × 0.096 = 4.8 m³. A pallet is measured by its overall size with the load.

The break-even point is the full container price divided by the full price of 1 m³ of consolidated cargo on the same route, warehouse fees included. If a container costs as much as 15 m³ of LCL, the line is at 15 m³: a 10 m³ batch costs two thirds of a container as LCL, a 20 m³ batch costs a third more than a container. Sea freight references usually put the line around 12⁠–⁠17 m³; on a given route it moves with the season.

Consolidated cargo waits until the warehouse fills a truck or container and goes through more handling. A paperwork problem with a neighbouring batch holds up inspection of the whole container. A full container leaves as soon as it is loaded and travels sealed, with no transloading.

Kazakhstan is landlocked. From China batches go overland: consolidated road freight 10⁠–⁠18 days, a full truck or a rail container 18⁠–⁠30 days. A sea container from southern China continues from the port by rail or road.