In the international ocean freight booking and shipping process, cut-off cargo, cut-off bill of lading, and cut-off warehouse are three of the most critical time points, directly determining whether goods can be loaded onto the ship smoothly, whether the bill of lading is correct, and whether space is reserved. Many foreign trade novices confuse these three “cut-offs,” resulting in missing ships, changing ships, and incurring additional costs.
Next, Weefreight will provide you with detailed explanations, hoping to be helpful.
Cut-off Cargo, also called cut-off for loaded containers or cut-off for warehousing, refers to the latest time that the terminal and warehouse can accept goods into the facility.
For full container loads (FCL), the loaded containers must be returned to the terminal before this time; for less-than-container loads (LCL), the goods must be delivered to the designated warehouse before this time. If the cut-off time is exceeded, the goods cannot enter the port and will miss the scheduled shipment. Cut-off warehouse is the earliest of the three points, usually 2-3 days before departure.
Cut-off Customs refers to the latest time that customs can release the goods.
After goods enter the warehouse, customs declaration must be completed, and customs must show “released” before the cut-off time. If the cut-off time has passed, even if the goods have entered the port and the customs declaration documents have been submitted, if customs has not yet released the goods, the shipping company will not load them onto the ship, and the ship will have to be delayed or reassigned. The cut-off time is generally 1-2 days after the warehouse closure and before the ship’s departure. Here, “customs” refers to customs; remember, customs declaration and release = cut-off time.
Cut-off Documentation refers to the latest time the shipping company can modify the bill of lading information.
After the cut-off time, the shipping company will submit the manifest data to customs and the port of destination. Modifying information such as consignee, product name, container number, and port of destination will require paying a modification fee, and the process is cumbersome and delays loading. The cut-off time is usually the latest of the three milestones, sometimes even on the day of departure. Simply put: Cut-off = Cut-off of bill of lading information.
(Note: The above information regarding timeliness and costs is for reference only. Please refer to the actual situation at the time of shipment for specific details. Thank you!)
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