FCL Sea Freight and Full Container Load Shipping

A full container is the cheapest way to move volume, and it is also the shipment most likely to cost more than the quote. The ocean rate is a minority of the landed cost once haulage, port charges, terminal handling and any waiting time at either end are counted, and waiting time is the part nobody budgets for. Nostrac Shipping arranges FCL sea freight for UK importers and exporters, and treats the ocean leg as one part of a movement that has to work at both ends.

What an FCL Booking With Us Includes

We manage the container from the point the supplier is ready to the point the goods are unloaded:

• Carrier booking and space — Container space booked with the lines and services that suit the lane, with realistic advice on which sailings actually run to schedule rather than which look best on paper.
• Container type selection — Standard, high cube, open top, flat rack or reefer, chosen against the real dimensions and weight of the cargo rather than assumed from the last shipment.
• Origin haulage and loading — Collection from the supplier, container positioning for loading at their premises, or delivery into a consolidation point where the supplier cannot load a box.
• Documentation — Bill of lading, commercial invoice and packing list checks, certificates of origin where required, and letter of credit document sets where the sale is financed that way.
• Customs clearance — Import and export declarations filed through our own brokerage team, so the entry and the movement are handled by the same people.
• Destination haulage and delivery — Port collection and delivery to your premises or warehouse, including any specialist equipment needed to unload.
• Free time management — Active tracking of the free days on the container so that discharge, collection and empty return happen inside them.

Container Capacity in Practice

Nominal capacity and usable capacity are different numbers. Planning against the nominal figure is how containers end up part filled or overweight:

• 20ft standard — Around 33 cubic metres of internal volume and typically 10 to 11 standard UK pallets on the floor. The limiting factor is almost always weight rather than space, because road weight limits at either end apply to the loaded box, not to the ship.
• 40ft standard — Around 67 cubic metres and typically 20 to 21 standard pallets on the floor. The usual choice for volume that is bulky rather than dense.
• 40ft high cube — About a metre more internal height than a standard 40ft, which is worth having when goods can be double stacked or when the cargo is tall.
• Weight before volume — Dense cargo such as tiles, stone, steel, drinks or machinery reaches the road weight limit long before the container is full. For those commodities two 20ft boxes are often correct where one 40ft looks cheaper.
• Awkward dimensions — Cargo that will not fit through the door needs an open top or flat rack, and that decision has to be made before booking because those units are in shorter supply.

Demurrage and Detention, Where FCL Costs Escalate

These two charges cause more unexpected invoices than anything else in container shipping, and they are entirely avoidable with planning:

• Demurrage — Charged by the carrier when a full container remains inside the terminal beyond the agreed free days after discharge. It accrues daily and rises in bands, so a delay of a week is far more than double the cost of a delay of three days.
• Detention — Charged when the container has left the terminal but the empty has not been returned within the free period. It typically bites when the consignee cannot unload quickly or has nowhere to put the goods.
• Port storage — A separate charge levied by the terminal itself, distinct from the line's demurrage, and payable on top of it.
• How the delay usually starts — A missing document, an unconfirmed customs entry, an inspection or a consignee who is not ready to receive. All four are foreseeable, which is why we confirm documents and the delivery slot before the vessel arrives, not after.
• What we do about it — We agree free time at booking, flag the discharge date and the last free day in writing, and where stock cannot be taken in time we devan into our own warehouse so the box goes back and the clock stops.

Lanes We Handle Regularly

• Far East and Indian subcontinent into UK ports, principally Felixstowe, Southampton and London Gateway
• United Arab Emirates and the wider Gulf, both directions, alongside our own presence in the region
• European short sea and deep sea services where a container suits the volume better than road
• Kazakhstan and Central Asia, where the sea leg connects to rail or road for the inland movement
• UK export containers to the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and the Americas

How We Work

• An all in cost, not an ocean rate — The quote covers origin charges, ocean freight, destination terminal handling, haulage and clearance, so you can compare it against the invoice you will receive.
• Realistic transit advice — We tell you the likely door to door duration including port dwell and inland haulage, rather than quoting a port to port figure that no shipment ever achieves.
• Booked with the right line for the lane — Cheapest is not the same as most reliable, and on some services a rolled container costs more in lost time than the saving was worth. We say which is which.
• Storage available at both ends — Because we hold warehouse capacity, a container that arrives before you are ready does not have to sit accruing charges.

Related Services

• Consignments under a full container load move on our LCL sea freight service
• Declarations, classification and duty management through UK customs clearance
• Devanning, storage and onward drops through UK warehousing and 3PL
• Oversized and heavy consignments are handled as project cargo and heavy lift

Frequently Asked Questions

When does FCL become cheaper than LCL?

The crossover depends on the lane, but as a working guide once a consignment is beyond roughly half a container by volume it is worth pricing both. LCL is charged on volume or weight whichever is greater, and the per unit rate is higher, so the two curves meet sooner than most shippers expect. A full container also removes the consolidation and deconsolidation handling, which is where LCL transit time and damage risk come from.

How long does a full container take door to door?

It depends entirely on the lane, and the ocean leg is only part of it. Beyond the sailing time you should allow for pre carriage to the load port, vessel schedule reliability, discharge and terminal release at the destination, customs clearance and inland haulage. We quote the door to door window for your specific lane and sailing rather than a generic figure, because that is the number you can plan production or a sales date against.

Who is responsible for loading the container at the supplier's premises?

Under most terms the supplier loads and secures the goods, and the way they do it matters more than people assume. Poor stowage causes movement in transit, which causes damage claims that are difficult to pursue. We can advise on loading and securing, and where a supplier cannot load a container we arrange loading at a facility near the port instead.

What are demurrage and detention and how do I avoid them?

Demurrage applies while a full container sits at the terminal beyond its free days, and detention applies while the empty container is out of the terminal beyond its free period. Both accrue daily and both are avoidable. The practical answer is to have documents and the customs entry ready before arrival, confirm who is unloading and when, and have somewhere to put the goods if the delivery date slips.

Can you ship goods that will not fit through a container door?

Yes, on an open top or a flat rack, and the choice depends on whether the constraint is height or width. This has to be decided at booking because these units are far less numerous than standard boxes and availability drives the sailing you can take. If the piece is heavy as well as large it is handled under our project cargo service.

Do you handle refrigerated containers?

Yes. Reefer bookings need the required temperature, whether the goods are pre chilled at loading, and any ventilation or humidity setting confirmed in writing before the box is positioned. Temperature controlled work sits alongside our food and drink logistics service.

Can you arrange a container for an export shipment as well as imports?

Yes. We handle UK export containers including the export declaration, the bill of lading, certificates of origin where the buyer or a letter of credit requires them, and the evidence needed to support VAT zero rating on the sale.

What happens if my container is rolled to a later sailing?

Rolling happens on busy services and the risk is highest around peak periods and public holidays at origin. We tell you as soon as we know, give you the next confirmed sailing rather than an optimistic one, and where the delay affects a customer commitment we look at whether part of the consignment should move by air or on a faster service instead.

Talk to Nostrac about your requirements and we will tell you what is realistic before you commit to it.

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