International Shipping Terms and Definitions - Part 1

Have you noticed when you talk to an international moving company that there is a unique set of terms and acronyms that are used in this industry? Sometimes it is confusing to compare apples to apples because you are not even sure what the international moving companies are talking about. Here are some terms to get you started understanding the terminology used for shipping.

Packing seems to be a simple term, but it may be necessary to clarify even a simple term like this. Packing refers to putting items into a box or wrapping, covering or protecting furniture in some way. This term should not be confused with the word loading. Loading refers to taking packed items and loading them into the truck or container. Loading is included in the cost, but packing is always an optional, additional cost.

Cubic Foot (CFT or CF) is a unit of measure for volume (1 foot L x 1 foot H x 1 foot W)
Volume is measured by the Length x Height x Width in feet of an item or group of items.
Cubic Meter (CBM or CM) is a unit of measure for volume HHG is the acronym for household goods.

You can ship your belongings in an FCL (full container load) shipment or an LCL (less than container load) shipment. An FCL shipment means you are taking either a 20 FT, 40 FT Standard or 40 FT HC (high cube) container for your shipment and your shipment only. This is also known as a designated container.

The 20 FT and 40 FT Standard are the most commonly used containers. They are the most economical and readily available. A 20 FT container will comfortably hold 900 CFT of household goods or one standard vehicle and approximately 200-300 CFT of household goods. The interior dimensions are 7’8” Wide x 7’10” High x 19’4” Long and if it was filled with sand or water would hold 1161 CFT. The 40 FT STD (standard) container will comfortably hold 1800 CFT of household goods or one standard size vehicle and approximately 900 CFT of household goods. The interior dimensions are 7’8” Wide x 7’10” High x 39’6” Long and it was filled with sand or water would hold 2372 CFT.

The term “self load” means that you load the packed items into the container yourself. Many of the ship lines no longer release containers to private residences. Many of the trucking companies that carry the containers from ship line’s container yard to the pick up location no longer will go to private residences due to insurance restrictions. For these reasons, the trend is to pick up your belongings in a truck, bring them to the warehouse and load the container at the warehouse.

The containers belong to the ship line. The containers are not for storage. You can store the contents of the container but you cannot store the contents in the container. The container sits on a chassis with wheels that is about 4 feet above the ground. The container does not come with a ramp or lift gate (like a moving truck) so if you were thinking about the self load option, this alone would be a reason not to even consider it. At the warehouse, a loading dock, ramp or forklift is used to load the items into the container.

An LCL shipment means your shipment will be loaded into a shared or consolidated container with other shipments. Your LCL shipment will either be palletized or put in a lift van to keep it separate from the other shipments in the container. When your shipment is palletized, the items are placed on a treated, wooden pallet (a platform without sides). The wood is treated to satisfy requirements in all countries. The items are then shrink wrapped (polyethylene or similar material heat treated and shrunk into an envelope around the items) to the pallet to secure them for shipping. A lift van is a treated, wooden crate that is used when items will not travel well on a pallet. A lift van will generally hold approximately 200 CFT of household goods. The lift van and the pallet are easily moved from place to place by means of a forklift. Look for more shipping terms in another article.

Armed with all this information you are now in a better position to understand the terms used in the international moving process, and negotiate all the more better with your international movers.