UK Delivery Haulage arranged by either Shipping Line or Merchant Haulage
- FCL means Full Container Load (all contents are yours)
- LCL means Lesser Container Load (a shared container)
Broadside CCA Ltd is primarily an import customs clearance agent and you are more than welcome to arrange your own UK delivery haulage after the cargo has been customs cleared for import by Broadside CCA Ltd as it’s a relatively straight forward process.
Regardless of size of container, and whether LCL or FCL, Broadside always charges £50.00 haulage admin as the same amount of work and liability is involved.
If you decide to use Broadside CCA Ltd for haulage your conditions of haulage will default to those terms and conditions provided by the contracted haulier, as each haulier will have their own T&Cs.
Broadside is happy to provide evidence of net costs as well as the Terms & Conditions of the chosen haulier on request.
Full Container Loads (FCL)
Not always, but generally, the shipping line that freighted your cargo overseas will be able to provide a more competitive UK haulage rate to your chosen destination than an independent company.
You can either contact them to get a price for haulage, and then send your instructions and payments directly to them, or Broadside can arrange this service for an additional GBP 50.00 per delivery arranged on top of net costs.
Will I need an original Bill of Lading (B/L) before delivery?
Some shipping lines will need an original Bill of Lading before they arrange UK delivery haulage or release your cargo to a merchant haulier. This is something you should check with your supplier before shipment.
Sometimes you may not want to use the shipping line. The most common reason being that the line cannot always deliver as quickly as you may want. They only have a limited number of drivers, and especially at bank holidays, when demand exceeds supply, then you may have to wait a week or even two before they can arrange delivery, and even though the charge is partly from the shipping line, any rent/demurrage incurred whilst the container is on quay once the ‘free period’ has past will still have to be paid to the line, even though it is their company which is holding up your delivery.
Merchant Haulage
If you want to look into ‘merchant haulage’ (i.e. independents) then there are three drawbacks to consider:
- Normally a penalty fee is payable to the shipping line (variable but often near the £60 mark) as you took work away from their control. Build this charge into your costs.
- Your merchant haulier will have to return the empty container after delivery at the shipping line’s discretion, which is not always the port that they will have collected the container from.
- The ‘restitution’ of the empty container back to the point of the shipping line’s choosing, can, if not returned within the time frame specified by the line, be charged to the agent that took release of the container – i.e. Broadside CCA Ltd. And because there may be delays on the road, or the driver is legally forced to take a rest break there is nothing we can do to avoid this charge which will then be billed onto you. Late restitution does not happen often though.
Of course, if the shipping line arranges the UK delivery haulage and there are any problems getting the empty container back to the quayside after delivery, no charges are billed to the agent, as the shipping line ‘own’ the empty container box and therefore it becomes their problem to absorb these charges as there is no third party that they can pass them onto.
And do not forget that despite the £60+ LoLo (Lift on-Lift off) charge, merchant haulage can sometimes work out cheaper.
Grid Haulage
It’s not a hard and fast rule but generally, the further away a destination is from port, the more likely that the shipping line will be cheaper. We call this GRID haulage. The main reason that shipping lines offer cheaper prices than merchant hauliers is the reason we stated before: they own the container that your cargo travels in.
If a merchant haulier is chosen to collect the container from say London and deliver it to Glasgow, often the line will instruct them to bring the container, once empty, all the way back to London.
Hence, besides paying a £60+ LoLo penalty fee for taking the work away from them, the shipping line is also making the independent haulier bring an empty container all the way back to London which is of course non-profitable for them. So this too will be reflected in the price charged. If the shipping line arranges the haulage it is more than likely they will restitute their container back at one of their container depot parks throughout the UK. Common ones are Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool, and Newcastle. In this case there is no need for a non-profitable carriage back to London of an empty container, as they will just leave it at their Glasgow depot. The driver could then collect a full container from the same Glasgow depot, and take that back to London at profit for an export from one of their southern ports.
Hence the further away the destination – the more likely the shipping line can better the price of an independent haulier. However, where the destination is less than say 60 miles from port, then taking the empty back to the same port, is not such an inconvenience and here a merchant haulier can compete much better.
When is the best time to deliver your container?
I would always say, that unless you are in an immediate hurry to meet a deadline, and assuming the vessel has not yet arrived, book the last rent free day before charges are incurred because of the reasons below.
Vessels are quite often delayed on their journey to UK and also because some vessels are so big they can take 2 days (or longer) to discharge your container, so a delivery Wednesday for Monday arrival will be no good, especially as many lines now want a Day 1 cut off for Day 3 delivery. In English this means that for a delivery Wednesday then by 1000hrs on Monday your container must be customs cleared, landed, Bill of Lading lodged (if needed) and all payments made. After this point they may attempt a collection and if the driver tells them that he could not collect the unit as it was not yet off the vessel then you (or Broadside) will receive a charge for a wasted day’s journey (often the same value as the delivery cost). If charged to Broadside, I would have to pass this on.
Some lines are generous and allow 7 days including landing date before rent/demurrage charges are incurred, but others only 4 days. So for the latter, I would book del for the 4th and last free day and for the former, I would book day 7 to allow as much time as possible for the shipping processes to occur.
Always try to book early
Where possible – always book early. I said above that some lines cannot deliver for 7 -15 days from date of booking, but if we pre-book 7 days before vessel arrival, we can get the shipping line to arrange delivery (often cheaper than outside haulage) with no rent charges.
It’s always a gamble, and things can go either way. You may book delivery for 3rd day after vessel arrival and have no hold ups, but a late landing will incur a wasted delivery charge if the processes take too long.
The gamble is always yours to take, and Broadside as your customs clearance agent can only provide the options available to you.
Part Load Deliveries
Part load cargo (also known as LCL) where your shipper puts your cargo in the same container along with other importers (as your weight and dimensions are not sufficient to warrant the cost of a full load) are mostly arranged by merchant hauliers, as shipping lines tend to have no interest in these. They are not timed deliveries as part loads will have a few destinations to make in one day. That said, the day before delivery the haulier should know if the delivery will be done in the morning or afternoon.
Find Out More
To find out more about our services please complete our contact form or call us on 01394 286200. Alternatively you can email us at info@ broadsidecca.co.uk.