FAQ

Free time at inland rail ramps is determined by the railroad service providers, whereas free time at seaport is determined by ocean freight terminals. Typically, free time at inland rail terminals is much shorter than at seaports, as there is much less space available to store containers.

A chassis split fee is charged if the trucker has to make an additional trip to pick up a chassis from a separate location as a container.

A pre-pull is when an ocean container is picked up from the port or rail terminal and stored at the trucker’s yard instead of being immediately delivered. A pre-pull may be used to help avoid demurrage or rail storage fees, or used to meet early appointment times at the destination facility.

A chassis surcharge is the additional cost to use or rent the chassis used to transport the container between the port and the shipper/receiver. Typically, there is a 3-day minimum for this cost, and the charge is about $35 per day.

Waiting time is the amount of time a trucker has to wait to either pick up or offload cargo. Truckers usually provide 1-2 hours of free time to unload or load cargo, and once the waiting time exceeds that free time, the trucker then charges an hourly fee.

Blank sailings are voyages/sailings that are cancelled by the carrier. Sometimes either a port of call is omitted or the entire voyage is cancelled

The Pier Pass Fee is charged if your shipment is unloaded at the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach to be picked up by a trucker there for local delivery instead of moved inland via rail.

Demurrage fees are charged if your container has not been picked up from the port before the Last Free Day. Ports/Terminals allow a container to sit at the port for free a certain number of days. If the container is not picked up within that free time period, the port charges a daily fee for the space the container takes up in their storage area until such time as the container is picked up.

Per diem is a charge imposed by ocean carriers when a consignee detains a container longer than the allotted free time. Per diem is also sometimes known as detention.

The Automated Manifest System (AMS) is an electronic information transmission system operated by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. The AMS charge is the processing fee in order for AMS to be transmitted.

This is the charge assessed by airline ground handling agents for the breakdown of cargo. This can also sometimes be referred to as import service charge, or ISC.

Import Security Filing, also known as “10+2”, is a U.S. Customs and Border protection regulation mandated for ocean cargo imports, and only designed to identify and target high risk shipments. ISF is required to be filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection 24 hours prior to sailing from last origin port. It contains 10 fields that the importer must supply, such as commodity, shipper, consignee, and container stuffing location, and 2 fields that the steamship line must provide, which are container stow plan and container status.

US Customs has the authority to examine cargo imported into the USA. There are different types of customs exams including x-ray, visual tailgate exam, or complete unpacking and review of imported articles. The importer is responsible for paying any examination fees.

Chargeable weight is the weight used by carriers of all modes to determine the charges of a shipment. The chargeable weight is the bigger of the dimensional or the actual weight, and the dimensional weight is calculated differently for air cargo, parcel, ocean and trucking shipments.

A Customs bond is an insurance policy, paid for by the importer, which guarantees that duties on your imports will be paid, even in the event your firm goes out of business.

A continuous customs bond will cover all of your import shipments for one year, where a single entry bond covers you for one shipment.

An arrival notice is a document sent by the air or ocean carrier to the consignee and notify party of a shipment, indicating the shipment’s arrival date at a specific location (normally the destination).

A duty disbursement fee is charged to clients who do not pay duties and taxes directly to the government, and request that Transmodal pay on their behalf. This service fee is calculated as a percentage of the amount advanced by Transmodal.

A General Rate Increase is an official announcement from the ocean carriers notifying the public of a rate increase.

We accept most forms of payment, including wire, check, paycargo, credit cards, and ACH.

Not all cargo moves from point A to B directly. Depending on the origin and carrier, air or ocean freight cargo may move on smaller planes or vessels, often referred to as feeder vessels. Cargo is off-loaded from the feeder vessel or aircraft and then loaded onto another plane or vessel before being transported to the final destination. This process is known as a transshipment.

We do not handle personal items.

A commercial invoice is a document that itemizes a transaction between a buyer and a seller, specifying the price of goods sold or services provided, terms of sale, delivery date, transport conditions, etc. that is prepared by the supplier. Invoices are prepared for both commercial and noncommercial goods and/or services.

Transloading is the process of moving cargo off of one carrier type and on to another, such as offloading a container from an ocean vessel and loading it onto a train for an inland destination.

CTPAT is the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. CTPAT certification confers several benefits for parties along the supply chain, including fewer Customs exams and access to the CTPAT portal.

A Licensed Customs Broker’s main role is to represent importers and assist them with filing Customs entries on goods entering the US. Customs Brokers must pass a federal test, demonstrating a high level of knowledge of import laws and regulations.

Clean Truck Fee (CTF) is only charged in Los Angeles/Long Beach ports as part of an air pollution reduction act, which prohibited any trucks manufactured prior to a certain year from entering the port facilities. Most trucking companies had to invest significant capital in upgrading their fleet in order to stay in business, and the CTF subsidized that effort. It is no longer charged by the port directly, but most trucking companies will still invoice it to help pay for the upkeep of their trucks.

The ISPS was implemented as a result of 9/11, which regulates the safety of crews, vessels, cargo and ports. The charge covers the employment, equipment, training, and planning of the ISPS personnel.

A 7501, or Entry Summary, is the Customs form that is created when a Customs entry is made. It provides basic information about the shipment, but most importantly, it is how the duties and taxes for a shipment are calculated, and what is owed to US Customs for the import is determined.

Other Government Agencies (OGA) such as FDA, EPA, DOT, FCC, and many others, also have jurisdiction over imports. All imports must comply with all government agency requirements in order to be legally imported and sold within the US.

Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF) is a tax that is assessed only on ocean imports. It is calculated at 0.125% if the cargo value with no minimum or maximum. The HMF is designed to help subsidize the cost for construction and maintenance of US harbors and inland waterways.

The Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) is an import tax charged on every import shipment, even on duty free shipments. It is based on 0.3464% of the cargo value, with a minimum charge of $27.23 ,and a maximum charge of $528.33. If the value of the cargo is less than $2500, the flat rate of the MPF is $2.18. This fee is imposed to help offset the salaries of federal customs workers.

A lift gate is a mechanical loading platform on the back of many trucks. Lift gates are typically used when the shipper or receiver does not have a truck-height loading dock, so the lift gate is needed to get the cargo on and off the truck.

A lift gate is a mechanical loading platform on the back of many trucks. Lift gates are typically used when the shipper or receiver does not have a truck-height loading dock, so the lift gate is needed to get the cargo on and off the truck.

Less than Container Load (LCL) is a way for companies to send smaller ocean shipments without shipping a Full Container Load (FCL). An LCL shipment will be loaded into an ocean container with other goods that have similar origin and destinations. Each LCL shipment is then separated at destination before the final consignees are called to come pick up the freight.

LCL shipments undergo a lot of handling from various parties in order to get your cargo delivered to your door. Your supplier is not able to ship an LCL ocean shipment directly from their door to yours, it has to go to a container freight station first on both ends where independent, bonded companies are charged with loading and unloading your cargo. There is additional documentation, more movements, and more people involved, all of which are charged based on the size and weight of your shipment.

Chargeable weight is the weight used by carriers of all modes to determine the charges of a shipment. The chargeable weight is the bigger of the dimensional or the actual weight. If your air shipment’s chargeable weight is larger than your actual weight, it means the dimensional weight calculation is larger than the actual weight.

Volume weight is a calculation based on the size of the package. It is determined by (L x W x H), then divided by a specific number, determined either by the carrier (like UPS or FedEx), or an industry (like ocean or air). Volume weight is necessary to understand when determining total chargeable weight.

A Cubic Meter (CBM) is 1 meter high, 1 meter long, and 1 meter wide. It is used globally to determine charges for ocean and airfreight shipments. You will often see ocean freight LCL rates listed as $X/CBM.

Whomever holds the bill of lading owns the cargo. Previously, an actual copy of the bill of lading needed to be sent to the consignee in order to gain possession of the goods. A telex release is a globally recognized “faxed” (or emailed) copy of the bill of lading, which allows the consignee to take possession of the goods without the original bill of lading in hand.

Duty payments are due 10 days after Customs entry. Unless you are on ACH direct pay with customs, in which case you will have one duty payment due on the 15th working day of the month for all entries that took place the month before.

Transit times vary, generally speaking from one of the main ports in Asia to Los Angeles takes approximately 15-21 days, while going from the same origin port to New York is approximately 28-35 days. These timelines are increased for LCL cargo, as the consolidation of cargo into a container at origin and devanning of cargo back into separate lots in the US needs to be taken into account.