FEATURES OF THE ORGANIZATION OF LCL CONTAINERS TRANSPORTATION
Anton A. Voronenko
Introduction
The load on the infrastructure of the Russian ports of the Far East, which has significantly increased over the past 3 years, forces shipowners to increase the rotation of ports of destination, and makes transport companies change the scheme of transportation. Particular growth in the transportation of consolidated cargo was noted in the first year of the pandemic against the backdrop of a decrease in capacity on air routes, including in imports. Transportation of consolidated cargoes through the ports of the Far East has its own regional characteristics associated with the technologies of the ports, the need to disband import containers for customs clearance and subsequent reconsolidation.
In the Far East, the transportation of consolidated containers was used, first of all, in the organization of the delivery of mixed consignments of northern supply in the last two decades of the Soviet period.
It is worth noting that there are no vehicles directly designed for the isolated transportation of small cargo over long distances. One of the important characteristics is the size of the transport lot. The widespread use of vehicles, or rather their cargo spaces, for the transportation of bulk cargo raises the question of economic efficiency in the transportation of small-lot cargos, the size of which does not imply the full use of the cargo space. A logical transport solution is the consolidation of several lots into a transport consignment in various combinations, which, in turn, makes it possible to use for their transportation the same vehicles as used for bulk cargo. [1]
Far Eastern features of the transportation of consolidated cargo in containers
In the Far East, the transportation of consolidated containers was used, first of all, in the organization of the delivery of mixed consignments of northern supply in the last two decades of the Soviet period. Then the mass introduction of this technology began in the 90s for delivering goods from the western regions of the Russian Federation, due to the need to transport small consignments of consumer goods.
Through the ports of the Far East, a wide range of various goods, mostly non-perishable and non-hazardous, are transported in consolidated containers. The main reasons for sending LСL consignments are the dimensions and weight of the goods, which are incomparably less than the parameters of the cargo space or container for shipment by sea and / or rail transport, the cost of services of which is much lower compared to air transport. It is worth noting here that mainly goods with a relatively low cost are transported in consolidated containers, while high-value goods are mainly transported by aviation. A separate narrow segment is sending product samples to potential customers.
It is worth noting here that mainly goods with a relatively low cost are transported in consolidated containers, while high-value goods are mainly transported by aviation. A separate narrow segment is sending product samples to potential customers.
As an example, let’s consider the technology of organizing the transportation of consolidated cargo in a large-tonnage container – machine packed in a wooden box – during multimodal transportation along the route Shanghai – Moscow. Overall dimensions of the box: 1200 x 1100 x 800 mm; weight: 1100 kg. If we use a standard 20-foot container to transport this cargo, then we will encounter the following features: 1. Internal dimensions and load capacity of the 20-ft container exceed the actual dimensions of the cargo by more than 20 times;
2. The cost of transporting a container by sea and rail is practically independent of the amount of cargo loaded into the container;
3. The requirements for the safe transportation of cargo oblige to place cargo in a container, using its full capacity, and if this is not possible, to ensure reliable fastening of cargo inside the container in accordance with the standards and requirements of the carrier.
Today, there is no clear segmentation for groupage containers in terms of directions and routes: one container arriving at the port of the Far East may contain cargo bound for Khabarovsk, Tiksi, St. Petersburg.
It can be concluded that the transportation of this machine in a container as the only cargo is not economically feasible, and also involves additional costs associated with ensuring the safe transportation.
Transportation as part of a groupage cargo implies that this cargo can be consolidated with the goods of other customers who, in the same period of time, have items that meet the criteria for groupage cargoes.
Placing several cargoes moving in the same direction in a 20-foot container allows:
1. Significantly reduce the cost of transportation by distributing the cost according to the space occupied by the cargo, weight, or other criteria;
2. Evenly place the cargo inside the container, ensuring the requirements for the safe transportation.
Today, there is no clear segmentation for groupage containers in terms of directions and routes: one container arriving at the port of the Far East may contain cargo bound for Khabarovsk, Tiksi, St. Petersburg.
This is explained by the following factors:
1. Low level of competition in this transportation segment;
2. Poor development (and sometimes lack) of transport infrastructure facilities required for this type of transportation;
3. Remoteness of the absorption centers of the cargo base from the border crossing points.
Storage needs
The most important role in organizing the transportation of consolidated cargo is played by a consolidation warehouse – from the point of LCL organization technology, this is a transport infrastructure facility that allows to accumulate, store, label, pack, consolidate and disband cargo.
Before the start of transportation, the cargo is sent to the consolidation warehouse, where the cargo is weighed, dimensions are checked, labeled and transport, warehouse and customs documents are processed. At the consolidation warehouse, the cargo is stored until a transport lot is accumulated, sufficient to fully load the container. In practice, the term of the cargo storage in the consolidation warehouse is from 3 to 8 days.
It is important to note that in the case of international transportation, a prerequisite is the customs clearance of the goods, that is, the placement of the goods under the customs procedure corresponding to the selected customs regime, depending on the direction of movement of the goods and the intention to handle them. Therefore, in the case of such shipments, the consolidation warehouse, in addition to its usual functions, performs as a customs control zone as well. As a rule, such consolidation warehouses are used on the territory of seaports and railway terminals, which themselves are already customs control zones.
When the transport batch is ready for shipment, cargo operations are carried out to load the groupage cargo into the container. In the process of carrying out cargo operations, other operations can be additionally performed to expand cargo area, fasten, or work out the packaging containers.
Next, standard cargo and transport operations are carried out, which are typical for ordinary container transportation. Before the cargo arrives at the port of transshipment, the process is one and the same.
The impact of customs operations on the transportation of groupage cargo
Depending on whether the border crossing point of the country is final destination of cargo, or an intermediate point, the arriving cargo must be placed under the customs procedure corresponding to the selected customs regime.
In the case of international transportation involving transit movement through the border crossing points of the importing country, it becomes necessary to unload the goods from the container in order to place them under the appropriate customs procedure, that’s a serious limitation for transportation of goods for example, to the central regions of Russia, through the ports of the Far East.
It is important to note that the customs clearance of goods is the direct responsibility of each importer. Therefore, the process of customs clearance of each item that arrived as a part of one transport consignment in a container takes place independently of other participants in this transportation. This means that after the cargo arrives at the border crossing point, the consolidated transport consignment is disbanded into separate consignments, which must be placed under the customs procedures determined by the importer of the goods. The customs clearance process is not synchronized between other importers and does not oblige them to place imported goods under the same customs procedures.
In the case of international transportation involving transit movement through the border crossing points of the importing country, it becomes necessary to unload the goods from the container in order to place them under the appropriate customs procedure.
In order to further advance the cargo to its destination after customs clearance, it is necessary to re-submit the cargo to the consolidation warehouse for the preparation and accumulation of the transport consignment.
This circumstance is a serious limitation for this type of transportation, in cases where the border crossing point of the importing country is located at a significant distance from the final destination, which is a typical problem for the transportation of such goods, for example, to the central regions of Russia, through the ports of the Far East.
The described scheme could be optimized if the transport and logistics company had the status of a customs representative. The presence of such a status will allow the process of customs clearance of all goods that arrived as a part of one transport batch to be coordinated and controlled.
Conclusion
Despite the active development of this segment of cargo transportation, the legal framework governing transport and administrative processes within this activity does not adequately meet the requirements of the industry. In practice, this is expressed in the use of suboptimal transport schemes and cargo handling technologies, which, in turn, in addition to increasing transportation costs, increases the total transportation time, and also creates additional risks of unsafe cargo transportation.
Thus, there is a need to improve the methods of forming routes for consolidated cargoes, algorithms for the distribution of small consignments of cargoes formed into container transportation, taking into account the peculiarities and traditions in the maritime practice of the Russian Far East.
1. Izotov, O. A. Prospects for the development of technologies for the transportation of groupage cargo in containers / O. A. Izotov, A. L. Kuznetsov, Bulletin of the Astrakhan State Technical University. Series: Marine equipment and technology, 2020, №1, p. 140-148
