What is CFS (Container Freight Station)?

CFS (container freight station) is a warehouse that specializes in the consolidation and deconsolidation of cargo, where cargo that belongs to various exporters or importers is consolidated or deconsolidated before being exported or imported.

Key takeaways:

For LCL Shipments, the CFS is usually owned by a shipping line or a terminal and responsible for customs examination and clearance procedures.

CFS shipping plays a vital role in both importing and exporting and create a centralized location for suppliers to send their products and act as a staging area.

Container Freight Stations are commonly found close to harbors, within terminals, close to massive warehouses or near major railway hubs.

Freight forwarders are typically the largest users of CFS companies, but shippers and other third-party logistics service providers also hire them for their customers’ freight.

The difference between CFS (container freight station) and CY(Container Yard ) ?

The shipping industry is full of terminologies that sound similar but have a very different meaning such for instance CFS and CY. CY stands for Container Yard, which is a dedicated area within the port where full-container-load (FCL) containers are stored before or after it is loaded from/ on a ship. In the case of export for CY/CY shipments, the shipper will deliver the container to a designated CY at the port under the account of a shipping line. From then on, the container is under the control of the shipping line until it reaches the CY at the port of discharge, where the shipper will pick-up the container.

Notes:

Customers will deliver cargo to the nominated CFS for packing in the case of exports or pick up cargo from the nominated CFS after unpacking in the case of imports.

The Container Freight Station will consolidate all cargoes going to a specific destination and pack all those cargoes into one container going to that destination.

In the case of LCL shipments, bills of lading issued will be the lines bill of lading and will have the term CFS/CFS mentioned on the bill. This means that the shipping line’s responsibility begins at the CFS at the port of load and ends at the CFS at the port of discharge.