What is FCL (Full Container Load)?

Full Container Load (FCL) is an ocean shipping term wherein the shipper has cargo adequate to fill a full container. An FCL shipment is the transportation of a shipment with an entire shipping container. The merchandise being imported or exported has exclusive use of the container space and doesn’t have to share with other importers or exporters, unlike LCL (less than a container load). The container can be stuffed at the supplier, and then trucked directly to the CY (container yard). It can either be live unloaded at the destination, or the trucker can do a drop.

Key takeaways:

FCL is the standard form of shipping for a large cargo.

When the container is loaded with different shipments from various shippers, this process is known as Less Than Container Load (LCL).

FCL shipments are charged at a flat rate per container.

In an FCL cargo, the complete goods in the whole container are owned by one shipper. In case a full container load is owned by one shipper, the cargo in the container need not have fully loaded cargo in the container.

The most common container sizes:

20' container

40' container

40' HC (High Cube) container

45' HC (High Cube) container

The Differences Between the Full Container Load (FCL) and the LCL(Less than Container Load):

An FCL shipment is used when a shipper bears the cost of the entire container and uses it exclusively for a single shipment, even if they do not have enough goods to fill it up. On the other hand, an LCL shipment means shippers share the containers with other shipments and only need to pay for the space used.