If your business calls for moving large freight across the country or around the world, you'll benefit from utilizing container freight stations. A container freight station (CFS) is a facility that will pack and ship freight containers from the point of origin container cargo terminal to the destination CFS.

You can select a container cargo port for overseas shipments or a container cargo station for rail or trucking services. From warehouse storage to tracking capabilities, container freight stations can be a one-stop service to meet all your logistics needs. If you're considering using container freight services, it'll help to understand some container freight stations basics:

1. Get information about the services container freight stations have to offer.
2. Familiarize yourself with the different sizes and types of freight containers.
3. Learn about the different types of container freight stations.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Choose from a wide menu of container freight services

Though packing and storage of freight containers is their main function, container freight stations can offer much more. From cross-dock operations to tracing systems and even helping with fulfillment or international compliance issues, container freight stations that perform many logistics functions are a great way to take the shipping demands off of you and allow you to turn to other business matters at hand.

I recommend: Besides warehousing and loading freight containers, Nippon Express offers attractive shipping prices by combining less than container loads (LCLs) of smaller shipments. Trinium Technologies offers a fully integrated truck tracking system that allows for monitoring of freight from truck pick up to delivery to the container freight station.

Select the type of freight containers to meet your shipping needs

Whether you're shipping pallets or crates that will fit on flat racks or oversized equipment that needs to be loaded by crane into open top containers, container freight stations offer several types of freight containers to accommodate your particular shipment.

I recommend: World Trade Distribution utilizes many types of freight containers to meet nearly any shipping need, including standard, open tops, flat racks and specialized containers for items like tiles, pipes and even wine. See many types of freight containers, including hi cube, containers with rollup doors, half tanks and more at TPSI Containers.

Go to the container freight station that best suits your shipping method

Whether you're shipping by truck, rail or ocean, you can find a container freight port that best meets your needs. From an ocean container freight station to one that specializes in railway shipping, you can be assured that there's a container freight station out there for you.

I recommend: You can ship a 20-foot container or a 40-foot container through Nexus Distribution, which offers many advantages of shipping by rail. The South Park Facility freight container station of MacMillan-Piper is close to marine terminals for quick access to expedite your cargo.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Container freight stations must be bonded according to federal law, so make sure the CFS you choose is bonded before you sign on to use their services.

Container freight station specialists store, monitor, and protect your precious freight. Whether you have full container loads (FCL) or less than container loads (LCL), container freight stations can help you with the import or export of your freight.

If you have a 20-foot container, a 40-foot container, or larger, CFS locations will hold your freight until customs inspects it. Some CFS locations will even help you complete your international compliance requirements such as fumigation and country of origin markings.

What to look for when you choose a container cargo terminal:

1. Look for a container freight station that can handle all kinds of vehicles: open topped trucks, flat racks, FCL, LCL or vans.

2. Look for a container cargo station that has an onsite truck scale

3. Make sure that your container cargo port has ample surveillance and security

4. Make sure that your container cargo station is bonded

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Look for a container cargo terminal with a spotless record

World Trade Distribution, Inc. prides itself in its spotless security record. They provide you monitoring, camera surveillance, and an electrified perimeter fence. They also offer you 50 years in the CFS business, along with a web based tracking system that gives immediate notification of arrivals and departures.

I recommend: Contact World Trade Distribution, Inc. for a quote.

Work with a container cargo port that offers a volume discount

CFS companies like Nippon Express work with you to extend you volume shipping discounts.

I recommend: Nippon Express will consolidate LCL outbound shipments into FCL at their ocean cargo division. This will provide you as the shipper a lower price by splitting the FCL cost between multiple shippers. They also specialize in moving imported materials expeditiously from the congested ocean container cargo port to help manufacturers and retailers shorten their lead time.

Consider companies that offer container freight services worldwide

Dependable Hawaiian Express offers you container freight stations throughout the US, and they have office locations in Australia and Asia.

I recommend: With a corporate office out of LA, Dependable Hawaiian Express has CFS locations all down the east coast, and also they offer you a large number of international locations in the Pacific.

Limit exposure of your freight containers

CFS locations like Nexus Distribution Corporation can you limit your time on the road by providing drayage services to the Chicago warehouse. This allows you to transport your goods on a private road that never sees public traffic or the affiliated safety concerns.

I recommend: Operations like Nexus Distribution Corporation are ideal for you if you have a heavy load and face government restrictions about freight weight limits on the road. Instead you can use Nexus's CFS with direct terminal access.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Fully computerized CFS locations will help save you time and money.
• •  Look for CFS locations that are already Centralized Examination Sites (CES) for U.S. Customs, the U.S.D.A. and the Fish and Wildlife Departments of the government.

Nearly every type of business or service has its own language, and container freight stations are no exception. From shipping terms such as LTL (load-to-load) to CFS (container freight station) services such as crossdocking and transloading, you'll discover a whole new language at a container cargo terminal.

If you need to utilize a container cargo station to meet your shipping needs, you may find it beneficial to explore container freight stations key terms. Whether it's defining container freight services or becoming familiar with the types of freight containers available, you can get a leg up when you invest the time to learn the meaning behind the words used in container freight stations:

1. Become familiar with many shipping terms and acronyms used in relation to container freight stations.
2. Get an in-depth understanding about the container freight services offered by a container cargo port or container cargo station by mastering key terms.
3. Learn about the different types of freight containers used at container freight stations by learning container specific vocabulary.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Talk the container freight stations talk

So you're ready to start shipping your goods through container freight stations. It'll help to know some basic shipping terms, such as a bill of lading being a document which contracts you to carry your shipment by sea, or that an air waybill is a document showing evidence of contract between carrier and shipper to deliver the goods as spelled out in the contract.

I recommend: Get an A to Z glossary of shipping terms and meanings, many, such as consolidation container (several shipments from different shippers stuffed into one container) and waiting time (the period between when a container is delivered and when it is ready to leave) that are targeted specifically for container freight stations at Worldwide Shipping Agency. Saint John Port Authority defines many shipping terms used when shipping through an ocean container cargo port.

Know exactly what services container freight stations offer by understanding key terms

Trying to decipher all the container freight services available can become confusing. Get exactly the type of service you need for your particular business and shipment by learning what's meant by many container freight stations key terms in regards to services.

I recommend: Export 911 details the different types of services available for different types of loads, from LCL (less than container load) to CY/CY (door to door container service). Get explanations of crossdocking (breaking down a container's contents in a warehouse and loading them in trucks or railcars for further delivery) and transloading (when the container is not shipped past the port of entry) as part of container freight station services at PCC Logistics.

Find out what freight containers work best for your shipment by mastering container terminology

There are several types of freight containers available to accommodate many kinds of goods. For instance, open-top containers are used for oversized equipment, while flat racks and extra-wide containers work best for palletized or crated materials. Get a full appreciation of container freight stations by researching the containers they provide for your particular shipments and understanding container vocabulary.

I recommend: Mobile Mini gives information and terminology for many types of freight containers. The site details what the containers can store, from a standard 20 foot and 40 foot container and extra wide to custom and even record storage, designed specifically for transportation of document record boxes. World Trade Distribution defines and supplies pictures of flat racks, crating and open-tops, as well as how certain materials such as piping are handled.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Visit a container freight station to watch the operations and find out how key terms are used in everyday situations.