Are Container Depot, Ports, and Terminals the Same? | LOTUS Containers

Becoming familiar with important terminologies of your industry is imperative to effective communication. When dealing in cargo shipment, you might have come across certain terms like container depot, ports, terminals, yards and some of you might feel that all these have a similar meaning. Even if they seem to be similar in few contexts, they carry a suffice difference that you must know being a freight forwarder, shipper, carrier, NVOCC, or anyone involved in shipping by any means.

Now when you have come here, I am sure your confusion revolving around these terminologies will be resolved by the time you end reading this article. Every day millions of containers move in and out of the country and to facilitate their movement, all these four plays a major role.

Container Depot: A container depot is a yard or storage space where empty shipping containers are held in transit after being unloaded from the vessel and laden containers are kept for container survey, repair, and construction services.

It can be located within a terminal, within the overall port area, or the remote areas as an ICD (Inland Container Depot).

ICD is a storage space situated far away from seaports, in a remote location to help importers and exporters to handle their shipment near their location.

To understand container depot lets first understand consolidation. You might have heard about LCL and FCL, acronyms of Less than a Container Load and Full Container Load, respectively. Depots have a greater connection with LCL.

Not all containers are fully loaded with a single consigner’s freight. LCL allows various shippers to consolidate their freight altogether in one container and set them for shipment. Instead of taking containers to each supplier individually, suppliers are told to integrate their goods to a central facility called depot. At the depot, the consignment of various shippers is then packed, consolidated, and loaded in containers.

Such containers after reaching the port of destination are then sent to the depot for deconsolidation as the process takes time and space and it could hold up port space for long.

Besides this, when there is high congestion at the terminals during peak season, empty containers are brought to the depot to free up space at terminals giving space to new containers arriving the port.

Depot also provides space to damaged boxes for repair and maintenance. It provides an interim storage facility to boxes sitting at terminals for days.

It is often advised by the industry specialist that hiring containers from suppliers having depots at several places gives you additional benefits. LOTUS Containers is one such company that has around 300 depots across the world offering multiple facilities. From smooth handling, repair, maintenance to cleaning, LOTUS Containers has everything you would look for as a shipper.

Ports: In general, container ports and terminals (used interchangeably) contains the same meaning. The term is designated for the intermediate destination facilities giving space to containers to switch modes of transportation and head to the next destination.

Basically, there are two types of ports

Maritime container port: This is the term used for the transshipment between ships and land vehicles. For example- boxes after being unloaded from the ship at the port are then loaded again on trucks for the next location. World top 10 busiest ports account to the maximum number of shipping boxes and vessel movement.

Inland Container Port: The term is used for the transshipment between land vehicles like trucks and trains.

Both provide a storage facility for both loaded and empty boxes. Loaded one is stored for a relatively shorter period while empty one may be stored for a longer duration awaiting their next use.

In a simple term, whenever a container is switched from one mode of transportation to another, it is referred to as ‘change of mode’, and terminals are the location where this process takes place. Container ports or terminals also helps in receiving and departing the imported and exported products, respectively.

These areas are well equipped with cranes, forklifts that enable easy lifting of heavy boxes to and from the vessels & other vehicles. Several workers are assigned at ports to look after the cargoes moving in and out.

Container Terminals: Even being used interchangeably, ports and terminals carry a slight difference.

A port is a big area where the terminal is just a part of it. A port is defined as allocation where ships berth and conduct activity. With a single port, there can be multiple terminals through which cargo passes from sea to land.

To get a broader view, you can think of an airport or a railway station. You reach the airport to take the flight but then you have to go to a specific terminal to catch your flight.

The same goes with shipping lines. A port is divided into several terminals each taking account of the prescribed activity.

Types of terminals

1. Public or State Terminals

2. Career Lease dedicated Terminals

3. Terminal Operator built Terminal

4. Career built Terminal

5. Terminal built jointly by operators and careers

Container Yard: This is another term used every here and now in the shipping line.

Container Yards (CY) are nothing but simply areas used for the storage of empty boxes after being deconsolidated at the port of destination. They are kept there until the arrival of a new assignment.

Similar to this is one more term- CFS (Container Freight Station). CFS refers to a warehouse where freight that belongs to multiple shippers is consolidated or deconsolidated before being exported and imported.

Applaud for reaching the end and hope now you have a better insight into each terminology.