Container shipping
FCL vs LCL shipping to South Sudan: how to choose
LCL looks cheaper on the freight line and often is not by the time the goods are delivered. Here is how to work out which you actually want.
The basic difference
FCL, or full container load. You book a whole container. It is stuffed for you, sealed, and that seal stays on until the consignee breaks it. Nobody else's cargo is inside.
LCL, or less than container load. Your cargo is consolidated with other shippers' goods into a shared container at origin, then deconsolidated at destination and released to each consignee separately.
Why LCL looks cheaper than it is
The LCL freight rate is quoted per cubic metre, and for a small shipment that number looks attractive next to a full container price. The complication is what happens at the other end.
An LCL shipment incurs destination charges that an FCL does not: deconsolidation, handling of the shared container, documentation per consignment, and the storage that accrues while the whole container waits for every consignee's paperwork. Those charges are levied per shipment, not per cubic metre, so they weigh much more heavily on a small consignment.
The dependency problem. In an LCL container your cargo is hostage to other people's documentation. If one consignee in a shared box has a problem, the container does not deconsolidate on schedule, and everybody waits.
Where the crossover usually sits
There is no universal number, because it depends on the rates of the day and on the destination charges. But the shape of the answer is consistent:
- Small volumes. LCL really is cheaper.
- Mid volumes. It gets close, and the FCL's speed and independence start to win.
- Volumes approaching a full container. FCL is cheaper outright, and you are no longer paying for someone else's delay.
Ask us to price both. We will show you the total, not just the freight line.
Other things that push you toward FCL
- Cargo that should not be handled repeatedly
- High value goods where a sealed container is a security measure
- Goods with a deadline, where you can't afford to wait on another consignee
- Cargo that needs to stay together. A machine arriving in parts across two shipments is not a machine.
Things that push you toward LCL
- Genuinely small orders
- Irregular, low volume buying where a container would sit half empty
- Test orders from a new supplier
- Cash flow, where smaller shipments more often suits you better
The road equivalent
The same logic applies on the road leg between Kenya and South Sudan, where the choice is between groupage and a full truckload:
- Consolidated cargo to Juba, the groupage option
- Full truckload, the dedicated option
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