What Is a Container Freight Station (CFS) and Its Functions

In B2B logistics management, the Container Freight Station (CFS) is a crucial aspect in handling exports and imports. CFS is a warehouse for the consolidation and deconsolidation of export-import operations. Do you want to learn more about a container freight station? Read this article thoroughly!

What Is a Container Freight Station?

A Container Freight Station (CFS) is a warehouse for collecting or separating export and import goods. To summarize, imports and exports will be collected, consolidated, and then deconsolidated before proceeding to the subsequent export-import procedure.

Typically, CFS is built near the cargo terminal, train hub, other warehouses, or harbors to make consolidation-deconsolidation easier. The goods entering CFS will be collected, inspected, and collected into one shipping container.

Here, the goods’ documents and customs will be inspected because every good entering CFS comes from different buyers and sellers. CFS also becomes the ideal point for suppliers who want to export their goods.

It is important to know that CFS is a warehouse for LCL, or less-than-container-load (goods loaded less than the truck's capacity, making it carry many goods from different senders or recipients).

Why Is a Container Freight Station Important?

A container freight station is a special warehouse used to load and unload cargo as well as examine it. Moreover, CFS also has crucial roles as follows:

Receiving and shipping goods.
Consolidating goods into one container. This function allows suppliers who only ship small quantities of goods to efficiently join a batch shipment in one container.
Checking and weighing goods.
Unloading containers and separating shipments according to location, and delivering them to recipients.
Packing goods before shipment.
Tracking shipments.
Monitoring container transportation to ensure they arrive at the correct destination.
Temporarily storing containers before shipment according to the planned date.
Maintaining containers.
Recording the number of entering and leaving goods.
Issuing order receipts.

How a Container Freight Station Works

A container freight station must be carried out properly so that the goods can be delivered according to the cargo data. Here is the process of CFS you should know:

Receiving goods: Cargo coming to the CFS from various shippers will be reported and categorized by destination, size, and other criteria.
Goods inspection: The document will be checked and matched with the goods to set special goods aside.
Goods consolidation: Grouped cargo will be collected into one container according to the shipping destination. During this process, items will be packaged according to safety procedures.
Goods delivery: Packaged goods will be stacked in the container and shipped to the destination.

Benefits of a Container Freight Station

Did you know? A container freight station brings advantages for your business. The benefits of CFS are as follows:

Cost and time efficiency: Because it handles LCL, one container will be filled with various goods from different sellers and buyers. As a result, you can share the shipping fee. Moreover, you can save more time using CFS because it is also responsible for customs.
Safe: The stored goods will be kept safe until the designated shipping time.
Flexible: CFS can serve a small number of shipments without waiting for the container to be full.
Standardized: CFS security procedures follow applicable standards so that goods are handled with care during consolidation and deconsolidation.

The Difference Between CFS, CY, and ICD

When talking about Container Freight Station (CFS), you may have heard of Container Yard (CY) and Inland Container Depot (ICD). The difference between Container Freight Station and Container Yard lies in their cargo.

CFS is a special warehouse for storing LCL cargo, while CY is dedicated to full cargo, or FCL. In addition, CY does not consolidate or deconsolidate cargo like CFS because the sender and recipient are the same.

Meanwhile, the difference between ICD and CFS lies in their location. ICDs are located far from ports or terminals because they tend to be closer to factories and warehouses. This allows exporters and importers to take care of shipments.

Furthermore, ICDs handle FCL cargo where the sender and recipient are the same, so they do not consolidate or deconsolidate cargo like CFS. ICDs also have their own customs areas, which allow them to check goods and documents independently.

Apart from these three types of warehouses, there are also bonded warehouses, which are the most different from the other three. Bonded warehouses are specifically used to store export and import goods for which customs duties are deferred.

This gives importers time to pay customs duties and secure their cash flow. Usually, there is no time limit for storing goods in these warehouses, and the goods stored here have already gone through customs procedures.

That concludes the information about a container freight station (CFS). CFS is a special warehouse to store LCL cargo and make the shipment more efficient.

Regarding logistics and delivery, Chandra Asri Group, through PT Chandra Shipping International and PT Marina Indah Maritim, offers logistics solutions using 9 chemical and gas vessels of 106,650 DWT. The number might increase as time goes by.

Furthermore, Chandra Asri Group also serves land transportation with PT SCG Barito Logistics and PT Chandra Cold Chain operating 155 trucks.

So, make sure to entrust your chemical and gas logistics to Chandra Asri Group!