Container Freight Station (CFS)

A container freight station (CFS) is the warehouse, inside or close to a port, where loose cargo is stuffed into containers and stripped out of them. It is the working end of LCL (less than container load) shipping: several shippers' cartons and pallets are consolidated into one box at an origin CFS, and the box is unloaded and each shipment sorted out again at a destination CFS.

What happens at a CFS

• At origin: the cargo is delivered before the consolidation's receiving cut-off, then counted, measured and weighed. Those measurements, not your packing list, set the chargeable volume in revenue tons. The consolidator loads the container, blocks and braces it, seals it and trucks it to the terminal before the carrier's container cut-off, which is why the CFS receiving cut-off comes earlier
• At destination: the container is drayed from the terminal to the CFS and unstuffed. Each house-bill shipment is sorted by its marks and held until customs releases it and the forwarder issues its release; then it is delivered by truck or collected by the consignee's own carrier

The US rules: 19 CFR 19.40 and 19.41

Under 19 CFR 19.40, a container station independent of the importing carrier may be set up at a port with the port director's approval and a bond on CBP Form 301 carrying the conditions in 19 CFR 113.63. Under 19 CFR 19.41, containerized cargo may be moved from the place of unlading to that station, or received there from a bonded carrier after an in-bond move, before an entry is filed, so that bulk can be broken and the cargo redelivered. That is what lets a CFS unstuff a container while individual shipments are still waiting for release.

The customs clock still applies. Under 19 CFR 4.37, merchandise landed without a release permit may stay at the place of unlading until the fifteenth calendar day after landing; after that CBP can send it to a general-order warehouse. The commercial clock is shorter: a CFS allows only a few free days before daily storage starts.

CFS, CY and CES compared

Avoiding delays and charges at the CFS

• File the ISF on time and have the entry lodged before the vessel arrives, so the release can reach the CFS as the container is unstuffed
• Mark every carton with the consignee, purchase order, carton number and weight on at least two sides; a CFS sorts mixed cargo by its marks
• Measure pallets after wrapping and give gross weights, so the quote matches what the CFS measures
• Ask for the CFS free time with the quote and book delivery against it; storage starts well before the general-order clock runs out. See free time

Airlift does not operate a CFS of its own. Its LCL service books consolidations through partner container freight stations at origin and at the US gateways, and the CBM and chargeable weight calculator works out the revenue tons a CFS will charge for.