Arrival notice

An arrival notice is the message a carrier or forwarder sends the consignee, notify party or customs broker to say a shipment is about to arrive at its destination. It gives the arrival date, the charges due and the free time — the last free day before the container incurs storage or demurrage.

What it carries

• Arrival: the vessel, voyage and expected arrival at destination.
• Free time: the days allowed and the last free day, which DCSA's arrival notice standard defines as the final date the containers can be collected without incurring charges.
• Charges: what must be paid before the cargo is released.
• References: the bill of lading, including any house bills where a forwarder consolidated the cargo.

The notice is usually sent by the ocean carrier or the freight forwarder, DCSA says, to whoever must act on it — a notify party, the consignee or a customs broker. In the US, a demurrage or detention invoice must now show the allowed free time in days and its start and end dates, under 46 CFR 541.6. Goods not entered with US customs by the 15th calendar day after landing move to general order.

Worked example: the clocks start together

The mistake people make

Waiting for the notice before acting. Maersk is blunt: missing an arrival notice won't change your freight's transit, it will arrive at the port anyway, but the free time kicks in. Track the vessel yourself, and line up clearance and collection before the notice lands.