CY-what is container yard?
CY is a short form that we use for ‘Container Yard’, which is a place where all the containers are stored on the terminal or dry port before they are sent to get loaded or offloaded from a ship.
What is the use of the containers in export import? Containers are used either for storing or for loading goods that are to be transported elsewhere, or offloaded when they arrive into the port or terminal.
What is a CY-CY Shipment?
Often Bills of Lading or Letters of Credit have the terms CY after the port names on them. CY to CY typically means ‘Container Yard to Container Yard’, this term refers to the Carrier’s port or terminal where goods are dispatched from the delivery port or terminal where the buyer accepts the goods. A CY/CY shipment term simply tells the shipper the port where the containers will be delivered and the final destination where the containers are delivered, so that all the people including shipper, exporter and the buyer are clearly aware of the place and where their responsibility lies while they are transporting containers. The responsibility of the carrier begins or end at the container yard itself.
CY-CY Container Services
Another term used in shipping, CY- CY container services also means providing door to door or house to house services – here the shipper instead of providing the goods at the port straight away drop the goods at the buyer’s house. As part of the import process, it might happen that the container might have to be moved from the Container Yard to a different yard or staging area (with or without cost) before it gets loaded on the importers truck. If such case arises, the notification of CY/CY that is present on the bill of lading and the shipper or the respective consignee will be responsible for any movement, costs or risk that takes place before the container is delivered to the carrier at the CY or picked up from the CY.
BL Terms
Bill of Lading (B/L) is the most important document when we talk about ocean freight. It is issued either by the carrier or freight agent to Shipper. The B/L contains various details related to the shipment such as Shipper, Consignee and Cargo description. It also stores routing information such as what will be the Port of Loading (POL) and Port of Destination (POL). The B/L also contains terms like CY/CY, CFS/CFS etc.
- CY/CY – In an FCL shipment, the packed containerised goods are picked up at container yard at it’s origin port and would get delivered at destination port Container Yard to the supplier. In this case what happens is that the carrier liability will start at CY of origin port and will end up at CY destination port. Such shipments are also referred to as FCL/FCL shipments and will have a single Shipper and Consignee.
- CFS/CY – We call this a buyer consolidation shipment. Here the goods are consolidated or grouped together at a CFS at Origin port (LCL). However at the destination, the delivery of the container only at a Container Yard (FCL). Hence such shipments are also called LCL/FCL shipments where they have multiple shippers and single consignee.
- CY/CFS – When the shipper picks up all the goods from the container yard at the destination point but delivers it to the CFS at the destination point in order to de-consolidate, then the term that is mention on the B/L is CY/CFS. We call such shipments even as FCL/LCL shipments where there is a single shipper and multiple buyers.
We shall note one very important thing in all the above examples and that is that all deliveries are Port to Port. i.e. It is the responsibility of the Shipper or Consignee to arrange for the goods that will be sent to Container Yard or Container Freight Station at the destination point and take the delivery from Container Yard / Container Freight station at destination point. Other than this you shall also note that in case of consolidation services, carriers will have to issue a CY/CY Bill of Lading to the consolidator (Freight forwarder), who in turn will then issue House Bill of Lading to the Shipper with CFS pickup/delivery as a part of the procedure.
CY versus CF
CY and CFS is applied to the way cargo is delivered and at a location and receipt in a container service. CY is basically the delivery of the whole container from the shipper’s container yard. On the other hand CFS is used to deliver all the loose material or goods at the carrier’s container freight station. The container freight station (CFS) is used by the carriers basically for receipts, forwarding or assembling of the goods. Container freight station is also known as customer clearance center. The CFS center is has got some mandatory circumstances that are listed below:
- Whatever is the type of cargo and quantity of the order is, it does not warrant the use of the whole container. In other words it means that it is not guaranteed in CFS about the full use of the container.
- The premises of all the shippers or consignees are quite difficult because of the poor condition of the roads and location.
- There is a limitation on the load of a particular container, thus overloaded container exceeds the legal limitation manier times.
- The shippers or consignees do not have any required equipment for loading or unloading the goods from the container.
