Before understanding concept of “FREE TIME”, we need to know the two types of container classification.

One type is SOC container, which means SHIPPER’S OWN CONTAINER, it means the container is owned by the shipper. The shipper uses their own container to load goods and ship them.

The other type is the COC container, which means CARRIER’S OWN CONTAINER, it means this container is owned by the carrier, which is a container rented or commissioned by the shipping company.

More than 95% of the cargo in the market chooses COC shipment. After all, few shippers rent or purchase containers by themselves. Even if they do, the subsequent circulation of the containers is a headache for the container owners.

Since it is the shipping company’s box, the users (shipper and consignee) actually have costs when using it (corresponding to loading and unloading). Of course, part of the usage cost has been included in the freight. This actually corresponds to “free container use” or “FREE TIME”.

Let’s analyze the concept of “free container use”. As always, we will expand the sentence. Free container usage time. This way, it is very clear that there is a period of time when the container can be used for free. As mentioned above, both the shipper and the consignee will use the container, so the shipping company will provide a certain amount of free time at both the port of departure and the port of destination.

I. Free Time at Port of Loading
The free time at the port of loading is calculated from the time the container is picked up to the “ETD” time on the booking confirmation. The shipping company provides free time for the consignor to load the goods. Depending on the port of loading and the shipping company, this period is usually 7 days. It should be noted that the day of departure is also counted as one day. Due to the different policies of various shipping companies, it is recommended that you confirm the earliest free container usage time for each shipment with your freight forwarder before picking up the container to avoid additional charges.

II. Free Time at Port of Discharge
The free time at the port of discharge is more complex in composition. Here we will focus on discussing it. Depending on the shipping company and the port of discharge, the free time can vary significantly. The shipping company provides free time for the consignee to clear customs, pick up the goods, and unload them.

1). FREE DETENTION (abbreviated as DET) is usually translated as “free container usage”. The free time at the port of loading we mentioned above can also be expressed by this term. At the port of discharge, the definition of DET is the period from when the container is picked up from the terminal until it is returned to the designated yard. The key point to note here is when the container is picked up from the terminal.

2). FREE DEMURRAGE (abbreviated as DEM) is usually translated as “free storage”. It is calculated from the time the container is unloaded from the ship until it is picked up from the terminal. We can see that this period can be linked to DET, that is, it constitutes all the free time from unloading the ship to returning the container.

3). FREE STORAGE is a bit confusing as it is also translated as “free storage”. It sounds like the same meaning as DEM, and indeed, these two concepts are often confused. In fact, STORAGE is provided by the port of discharge terminal, and the free time provided varies depending on the port. However, it is usually only given for up to five days, also calculated from the time the container is unloaded from the ship until it is picked up from the terminal. Therefore, we can see that there is an overlap between the free time of STORAGE and DET.

To illustrate this more clearly with an actual case, suppose the free DEM time is 7 days and the free STORAGE time is 3 days. If the container is stored at the terminal for a total of 10 days, in this case, we need to pay the shipping company an additional 3 days of DEM charges and the terminal an additional 7 days of STORAGE charges.

For the “free container usage” at the port of discharge, shipping companies generally offer two options:
1). DET and DEM are listed separately, for example, 14DEM + 7DET. This is easier to understand, as each part has a different free time.
2). DET and DEM are combined, usually expressed as 14 DAYS COMBINE (MERGE), where DEM and DET are “bound” together.

Combining the above content, we understand that after the container arrives at the port of discharge, DEM will be incurred first, followed by DET. Taking 14 days as an example, if DEM is used for 4 days, then the remaining DET time is only 10 days, and so on.