LCL and FCL Clearance and Job Roles of Clearance Agents

Freight services play an important role in the movement of shipments from one destination to the other. In many ways, these services revolve around the job roles and responsibilities of clearance agents. The latter is responsible for ensuring the smooth delivery of goods to the desired destination.

When it comes to loading, the two popular choices include LCL and FCL.

This post will outline both these forms of loading shipments along with some roles and responsibilities of clearance agents.

What is LCL?

LCL stands for “Less Container Load”. Sometimes shippers may not have adequate goods to fill the space in a loaded container. In such situations, they can opt for booking a cargo by virtue of an arrangement with a consolidator. Such forms of shipments constitute LCL shipment.

As per this arrangement, a container can house goods form multiple parties for shipment to another location. When the goods reach different transshipment points or the final destination, a freight forwarder discharges the responsibility of sorting out the goods for consignees. An LCL clearance agent works in conjunction with them.

What is FCL?

An acronym for full container load, it refers to a method of shipping wherein a single party owns all the movable goods to be shipped to another destination via ocean freight. Unlike what happens normally, an owner does not need to fill the entire container by virtue of this arrangement. Also, their goods are mentioned in a single bill instead of multiple bills.

Customs clearance plays an important role in ensuring a safe and hassle-free movement of a shipment. This is where the role of an FCL clearing agent becomes important.

Roles and responsibilities of clearing agents

Freight services appoint professional clearing agents to take care of the clearance of goods in a shipment. Though their primary role is to work out the customs clearances of goods in a container, they also perform a wide range of tasks while working with a freight forwarder.

Their roles and responsibilities include the following:

● Sometimes goods in a container necessitate the determination of the harmonized tariff heading. While it is not applicable in all cases or goods, it does apply to certain specific circumstances. It is one of the major duties of a clearing agent to take care of this task.

● They calculate taxes and import duties. They also take into account the special taxes and are well aware of the method to calculate them.

● They also collect the shipping fees from a shipper. It is one of their important job responsibilities to ensure that a shipper pays all the taxes linked to the shipment of their goods.

● Clearing agents also have the responsibility of storing goods as and when required in warehouses. Generally, they hand over goods to the agents of warehouses after conducting proper documentation.

● The delivery of a shipment to the destination comes under the purview of a major responsibility of a clearing agent.

Aside from these roles, the top 10 customs clearing agents in Delhi also undertake a number of additional tasks. However, they are more or less related to the tasks mentioned above.

Final thoughts

Clearance agents, by taking charge of the aforementioned roles, constitute a vital element in the workforce of a freight service company. In fact, the success of the latter depends on that of the former. Regardless of the type of container load you need, do not forget to review the track record of the clearance service of a freight services provider before taking your final call.