“Seven free days”: questions to ask before booking

“You have seven days' free time” starts the conversation; it does not complete the cost terms. Free time is a period free of specified charges under a particular charging arrangement. Before confirming a booking, establish which charges it covers and which events start and finish the period.

Use this article to collect conditions before shipment. Cargexo's linked guides explain demurrage, detention, storage and calendar calculations. Do not transfer a guide's example or another port's tariff into the current booking.

Which charges do the seven days cover?

Ask for container-related carrier charges and any terminal storage to be identified separately. Confirm import or export, the port, equipment type and service. Dry-container terms may differ from reefer, meaning refrigerated-container, terms.

Ask whether periods are separate or combined. A combined allowance may be consumed in the terminal, leaving less time for delivery, unloading and empty return. With separate allowances, do not assume unused days can transfer between them. Obtain the applicable product and tariff confirmation.

The day count alone cannot compare two offers. A nearer return depot or achievable unloading slot may matter more than another day stated without context.

Which events and dates will be used?

Request the exact starting and ending events and treatment of both boundary days. Confirm calendar or working days, weekends, holidays, time zone and data source. Do not guess whether “arrival” means vessel arrival, container discharge or something else.

Ask what happens if the container is physically in the terminal but cannot be collected. Missing documents, customs formalities or an appointment do not necessarily suspend charges. Obtain the applicable conditions and procedure for reporting the actual obstacle. Keep evidence so the circumstances can later be reconstructed.

Where must the empty container go?

Obtain current return instructions, opening hours, appointment requirements and the accepted receipt. Give the transport provider the unloading address and check the journey to the instructed depot.

Ask whether the depot may change and who approves an alternative. A warehouse or driver's agreement is not the carrier's approval of another depot. If the plan depends on a particular return location, keep written confirmation and recheck before delivery.

Plan how return will be evidenced: an equipment receipt, system event or other required confirmation. Parking an empty container outside a gate does not prove acceptance.

Free-time worksheet

The worksheet does not replace the tariff. Resolve differences between the quote and confirmation before accepting. Do not choose whichever document is more favourable and assume the billing system will agree.

An operational example

Fictional situation: collection is possible on Thursday, but the warehouse has no slot until Monday and the depot needs a separate appointment. Even seven confirmed days do not guarantee a charge-free plan. Establish the counting start and return availability first, then calculate the agreed calendar.

Enter the actual rules, rates and events from the documents in Cargexo's calculator. The result uses those inputs; it does not confirm the carrier's tariff. Also calculate a later unloading scenario to understand the cost of delay instead of relying only on the best available date.

Message before booking

Please clarify the seven free days in this offer: covered charges, separate or combined allowance, start and end events, boundary-day treatment and calendar. Send the applicable tariff after free time and confirm the empty-return depot, hours and procedure. Please identify terminal-storage conditions separately.

Share the completed worksheet with the inland transport coordinator and warehouse. Free time is useful only when collection, unloading and return can actually fit within it.