Skip to content
Back to Help Center

Help Center Article

How Long Does It Take to Pick up a Container from Port?

A container will not be ready for pickup at the destination port immediately after the vessel arrives.

How Long Does It Take to Pick up a Container from Port?

Shipments will not be ready for pickup the same day the ocean vessel arrives at port.

Just unloading the ocean vessel can take 1-3 business days, because many ships have more than 10,000 containers on board. 

An FCL (Full Container Load) shipment will be available for pickup after the container is unloaded and placed in the arrival port’s container yard. An LCL (Less than Container Load) shipment, will need to be trucked to a CFS (Container Freight Station) and deconsolidated before it's available for pickup. 

Shipments needs to be picked up from the CFS or Container Yard (CY) before the Last Free Day to avoid demurrage charges. 

markdown image

Ready to Get Started?

Flexport makes shipping your cargo transparent, reliable, and affordable