FCL shipping
FCL Shipping Australia — Full Container Load Freight, Wharf to Door
A full container gives you the lowest cost per cubic metre, the fewest touch points and the least risk of damage. We book it, load it properly, clear it and deliver it.
In short
FCL means a full container load — you pay for the container, not the cubic metre. A 20ft holds roughly 28–33 cbm and a 40ft around 58–67 cbm, with payload limits that matter for dense cargo. We manage FCL as part of end-to-end international logistics management, including weight planning, customs clearance and wharf-to-door transport.
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Full container load
When a full container becomes the cheaper option
FCL means your cargo travels in a container of its own. Nobody else’s pallets touch it, it is not deconsolidated at a depot, and it is priced per container rather than per cubic metre. Once your volume passes roughly 12 to 15 cubic metres on most lanes, a 20ft container usually costs less in total than the equivalent LCL shipment — and it moves faster because it skips consolidation handling at both ends.
The decision is not only about volume. FCL is also the right answer when cargo is fragile, high value, sensitive to handling, or when you simply cannot afford your stock sitting in a depot waiting for a co-loader.
Container types we book
| Container | Internal capacity (approx.) | Typical payload | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20ft standard | 33 cbm | Up to ~28 tonnes | Dense cargo: tiles, stone, machinery, packaged liquids. |
| 40ft standard | 67 cbm | Up to ~26 tonnes | Larger volumes of medium-density goods. |
| 40ft high cube | 76 cbm | Up to ~26 tonnes | Light, bulky cargo: furniture, homewares, packaging, apparel. |
| 45ft high cube | 86 cbm | Up to ~26 tonnes | Maximum cube where the lane and transport allow. |
| 20ft / 40ft reefer | 28 / 59 cbm | Varies | Temperature-controlled food, beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals. |
| Flat rack | Open sided and topped | Varies | Machinery and out-of-gauge cargo. |
| Open top | Similar to standard | Varies | Cargo loaded by crane from above. |
More detail is in our container sizes and types guide.
Getting value from the box
Four ways importers waste money on FCL
Paying for air
A container loaded to 70 per cent of its cube is a 30 per cent freight increase you did not need. We review carton dimensions and loading plans before booking, and often a change of carton size or pallet configuration adds a whole extra pallet row.
Choosing 40ft when 20ft was right
Dense cargo hits the weight limit long before the cube limit. Two 20ft containers are sometimes cheaper and safer than one overweight 40ft that cannot legally be trucked.
Ignoring Australian road weight limits
A container that is legal at sea can be illegal on an Australian road. Weight distribution inside the box matters, and correcting it after arrival means a de-stuff and re-load.
Losing the free days
Detention and demurrage start on arrival. Pre-arrival clearance and a booked transport slot are what keep those charges at zero.
FAQ
FCL shipping questions
How many pallets fit in a container?
As a rough guide, a 20ft container takes 10 to 11 standard Australian pallets on the floor, and a 40ft takes 20 to 21, with height determining whether you can double-stack. Euro pallets change the numbers. Send your pallet dimensions and we will calculate it exactly.
Is FCL cheaper than LCL?
Above roughly 12 to 15 cubic metres, usually yes. Below that, LCL normally wins. We quote both so the decision is based on your numbers rather than a rule of thumb.
Can I load the container myself at my supplier?
Yes — most FCL shipments are loaded at the supplier’s factory. We can provide a loading plan and, on request, arrange third-party loading supervision or container inspection before the doors are sealed.
What is a shipper-owned container and do I need one?
A shipper-owned container is one you own rather than lease from the carrier. It occasionally makes sense for very long dwell times or unusual cargo, but for the overwhelming majority of importers it does not. We will tell you if you are the exception.
Who unpacks the container in Australia?
Either you at your premises, or we can arrange unpack at a depot or warehouse and deliver the goods loose or palletised. Depot unpack is often better if you do not have a forklift or a suitable dock.
What happens if the container is overweight?
It cannot legally be transported on Australian roads and must be de-stuffed and re-loaded, at cost and with delay. This is entirely preventable by checking gross weight and axle distribution before loading — something we do as standard.
Landed cost
What sits on top of the ocean rate on an FCL shipment
The ocean freight rate is rarely more than half of what an FCL container actually costs to land at your door. Quoting the rate alone is how importers get surprised. Below is the full cost stack we price up front so your landed cost is known before the container is booked.
| Cost layer | What it covers | Who controls it |
|---|---|---|
| Origin charges | Export customs, terminal handling, documentation and, on some Incoterms, inland haulage to the load port | Supplier or origin agent |
| Ocean freight | Port-to-port carriage, plus bunker, currency and congestion surcharges | Shipping line |
| Destination terminal | Wharfage, terminal handling and the infrastructure surcharge levied by the stevedore | Stevedore |
| Customs and duty | Import declaration, tariff duty, GST and the import processing charge | Australian Border Force tariff outcome |
| Biosecurity | Container inspection, and treatment where a risk is identified | Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry |
| Transport | Wharf to door haulage, side-loader or crane hire, waiting time | Carrier and your site access |
| Risk charges | Demurrage, detention, storage and rework where the shipment is delayed | Usually avoidable with planning |
Where the surprises usually come from
In our experience the three charges importers have not budgeted for are the infrastructure surcharge at the terminal, waiting time on delivery because the container could not be unloaded quickly enough, and demurrage and detention after a customs or biosecurity hold. None of them are exotic. All of them are predictable if someone is watching the file.
Why we quote duty and GST before you commit
Tariff classification decides your duty rate, and the difference between two plausible classifications on the same product can be several percent of the invoice value. We classify before booking, check whether a free trade agreement or tariff concession applies, and show you the number. See import duty and GST and how to calculate landed cost for the method.
Deferred GST and cash flow
Importers registered for the deferred GST scheme account for import GST through their monthly business activity statement instead of paying it at the border. For a business bringing in containers regularly that is a material working-capital difference. We will tell you whether you are likely to qualify and what it changes about your cash cycle.
One quote, one invoice, one point of contact
Every charge above appears on a single quotation and a single invoice from us. There is no separate bill from a customs agent, a transport operator and a depot arriving three weeks apart. That is the difference between buying freight and buying international logistics management.
Container control
How we manage the container after it leaves the ship
Most of the cost risk on an FCL shipment lives in the last five days, not the thirty at sea. This is the part of the job that separates a managed container from a booked one.
Pre-arrival clearance
We lodge the import declaration before the vessel berths wherever the documents allow it, so the container is clear to move on the day it is available rather than three days later. That single habit is the most reliable way to stay inside your free time.
Slot booking and wharf congestion
Terminal slots at Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne are finite and they are worst when a vessel bunches with two others. We book transport against the actual availability date, not the scheduled one, and we tell you when a delivery day is unrealistic rather than letting you find out on the day.
Unpack planning at your site
A 40ft container on a skel needs somewhere to stand, someone to unload it and a realistic window. Where your site cannot do that, we unpack at a depot and deliver on pallets. See warehousing and distribution for how that works.
Empty return and detention
The clock does not stop when the container is unloaded. It stops when the empty is returned to the nominated park, which can be a different location from the import terminal and can have its own booking queue. We manage the return and flag detention exposure before it becomes an invoice.
Read next
More on containers and imports
Related guides and services covering the questions importers and exporters usually ask next.
- Container shipping — container types, realistic payloads and the FCL/LCL crossover point
- FCL shipping from China — full containers from Chinese suppliers, coordinated from origin to your door
- Container sizes and types — full dimension and payload tables
- Commercial imports — the full inbound program
- Avoiding demurrage and detention — the two charges that punish a poor plan
Quote my container
Send us the cargo details and we will confirm the right container, the loading plan and the full landed cost.