SHIPPING: Net Weight vs Gross Weight vs Tare Weight
The net weight, gross weight and tare weight of exported goods are defined as follows:
1. Gross weight refers to the weight of the goods themselves plus the weight of the packaging, gross weight = net weight + packaging weight.
2. Tare weight mainly refers to the weight of the outer packaging materials of goods (that is, the weight of the transport packaging), excluding the weight of the inner packaging materials and padding. That is, the total weight of the packaging materials of various commodities obtained piece by piece over the pound.
3. Net weight refers to the weight of the commodity itself, that is, the actual weight of the commodity after removing the packaging. Net weight = gross weight – tare weight (the weight of the packaging), net weight is the most common weighting method in international trade.
For example: a box of apples (including the box) weighs 5 kg, the box weighs 1 kg, the weight of the apples = 5-1 = 4 kg, that is, the gross weight of the box of apples 5 kg, the net weight of 4 kg.
In the use of net weight counting, for how to calculate the weight of packaging, the following international practices:
1. According to the actual tare (Actual Tare or Real Tare) calculation: the total weight of the packaging materials of various commodities over the weight of each piece.
2. According to the average tare (Average Tare) calculation: from the entire transaction of goods in which a number of pieces of packaging material weight average.
3. According to the customary tare (Customary Tare) calculation: the packaging of certain goods and packaging materials in the customary standard, as long as the customary tare has been identified multiplied by the total number of pieces of goods, that is, the tare of the goods.
4. According to the agreed tare weight (Computed Weight) calculation: refers to the buyer and seller agreed in advance to a certain weight as the tare weight of each commodity, or the presumption of the tare weight of similar shipments of goods. The presumed tare weight multiplied by the total number of pieces, that is, the tare weight of the batch of goods.
What is the container weight limit? How to deal with overweight?
The container itself is limited in weight
Each container has the information of maximum weight limit on the open door, such as MAX GROSS :30480KGS. meaning that your box with cargo can not exceed this weight. Tare weight – 20GP: for 2200KGS, 40 for: 3.720-4200KGS, individual HQ will have MAX GROSS: 32000KGS.
This is the maximum strength of the container body can withstand, loading more than this limit, may occur box deformation, bottom plate off, top beam bending and other damage, resulting in all losses will be fully borne by the shipper. At present, most of the domestic professional container terminals are installed with automatic weighbridge, so as long as the container loading beyond the box weight limit, the terminal is always refused to accept the container. So it is recommended that you box before, look at the container box on the weight limit, in order to avoid unnecessary reloading operations back to the box.
If the goods are indeed overweight and can not be divided, then you can choose the overweight box. Here will increase is to choose the weight of the fee, the general terminal / yard will be the shipping company’s ordinary dry box stacked together, if you want to choose one of the special weight cabinet (such as the 20 weight cabinet talked about earlier), the terminal, the yard must find one by one, the resulting selection of the cabinet fee is generally the same price as the designated cabinet fee.
Container transport is a multi-sectoral collaborative operation process, so in addition to the container box itself weight limit, there are some other factors need to consider.
Shipping company weight limit
In general each shipping company weight policy is different, the approximate standard is not to damage the container as the standard.
In the balance of space and weight considerations. Each container ship has a certain cabin and weight limit, but specifically in a certain route, the cabin and weight is not always just the right balance to use up. Contradictions often occur in the heavy cargo is more concentrated in North China.
The weight of the ship has arrived, space is still much less, in order to make up for this loss of space, shipping companies often take a fare increase strategy, that is, the cargo weight more than how many tons after the additional freight charges.
There are also shipping companies not with their own ships, but to buy other shipping companies to transport the space, the weight limit will be more strict, because the shipping company between the sale of space a are calculated according to the standard of 1TEU = 14TONS or 16TONS, more than the weight is not given on board.
In the period of bursting cabin, according to the different heat of the route, the shipping company will adjust downward the weight limit of each container type accordingly.
When booking, the latest shipment should ask the freight forwarder about the shipping company’s weight limit. If there is no confirmation and the cargo is heavy, there is a risk that some shipping companies will not have any room for communication after the overweight, directly let the shipper haul the goods, out of the port, pull out the goods and then re-weighing. These costs are not easy to control.
Weight limit in port area
Mainly depends on the quay and yard machinery and equipment load.
Container ship by the wharf, generally need the wharf crane for loading and unloading operations, and then towed by truck to the container yard and then forklift lift down. If the weight of the container exceeds the mechanical load, it will cause difficulties for the operation of the terminal and yard, so, for some small ports with backward equipment, shipping companies will generally inform the port in advance of the weight limit, more than this limit is not accepted.
Matching feeder vessel or road weight limit
People who have done the United States inland points have a deep understanding of the United States road transport weight limit is very strict, because many containers unloaded at the terminal need to use the collector truck to take the road towed to the inland, so the road weight limit has also become the shipping company to limit the weight of the container, of course, only to the terminal is not this limit.
To the United States line of goods on the weight requirements are very strict, the weight limit is mainly affected by the road weight limit to the United States inland points, generally small container 17.3 tons, large high container 19.5 tons. But according to different ports also have different weight requirements.
Route weight limit
Different routes, shipping capacity is in accordance with the order of cargo loading and unloading port call and different types of goods export and heat to the arrangement, plus the destination port equipment operation load problems, different routes size cabinet weight limit naturally also have different.
What if I'm overweight?
This is mainly divided into port area overweight, shipping company overweight, destination port overweight
1、Shipping company overweight
Discuss with the shipowner, pay the overweight fee, and go as normal;
2、The port area has its own regulations of overweight
If you find overweight in the port, you need to negotiate with the port area, pay overweight fee plus labor handling fee or reload the box;
3、Destination port overweight
Generally, if the overweight in the destination port is within a certain range, it can be solved by paying a fine; if the overweight is serious, the crane along the way cannot be loaded and can only be transferred and unloaded in the nearby port or returned by the original route.
Container weighs re-regulation and impact
The full name of VGM is VerifiedGrossMas, the official standard English name is the weight of the appropriate container, and the industry is used to call the container weighing re-regulation. From July 1, 2016, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will implement the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS Convention) on export container weight check related requirements, the provisions clearly require that from that day onwards, the shipper (cargo owners) will be declared for all export containers to check the total weight (VGM), where no verification of the total weight of the container will not be loaded on board.
1. The new rules will improve the safety of shipping
New regulations will improve shipping safety. Misstated container weights have serious implications for the stability of ships, trucks and terminal equipment, and can pose a threat to worker safety in the industry, even endangering lives. Misstated weights appear to be common, and when containers are weighed after an accident, the total results obtained often differ from the data on their cargo manifests. The long-standing controversy over this issue has led to amendments to the SOLAS Convention to ensure that all container weights are accurately declared.
2. All containers should be weighed
The principle laid down in the new SOLAS Convention is simple, since July 1, 2016, all containers are to be weighed compulsorily before they are loaded on board. Container weight can be determined by one of two methods. The container may be weighed after it has been loaded, or it may instead be weighed with all the contents of the container, and that weight may be added to the combined tare weight of the container. Regardless of the method, no subjective calculations of its weight are allowed.
3、The whole supply chain will be affected
Active participation in all aspects of the container supply chain will be affected to some extent by this new regulation. Vessel operators and terminal operators will be required to apply the validated container weight to the allocation plan. In order for them to receive the information in a timely manner, shippers will have to share the validated weight with the booking agent or freight forwarder. This will obviously require new agreements on procedures as well as modifications to existing information technology (IT) systems.
4. Providing accurate weight is the shipper’s responsibility
The shipper (or third party under the shipper’s responsibility) is required to weigh the loaded container or its entire contents, depending on its chosen method. The weighing equipment used must meet national certification and calibration requirements. amendments to the SOLAS Convention require that weight verification procedures be signed and that specific personnel must be named and identified according to procedures that have been verified on behalf of the shipper for weight calculation accuracy. The carrier may rely on this signed verification weight as an accurate weight.
5、Declaration procedure details may vary from case to case
The total container certified weight must be declared in a signed shipping document. This document may be part of the loading instructions to the shipping company, or may be a separate document, such as a declaration form containing a weight certificate. In either case, the document should clearly state that the total weight provided is the total weight certified.
The carrier will provide the shipper with the relevant information deadlines within which the carrier must receive the requested container verification weight from the shipper for use in the vessel allocation plan. These deadlines may vary from carrier to carrier, may vary according to operating procedures or the requirements of different terminal operators, and may vary from port to port. No container shall be loaded on a vessel without a certified gross weight.
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