Gross Margin after Freight Duty and Payment Terms
Landed gross margin incorporates freight, tariffs, and handling into unit stock costs, while payment terms dictate the working capital required to carry transit inventory.
Container Demurrage
Meaning
Penalty fee structures impose financial assessments on cargo owners who exceed free time allowances for storage inside port terminals. Shipping lines assess container demurrage when ocean freight units remain uncollected beyond contractual limits, penalizing delays in equipment turnaround. The metric governs port dwell time, terminal container positioning and cargo discharge schedules across global trade lanes.
It stops applying once a container is physically pulled through the terminal gate.
Terminal Bottleneck
Port congestion and delayed customs clearances slow container movement, rapidly accumulating daily storage charges. The metric escalates on a daily tiered scale to force prompt removal of equipment from crowded container yards. A factory awaiting raw material deliveries faces compounding daily penalties if customs documentation contains errors.
Early clearance audits prevent costly terminal holds before vessel arrival.
Release Trigger
Terminal operators withhold cargo releases until accrued storage assessments are settled in full by the consignee.
Detention Boundary
Equipment storage penalties measure delay inside port gates, whereas detention charges apply after cargo leaves port grounds. Container demurrage focuses exclusively on the ocean terminal footprint and stops accumulating when the haulage contractor picks up the box. Operational disruptions downstream, such as driver shortages or warehouse receiver delays, trigger separate detention charges rather than terminal demurrage fees.
Transport planners distinguish terminal storage rules from off-site equipment usage agreements to control logistics costs.