Breakbulk Cargo

Breakbulk cargo is non-containerized general cargo carried in boxes, bales, pallets, drums or other units, or as individual pieces such as machinery, vehicles and steel, and loaded onto or discharged from the ship one unit at a time. Shippers use it when goods are too large, heavy or irregular for a container.

Breakbulk vs containerized, bulk, neo-bulk and project cargo

• Containerized: goods packed and sealed in standard containers and handled as boxes, as FCL or LCL freight
• Breakbulk: cargo of non-uniform sizes that needs labor-intensive loading and unloading. The U.S. Federal Highway Administration's freight glossary gives coffee beans, logs and pulp as examples
• Bulk: cargo that is unbound as loaded, loose and without count, such as coal, grain and petroleum products
• Neo-bulk: uniformly packaged units of a single commodity, such as cars, lumber or wood pulp bales, which stow as solidly as bulk but are handled as general cargo (Maryland Port Administration)
• Project cargo: the materials and equipment to build a specific project, such as a factory or a highway. It can include heavy-lift pieces that need specialized equipment to move between ship, truck, rail and terminal

How breakbulk is handled

• Individual lifts: each unit is lifted and positioned separately, using cranes or other heavy equipment
• Securing: lashing and bracing are planned piece by piece, with dunnage to spread loads and stop movement
• Terminal capacity: the port has to have the lifting capacity and space to handle oversized or heavy units

The container alternative: flat racks and open tops

Many pieces that are too wide, too tall or too heavy for a standard box can still move on a container ship in special equipment. A flat rack has a floor and end walls but no sides or roof, so wide or heavy cargo is loaded by crane and lashed to it. An open top has a tarpaulin roof so tall cargo can be lowered in from above. Cargo that hangs over the edges is accepted only if the carrier approves it as out of gauge. These options keep the cargo on regular container services and schedules; true breakbulk needs a vessel and terminal that handle it.

What to have ready before you ask for a quote

• Length, width, height and weight of each piece, not only totals
• Lifting points, and whether the piece can be tipped or must stay upright
• Packing: crated, skidded or unpacked

With those details a carrier can decide whether the cargo fits a flat rack or open top or needs breakbulk space. Airlift's ocean freight service arranges open-top and flat-rack containers on request, where a carrier offers the equipment on the lane and accepts the cargo, and the container dimensions tool lists inside measurements and payloads to check against.