Container Yard (CY)

A container yard (CY) is the area of a port terminal or inland depot where full and empty containers are received, stored and delivered, and the point where responsibility passes between the trucker and the ocean carrier. "CY" on a booking, bill of lading or tracking event means the container is handled as a sealed unit, which is why it is the standard term for full-container (FCL) shipments.

CY versus CFS

A container freight station (CFS) is the warehouse, inside or near the port, where loose cargo is stuffed into and stripped out of containers. The CY handles whole containers; the CFS handles the cargo inside them. FCL moves yard to yard; LCL moves CFS to CFS, with the forwarder consolidating several shippers' cargo into one box at origin and deconsolidating it at destination.

The service terms: CY/CY, CFS/CFS and door

• CY/CY: the carrier receives a sealed container at the origin yard and delivers it at the destination yard. Pre-carriage to the origin CY and on-carriage from the destination CY are arranged by the shipper and consignee
• CFS/CFS: the carrier receives loose cargo at the origin CFS and delivers loose cargo at the destination CFS
• CY/CFS and CFS/CY: a full container at one end and loose cargo at the other
• CY/door, door/CY and CY/SD (store door): the carrier or forwarder also arranges the inland leg to or from the premises

What the CY tracking events mean

At origin, the trucker collects an empty from the depot, the shipper loads and seals it, and it is delivered to the terminal before the CY cut-off. "Export received at CY" or "gate in" is the terminal confirming the container is in the carrier's hands. The equipment interchange receipt records the container and seal numbers and its condition, and from that point the carrier is responsible for it. Miss the cut-off and the container waits for the next sailing.

At destination, "discharged" and "available at CY" mean the box is off the vessel and can be collected once customs and the carrier's release are in place; "gate out" is the trucker leaving with it, and "empty received at CY" or "empty returned" closes the cycle when the box goes back to the depot.

Free time at the yard

Import containers get a number of free days in the yard after discharge, set by the carrier's tariff or your service contract; after that the terminal or carrier charges demurrage per container per day. Export containers have an earliest receiving date before which the terminal will not accept them. The FMC's billing rule requires any demurrage invoice to state the free time allowed, its start and end dates and, for imports, the container availability date, so keep the CY events from your tracking to check it. Once the container leaves the yard the clock switches to detention, which runs until the empty is returned.

Yard, terminal and depot

The terminal is the whole facility (berths, cranes, gates and yard), run by a marine terminal operator. The container yard is the storage and interchange area inside it. A depot is an off-terminal yard, often run by the carrier or a leasing company, where empties are stored, inspected and repaired; empty pick-ups and returns usually happen at a depot rather than at the port.

Following your container with Airlift

• Container tracking shows CY events by container or bill of lading number
• The transit-time estimator and lane pages such as India to USA and China to USA show the port-to-port time between the yards
• Our drayage service schedules the pickup as soon as the container is available, so free time is not lost
• The port code directory lists port and terminal codes for the yards on your route