Full Container Load / FCL

In sea freight, the abbreviation FCL means full container loading. FCL stands for the English term “Full Container Load” – in contrast to “Less than Container Load” or LCL, a load that only partially fills a container.
In merchant shipping, 20′ and 40′ standard containers according to ISO standards (so-called ISO containers) with the following dimensions are mainly used:

• 20′ container: length 6.095 m; height 2.352 m; width 2,393 m; Volume 33.2 m³
• 40′ container: length 12.032 m; height 2.352 m; width 2,393 m; Volume 67.7 m³

These two container types are used millions of times in sea transport. There are also other standard containers, some of which have different dimensions. When fully loaded, a 20′ container can hold around 10,000 items of clothing or 20,000 watches. However, FCL loads are also used for bulky goods, i.e. large individual items with specific dimensions. For example, vehicle transports can also be organized as FCL transport.
Since FCL loads are transported without further transhipment and are comparatively convenient to handle, the transport is usually faster and easier than with Less than Container Loads (LCL) transports .