Page 250 - DMGT546_INTERNATIONAL_TRADE_PROCEDURE_AND_DOCUMENTATION

Unit 11: Inland Container Depots

up containers, smaller vessels providing the feeder services to and from other ports served by Notes
the transhipment port.
Further penetration of containers from the ports to inland destinations was a logical extension
of this massive growth in the containerised movement of international cargo resulting in the
setting up of Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and Container Freight Stations (CFSs). Operational
versatility of containers has brought into effect the concept of land bridging, that is, substitution
of the part of the ocean route by shorter land route. With mini land bridges providing coast to
coast overland bridges and micro land bridges linking ports with inland locations, a cost-
effective multi modal system has evolved.

With the setting up of ICDs/CFSs, the shipping services are now closer to business/commercial
centres, giving the added advantage of issuing through bills of lading and discounting by the
banks providing for easy cash liquidity.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
11. CONCOR started functioning from March ........................
12. CONCOR took over ................. ICDs on 1st November 1989 from Indian Railways.
13. Out of the ................... major ports in the country, only Madras, Haldia and Nehru Ports
have full-fledged container terminals.
14. The ....................................... was constituted as an autonomous public sector undertaking
under the Ministry of Railways in March 1988.
15. The basic objective of CONCOR is to organise .............................. transport logistics with
prime task of facilitating the nation’s foreign trade.

11.7 Summary

Both ICD and CFS is an infrastructure facility, owned and operated by public or private
authority, especially designed for offering services of handling, storage and movement of
containerized cargo and cargo under Customs supervision.
ICD/CFS is a logistic hub for LCL cargo thus consolidation became more easy.
ICD/CFS assist exporter/importer is reducing inventory cost.

ICD/CFS are owned and operated by public and private authorities thus every user gets
quality service at competitive rates.

11.8 Keywords

Inland Container Depot is an organisation offering a total package of activities to handle and
control container and general cargo flows between road, rail and waterways, and vice versa,
resulting in maximum service for inland transportation at minimum costs.

Container Freight Stations (CFS): CFS have been established to speed up export cargo and to
specially help small exporters whose consignments are less than container (LCL) loads.
The Container Corporation of India Ltd. (CONCOR) was constituted as an autonomous public
sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways in March 1988.

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