In plain English
It describes a shipment that is too small to take up an entire shipping container by itself. The goods move in one container together with cargo from other shippers.
In context
In the quote, it names the booking option where the shipment would travel in a container shared with goods from other shippers because one shipper’s goods do not fill a whole container.
- Situation
- Coordinating freight quotes, booking, consolidation, handoff, and transport documents
- What it communicates
- names the shared-container booking option in the quote.
Meaning limits
By itself, the term identifies only this shared-container shipment type and does not establish any other shipment details.
Examples
“The exporter shipped the eight cartons as LCL because they were nowhere near enough to fill a container alone.”
“Since the order was only three pallets, the forwarder booked it as LCL for the next sailing.”