Wondering about the term container enquiry? Let us help you clear your doubts. Find all the information you need in this blog and understand this crucial term for your business.
Imagine you have a container full of cargo that has just left the depot. You’re not aware of when it’s going to reach the port of discharge and be loaded onto the ship. You’ve let go of your container but you are constantly worrying about its whereabouts.
What if we told you that we have a way to ease your tension? By giving you near real-time updates about your container’s entire journey after it leaves the depot. Not just that we’re also able to notify you about any delays and help you with any conflict management if required.
If this sounds good to you, let’s move ahead to find out how you can avail these important container monitoring benefits.
What is container enquiry?
As mentioned above, worrying constantly about your container’s location can be stressful. This is where container enquiry can help you eliminate your tension. That’s because container enquiry is nothing but container tracking or as we, at Container xChange, call it, container monitoring.
Container monitoring is a crucial step in the shipping process. It enables you to follow your containers and make sure they are delivered to the right destination. It can help you keep track of the status of your shipments and make sure they reach their destination on schedule. Container enquiry can also help you discover and handle problems like delays or misplaced containers during the shipment process.
To have a better idea of how monitoring your containers can be beneficial for you have a look at the image below.
Container enquiry: Track shipments with Container Control on Container xChange
So, going back to the start, how can you now get all the benefits mentioned at the beginning? Container xChange offers you an innovative product called Container Control. Through this, you can get an overview of all the containers you’re moving. You can also monitor them in near real-time from the pick-up location to the drop-off location. This is a real game changer when it comes to container enquiry and monitoring.
With Container Control, you’ll get a clear overview of all the containers you’re moving and monitor their journey in near real-time. From pick-up to drop-off.
This is how it works:
Looks good, doesn’t it? Let’s move on to its features now. Container Control has two main parts namely:
Release reference
Let’s look at two quick scenarios to help you understand the how this feature can help you:
Scene 1
You get delayed information from leasing companies, which is not completely accurate. This makes it difficult for you to understand which containers were picked up or dropped off, when, and where.
Scene 2
You’re having trouble with matching release references to the shipper’s requests. Because you have to allocate a few release references to one shipper’s request. This is a tedious process of manually making notes of when the container was released, when is it ready for pickup, etc.
How the release reference feature can help you
This is where our release reference feature can help you out. This feature allows you to get data directly from depots in near real-time, to quickly learn which boxes have been picked up, and where and when. So, you can say goodbye to delays because you have full transparency and direct access to the information. And with full access to the status of your containers, you can reduce depot costs and demurrage and detention charges.
With this feature, you can also view details such as ETAWhat is estimated time of arrival? Estimated time of arrival, commonly known as ETA, is a frequently used term globally to denote the time of coming. In the shipping & logistics industry, it is ... More, point of discharge, free days, and per diems. Because we directly confirm release references with the depot, you’ll know exactly which containers are ready to be picked up. Without having to email back and forth and get near real-time monitoring of pickup and drop-offs and full support from us if you encounter any problems with your container movement.
To make your manual work simpler, you can easily connect bookings to container release orders (references) and monitor updates related to each booking and container. We also automatically upload your release references and confirm their releases with the depot, so everything moves at a faster pace.
An important note to take into account here is that you can also upload release references outside of xChange. Simply put, you can upload non-xChange release references and xChange release references in one place.
Booking Manager
Booking ManagerWith the booking manager, you can manage all your bookings under one platform and monitor the container’s journey. Once you have everything in one place, you can assign containers from release references. This gives you full transparency on bookings to monitor updates for all bookings of every single container at each release level.
So, a mix of these two features makes up Container Control. This simplifies your container enquiry process. With Container Control, you’ll never have to worry about the whereabouts of your container again!
Excited to try out Container Control? Then go ahead and experience it for yourself by clicking right here to let our team of specialists show you how it works to simplify container monitoring.
Now the benefits of Container Control for container enquiry are aplenty. But to make the best use of these advantages you can lease boxes on our platform. This is because with container leasing you get a free subscription to Container Control, so you get all the benefits of Container Control at no added costs by leasing a container.
But if you’re on the fence about leasing, let us tell you why you should lease boxes.
- The flexibility of leasing containers for however long you need them can make it easier for you to do your job. They’re the perfect option for one-time or short-term use.
- With leasing, you also get to avoid paying hefty maintenance costs for the box you probably won’t use for long.
- Also, if you don’t have enough capital at hand but need containers for a shipment, leasing is the way to go.
Opt for an easy online container and freight tracking system with Container xChange
So, do you want to make your container enquiry an easy process? Then you should get to leasing boxes on our platform right away. Once you step onto our marketplace, you can look through various container types and conditions and pick one that’s best suited for your cargo. You can then look at our vetted partner’s company profiles and check out the ratings and reviews left by others who’ve worked with them. This can help you decide who you want to collaborate with.
After this, you can message or call them directly from our platform to connect with them and start negotiating deals that work best for you. With our competitive rates, zero hidden costs, and transparent marketplace, you’ll get to see all the rates and fees stated upfront so you can negotiate better.
So go on and grab a good deal on container leasing to get free access to all the benefits of container control to help streamline your container enquiry. Click the banner below to let our expert team answer all your questions as they show you around our marketplace.
Why should you pick Container xChange? Customers speak
If you need a little more insight as to why you should choose us, let our existing customers help convince you.
Story 1:
CEO of VMR Lines, Rehan Khan, is very impressed with our release reference handling and says,
“With xChange you can get a release reference within 5 minutes. We can now just add the ports where we have no or almost no equipment and find most traders or leasing companies that can help us out. What surprised me, in the beginning, was how fast companies provide the release reference on xChange!”
Story 2:
Founder of Grunsky Trading Company, James Grunsky, talks about how xChange has been a massive help in procuring containers all over the world.
He says, “Not just find them, but the flexibility to move or trade them from one point of the world to another is amazing. It’s not only about trading containers but also the payment infrastructure and incredibly helpful tracking systems. For example, in December 2021, I bought 84 40 HC units in Antwerp, Belgium, and sent them to Shenyang, China. A little later, I realized that I was supposed to send them somewhere else and I got the destination port wrong! It was through xChange that we could finally move those units out of Shenyang, relocate them to Dalian, and sell them there at higher prices. I don’t know how I would have solved this problem without a platform like xChange”.
You read what our customers have to say about us, why don’t you try out our platform now to check it out for yourself?
Get reliable container enquiry updates on Container xChange
Become a member today to monitor your containers in near real-time and receive container status updates and tracking alerts. Make your manual work smoother by easily connecting bookings to container release orders (references) and monitoring updates related to each booking and container. And get direct updates from depots in near real-time to quickly learn which boxes have been picked up, from where, and when. All your bookings are managed and available in one place without any added costs.
What’s more, lease shipper-owned containers (SOC) one way and save money on empty container repositioning costs as well. By sending your container on a one-way journey say from Los Angeles to Singapore to drop off your cargo without having to worry about repositioning costs after. And after you’ve dropped off your cargo in Singapore you can sell the container again on our platform at a good price and help in repositioning them.
Avoid unexpected demurrage and detention costs by using SOC as you are not obligated to move and/or return the containers to and from the carrier within a certain time frame. As they continue to cost the same per day. Additionally, be exempted from paying exorbitant D&D fees if your container gets stuck in port as a result of vessel delays or port congestion.
Bag that pocket-friendly one-way leasing deal on a SOC container of your choice from a certified member on our platform. And have free access to container control to ensure that your container enquiry process is on point. Click on the banner below to let our expert team help lead the way.
Container enquiry: Common FAQs
What is a container number?
The container number is a complex marking on the door and is a unique alpha-numeric sequence of four letters and seven numbers to identify containers internationally.
How do I check my container status?
A container Tracking System allows you to know where your sea cargo is in the world and gives you the port details.
Can you track the bill of lading?
You can track a bill of lading using the bill of lading number.
Can you track a shipping vessel?
The automatic identification system (AIS) helps track big vessels crossing waters worldwide by offering real-time information about the vessels.
