Trade and customs
VGM: the weight declaration that can stop your container being loaded
Verified gross mass has been mandatory for a decade and it still strands containers every week.
From the team behind Tracktainer
What we learn from tracking containers all day.
We track containers across 170+ shipping lines every day, and a person checks the data by hand when it does not add up. These are the notes from that work: charges nobody warned you about, statuses that mislead, paperwork that does not match the cargo.
Container, bill of lading or booking · 3 free credits
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Tracking know-how
Stop tracking containers one by one
If your team checks containers individually on carrier websites, the cost is not the subscription you are avoiding.
Tracking know-how
Every party calls it something different: a short guide to shipment references
House bill, master bill, booking, job number. Same shipment, five names, and one of them is the one your customer knows.
Trade and customs
Dangerous goods: the paperwork that has to be right before anything moves
IMDG cargo has no room for approximation. The declaration is a legal document and errors carry weight.
Logistics tech
What machine learning can and cannot do for shipment visibility
Predicted ETAs are genuinely useful. Predicted anything else deserves more scepticism than it usually gets.
Tracking know-how
The vessel name on your tracking changed. Should you worry?
Vessel substitutions and omitted port calls happen weekly. Some are harmless, one type is not.
Trade and customs
LCL or FCL: the break even is lower than most people think
Shared containers look cheaper per cubic metre until you count the handling, the delays and the risk.
Tracking know-how
Port, terminal, berth: why the location on your tracking is vaguer than it looks
One port can hold six terminals run by different operators. Knowing which one saves your haulier a wasted trip.
Tracking know-how
A plain language glossary of container tracking terms
Thirty terms you will meet on a tracking page, explained without circular definitions.
Check a container before you finish reading.
Paste a container number, bill of lading or booking reference. We detect the carrier across 170+ shipping lines. Three tracking credits are free, no card needed.
Looking for the tool itself? Container tracking on tracktainer.com