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FreightRatesMCP Insights & news
The freight desk, in writing.
A daily read on what's moving the ocean trades, and the part of it that lands on your shipments. We comment and link; we don't republish.
Container tracking API vs MCP: how AI agents track ocean freight
A REST tracking API makes your code do the work. An MCP server lets an AI agent do it in one tool-call. Here is the real difference for anyone wiring ocean-freight visibility into an assistant.
The container packing checklist a weighbridge can't argue with
A loader's field checklist for packing to the CTU Code: VGM, weight distribution, centre of gravity, segregation and securing, with the two diagrams that stop a legally-stuffed box becoming an illegal truck.
Read →MSC demurrage & detention free time, port by port: how to read it
Demurrage and detention are two different clocks, and most shippers misread which one is running. Here is how MSC free time actually works, why it changes by port, and how to check the live figure before the charges start.
Read →How to track a container by Bill of Lading number
You have a Bill of Lading number and no idea where the box is. Here is what a B/L, a booking and a container number each are, which one to track with, and the milestone flow you should expect from booking to delivery.
Read →Which carrier actually sails on time?
Every carrier says they are reliable. The only honest answer comes from comparing scheduled arrivals to the ones that actually happened, per lane. Here is how to read on-time reliability: why the p50/p90 spread matters more than the average.
Read →An alliance reshuffles: the service keeps its name, the ships change
When carriers redraw their networks, the service code often survives while the vessels, ports and transit underneath it move. Track the hulls, not the label.
Read →Blank sailings are climbing again: book the hull that still shows up
When carriers pull capacity to prop up rates, the nominal schedule starts lying. Book on reliability, not on the timetable.
Read →The Cape reroute, in transit days: what +10–14 does to your plan
When East–West services route around the Cape of Good Hope, the headline is the diversion. The number that hits your business is the extra transit.
Read →New IMDG amendments: what actually changes on the dock
IMDG updates land on a cycle, and most of the text never touches your day. The parts that do are segregation and what goes on the box: get those into the plan.
Read →North European congestion is back: what berth waits do to your ETA
When Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg clog up, the carrier’s published ETA is the last thing to admit it. Here’s the knock-on, and how to see it first.
Read →VGM mismatches still bump boxes: get the verified weight right
The SOLAS verified gross mass rule is old news, but a wrong or missing VGM still rolls containers at the gate. It’s a planning problem, not a paperwork one.
Read →When a US West Coast hub backs up, your ETA knows before the news does
Rising dwell at LA/Long Beach or Oakland shows up in your container’s real timeline days before it makes a headline. Watch the port, not the press.
Read →Packing to the CTU Code, not by eye
Most container loading is done from experience and a tape measure. The rules cargo actually ships under, CTU, IMDG, axle and CoG, belong in the plan, before the doors close.
Read →Stop comparing the same sailing three times
Carriers share vessels, so most schedule tools show one sailing as three near-identical rows. Grouping by the physical hull is how a freight desk actually thinks.
Read →Why your tracking says “100% complete” on a box that hasn’t sailed
The most common lie in container tracking is a confident status with no event behind it. Here is how to tell a truthful ETA from a hopeful one.
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