Arrival Notice

Definition

An arrival notice is the document the carrier or forwarder sends to inform the consignee that a shipment has arrived or is about to arrive at the destination port, along with charges due and instructions for cargo release.

Why it matters

The arrival notice starts the clock on customs clearance and pickup. It also lists charges that must be reconciled. Acting late on it causes storage and demurrage costs.

What the arrival notice contains

A complete arrival notice includes the vessel and voyage, the estimated and actual arrival date, the container number and size, the port of discharge, the freight charges and any origin or destination charges due, the free time allowance, the last free day, and instructions for obtaining the delivery order or release. In an NVOCC arrangement, the forwarder issues a separate arrival notice to the shipper or consignee based on the master arrival notice from the carrier. Both must be matched to the job and actioned, not just filed.

The charges on the arrival notice

Arrival notices typically list freight charges (if collect), destination charges such as terminal handling, chassis, and documentation fees, and any advance charges or disbursements the forwarder paid on behalf of the shipper at origin. These charges must be reconciled against the original quote before the job is invoiced. A charge on the arrival notice that was not on the quote is either a legitimate add-on that must be passed to the shipper, or a billing error that must be disputed with the carrier before the shipper is invoiced. Letting charges through without reconciliation is how margin erodes on otherwise clean jobs.

Why the arrival notice is a deadline document, not a notification

The arrival notice is the most time-sensitive document in the ocean import job lifecycle after the ISF. It triggers the customs entry filing, the delivery order request, drayage scheduling, and the free time clock simultaneously. A team that reads arrival notices reactively, when someone happens to see the email, will consistently be late on one or more of these steps. The difference between treating the arrival notice as a deadline-bearing trigger versus a notification to read at some point is the difference between a job that clears and delivers before demurrage accrues and one that does not.