Co-loader

A forwarder with only a few cubic meters for a destination usually cannot fill a container on its own. Instead it books the cargo with a co-loader, often an NVOCC that runs scheduled consolidation services. The co-loader combines cargo from many forwarders into one container, ships it under its own master bill of lading and deconsolidates it at destination through its own office or agent.

Co-loading is a wholesale arrangement. The co-loader's customer is the forwarder, not the cargo owner, and in most cases the shipper never deals with the co-loader directly. The forwarder issues its own house bill to the shipper, the co-loader issues its bill to the forwarder, and the shipping line issues the master bill to the co-loader. The word co-loading is also used when two forwarders simply share a container on equal terms.

Co-loading lets a small forwarder offer LCL to many destinations without running its own consolidations. For example, a forwarder with 4 CBM for a port where it has no weekly service can buy space from a co-loader at a per-CBM rate and add its own margin. The trade-offs are less control over cut-offs and transit times, and an extra party in the document chain whose papers must stay consistent with the forwarder's own.