Freight - is it the transportation of goods or a payment for it?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

"Freight" is a word that came into Russian from German. Literally translated as "cargo". Initially it had several meanings: transportation of goods by sea; payment for it; the transported objects themselves. Nowadays, the definition of freight is understood much broader. The reason for this phenomenon is that the transportation of goods began to be carried out not only by water.

Freight is a payment for the use of transport when moving a large consignment of goods over certain distances. Such a means of transportation can be a truck, an airplane, a ship, and so on. Sea freight is still the most common type of transportation. It includes not only payment for the transportation of passengers and goods, but also in certain cases for loading and delivery to the right place.

Freight is a service that is provided after the conclusion of the contract. It must be in writing. Details such as cost, location,loading time and delivery route. The service is paid most often after the end of the transportation. The price of transportation may depend on the tariff established by the contract for one unit of mass or volume, or be charged on a lump-sum basis for the use of the entire vehicle or part of it. In the latter case, we are talking about a lump sum - a fixed amount of payment. Usually it is levied in the case when dissimilar goods are loaded, the mass and volume of which is difficult to establish.

Payment is determined by agreement of the parties. The size of the freight, as well as the price, is also set by agreement. If nothing is mentioned in the contract about the number of transported objects, it is determined based on the rates that apply at the place of loading.

The so-called "dead" freight is a payment for goods that the client should have presented for transportation, but did not. In practice, this means that the shipper indicated in the contract the number of objects to be transported, but could not provide them in full. However, he is not exempt from the full payment indicated in the document.

There is also such a thing as return freight. Let's say the goods cannot be sent to the port of destination for some reason that is not dependent on the carrier. In this case, the cargo is transported back.

The ship's freight is paid either at the port of departure, or at the place of delivery, or in installments. However, most often this is done after the transportation of the cargo. After all, the right to receive freight arises from the shipownerat the time of the fulfillment of the terms of the contract. As a carrier, he bears commercial risks and is fully responsible for the safety of the cargo. If the goods were not delivered, then, regardless of the reason for this (for example, the loss of the vessel), any obligations given by the client do not en title the shipowner to receive freight. The terms of payment and the time of their implementation may not coincide due to certain objective reasons. The marine insurance contract gives the shipowner a guarantee of receiving remuneration. In certain cases, the consignee may become the payer.