Terminal Handling Charge (THC) is a service fee charged by ocean carriers to their customers for loading and unloading containers in ports.THC generally refers to the cost of infrastructure maintenance in ports as well as loading and unloading costs. These charges are mainly used for the logistics and transportation of goods from the terminal to the container yard.
Terminal Handling Charge (THC) is a fee stipulated in the service agreement signed between the port authority and the shipping company.THC is calculated according to the volume and weight of each container.
The THC charge is incurred during the transportation process and is equivalent to, but more inclusive than, the handling charge for general cargo transportation. In fact, this charge includes all the costs related to containers generated from the ship to the yard or yard to the ship.
Generally including the following items: container handling charges, terminal weighing fees, towing fees, chassis car fees, lashing fees, etc., and THC cost is the container in the above operations in the sum of the costs.
The differences between Terminal Handling Charge and wharfage
Terminal Handling Charge (THC) is the fee charged by the shipping company in the port for the maintenance of port infrastructure and operation services. Wharfage, on the other hand, refers to the cost of berthing individual containers charged by the transportation company at the port.
In other words, THC fee is the service fee charged by the shipping company to the customer, while wharfage is the berthing fee charged by the transportation company to the customer.
- Different cost bearers: THC is usually charged by the shipping company or bill of lading agent to the shipping forwarder or the direct cargo owner, while wharfage is charged by the transportation company directly to the customer.
- Different calculation methods: THC fee is calculated according to the volume and weight of the container, while wharfage is calculated according to the berthing time of a single container.
- Different size of fees: In the same port, THC fees are generally higher than terminal fees, because THC fees include the maintenance costs of port infrastructure and operations, while wharfage are only berthing costs.
If you want to learn about more content of wharfage,click this article:
Who bears the Terminal Handling Charge?
These charges are usually paid by the shipping line or logistics company to the terminal or warehouse operator, but there are cases where the customer is responsible for some or all of the THC charges.
In international trade, Terminal Handling Charges are usually paid by the shipping line or logistics company, as these companies are responsible for transporting the goods and using logistics nodes such as terminals and warehouses for loading, unloading and stowage. However, in some cases, the customer may be responsible for some or all of the THC charges.
For example:
1. When the customer chooses to use the shipping company’s standard services, the shipping company usually bears the THC charges. However, if the Customer chooses to use the shipping line’s express service or special service, then the THC charges may be passed on to the Customer.
2. When the customer chooses to use the services of a freight forwarder, the agency fee usually includes the THC charges. Agency fee is a service fee charged by the freight forwarder to the customer, which includes the agent’s fee for arranging cargo transportation, handling documents and other services for the customer, as well as the fee for paying terminal operation charges such as Terminal Handling Charge.
THC fees are generally to let the merchant to bear, but this then does not necessarily arise, and we do cross-border e-commerce platform in general through the customs, may also want to pay attention to the customs fees, so the merchant to consider the cost.
