Every ocean booking carries three deadlines: the SI cut-off (shipping instruction data to the carrier, typically 24–72 hours before the documentation deadline), the VGM cut-off (the SOLAS-mandated weight declaration, usually 1–3 days before ETD), and the CY or gate-in cut-off (the physical container into the terminal, typically 12–24 hours before ETD). Miss any one and the cargo risks rolling to the next vessel — with the charges and the apology that follow.
| Clock | What's due | Typical window | If missed |
|---|---|---|---|
| SI | B/L data — shipper, consignee, cargo description — submitted to the carrier | 24–72 h before documentation deadline | B/L drafted wrong, or the box rolls |
| VGM | SOLAS verified gross mass declaration | 1–3 days before ETD | No loading — the terminal has no discretion |
| CY / gate-in | The physical container through the terminal gate | 12–24 h before ETD | Rolled to the next sailing |
WINDOWS: TYPICAL CARRIER PRACTICE; EXACT TIMES VARY BY CARRIER, PORT AND SAILING — READ THE BOOKING CONFIRMATION
What is the SI cut-off — and who submits it?
The shipping instruction (S/O in much of Asia) is the data the carrier uses to draft the bill of lading: shipper, consignee, notify party, cargo description, marks and numbers. The forwarder submits it, built from the job file — which is why a job order born incomplete turns the SI into a scramble. Submit late and the carrier drafts from whatever it has; submit wrong and the correction carries an amendment fee. Either way the error is now on a legal document.
Why can’t the terminal waive the VGM cut-off?
Because it isn’t the terminal’s rule. Verified gross mass is a SOLAS mandate — international maritime law, written after mis-declared container weights contributed to casualties. No VGM, no loading: the terminal has no discretion to extend, however good your relationship. Of the three clocks it is the least forgiving, and the one most often owed by someone outside your building — the shipper who weighed the box.
What does a rolled container actually cost?
During the 2020–21 capacity crunch, rollover rates at major transshipment hubs hit 37% (Ocean Insights data, via Cogoport) — crisis-era numbers, but proof of how bad rolling gets when vessels are tight. The meter that then starts: demurrage commonly runs $100–300 per container per day and detention $150–400 per day, so a box that waits two weeks for the next sailing can accumulate $1,400–7,000 in charges — before the commercial damage of telling your customer their cargo didn’t sail. Weigh that against the cost of the desk time that missed the clock in the calculator.
How do you run forty bookings against three clocks each?
Backwards. Each clock has a lead task — SI drafted, VGM chased from the shipper, trucker nudged for gate-in — and the discipline is working back from the deadline, not reacting to it. That is a calendar problem at four bookings and a staffing problem at forty, which is why Booking Desk AI attaches the cut-off clocks to every job the moment the booking confirmation lands and works them backwards itself — escalating to a human with time to spare, not after the vessel closed. The mechanics are on how it works, and the full cut-off playbook is in the guide.
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