Equipment Hierarchy in OTM

The below image shows the Equipment Hierarchy in OTM

Capacity

Location Capacity:

• Location capacity allows you to define different types of constraints for a particular location.
• When the Check Location Capacity parameter is set to TRUE, location capacity constraints are honored.
• A location is assumed to have unlimited capacity unless it is imposed by capacity constraints.
• While a capacity calendar is closely related to the business calendar, they should not be combined. When creating a capacity calendar, keep in mind the business calendar of the location.
• The relationship between the capacity calendar and a location is established in the location manager roles tab by attaching a location capacity group to the location.

Capacity Limits:

Operational Planning > Capacity Management > Capacity Limits

Capacity Limits can be used to manage service provider inventory of equipment by date range and determine a service provider's available capacity for accepting a shipment for transport.

Capacity Group ID: Capacity Groups allow you to identify and define groups of rate offerings from the same service provider.

Equipment Type ID: OTM measures capacity limits against equipment types for service providers that have available capacity.

To use capacity functionality, you must create an equipment group in shipments with only one equipment type in that group designated for capacity, and then select the same equipment type when you create a capacity limit

Lane ID:Select a Lane ID for this capacity limit.

OTM Integration

Inbound Data Methods

• HTTP

1. WMServlet is the default servlet used when sending the Transmission http://hostname/GC3/glog.integration.servlet.WMServlet 
2. Large Transmission Servlet
3. Transformer Servlet(XSL Files)
4. DirLoad Servlet(The DirLoadServlet does not raise events (like shipment - created for ActualShipment) so automation agents cannot be triggered)

• Send Via Web Interface to Application Tier
• Oracle Advanced Queuing
• Manually Upload XML
• Direct XML Insert into transmission table(pkg/proc name --> pkg_integration_util. insert_transmission).

XML documents being sent inbound to Oracle Transportation Management are not required to specify the namespace in the XML. OTM will automatically generate XID based on BN generators in OTM

Data Queues:

The inbound data queue events reside in the Q_INTEGRATION_IN Data Queue table. 

The outbound data queue events reside in the Q_INTEGRATION_OUT Data Queue table.

By default the PUBLIC queues are inactive. To activate the queues, login as DBA.ADMIN and edit the Data Queue records via the Data Queue Manager (under Business Process Automation à Integration menu). 

Transactions:

You can send many transactions in or out of Oracle Transportation Management in one transmission

but to separate the transactions, every transaction must be wrapped in a GLogXMLElement.

A Transmission Body element wraps one or more GLogXMLElement elements in a Transmission

Transmission Status:

• STAGED: Indicates that the Transmission is initially stored in the transmission tables, and is awaiting some pre-preprocessing steps such as sequencing of the Transactions for processing.
• STAGING: Indicates that the Transmission has been staged and is waiting on a condition to be released for processing. Additional transactions can be added to it prior to processing.
• FRESH: Indicates that the Transmission is waiting to complete processing. The individual transactions may still be processing.
• ERROR: Indicates that the Transmission had completed processing and there were errors in the processing.
• PROCESSED: Indicates that the Transmission successfully completed processing.
• REDO: Indicates that the Transmission is waiting for the REDO logic to initiate re-processing.
• MESSAGE: Indicates that the Transmission is a Message

Blank Out Certain Fields: To delete (null out) values from certain fields in a record (without deleting the whole record), you can specify the (~) character in the element.

Integration Saved Queries:

• Arg Values: The queries are written as SQL statements that contain references to the information in the incoming XML transmission 
• XPath Reference: The queries can also be written using XPath expressions to search for values from specific elements in the XML

Transaction Code  DR (Delete Reference)  will only delete reference between objects and not the object.

Transaction Code RC (Replace Child)  will update the parent element and delete and replaces the child elements.

Processing Codes for TransOrder XML

• NOPLN: Instructs OTM not to plan shipments
• PLN: Instructs OTM to plan shipments from OR assuming transorder setup to create order release already exists

Outbound XML Profiles:  Out XML Profiles are used to exclude portions of outbound XML with a high degree of control.

OTM can automatically change text to upper case when processing the inbound XML by setting the below property to true.

glog.integration.enableCaseChange=true

CutOff and Recovery Times

Cut-off Time: The time before which Deliveries need to be brought to the origin airport prior to a flight.

Recovery Time: Certain amount of time that the delivery must wait at the destination before it is ready.

• Both of them can be applied at rate service, service provider and location level
• If there are multiple Cut-off Recovery Time records that apply to a particular shipment, OTM looks first at the rate service, then the service provider, and finally the location.
• The times are also listed as wait time for the associated shipment stop

Buy Shipment Actions

Append Shipment: If the append-to shipment has handling shipments or secondary charges, or is in a shipment group, you will not be able to append the shipment

• Shipment1 - last stop is a drop-off
• Shipment1 last stop and Shipment2  first stop must be the same location
• Shipment1 must not be tendered
• Shipment2 must not be in-transit
• Shipment1 and Shipment2 should have only one freight s_equipment

Divert Shipment: is used to change destination location for a shipment.

Split Shipment: When splitting a shipment, you have the option of splitting to a direct shipment or a parallel shipment.

Direct: 

Parallel: takes on the characteristics of the original shipment

Console: It places the shipment on a new consolidation shipment

A new shipment, when split, does not go through a replanning process but takes on the characteristics of the original shipment; for example, same start and end time; same source and destination location, same rate offering, same rate service, same equipment, same preceding and succeeding shipments

Approve For Execution Action:

• Select this option when you do not want the shipment tendered automatically.
• To approve a shipment for execution and tender it automatically, select Secure Resources Action
• You can execute shipments that have the status value SECURE_RESOURCES_NOT STARTED.
• When you approve a shipment for execution, OTM changes the status to REVIEW_EXECUTE.

Commitment Allocaiton

Commitment allocations are percentage commitments to your carriers.

Commitment allocations are a lane-level percentages assigned at Rate Offering/Service Provider level. If you want assign service provider A with 30% of Shipments and Service Provider B with 70% of shipments for a particular lane, then set the allocation percentage for that service provider A to be 30% and service provider B to 70%.

If you want to set-up percentage allocations to repeat on weekly/monthly/quarterly/annually, then select the option while creating commitment allocation.

Commitment allocation is considered by the planning engine if the plan shipments with carrier commitment parameter is TRUE

Note: When each of two carriers has an unfulfilled commitment count, but only one has an unfulfilled allocation percentage commitment, the one with the unfulfilled percentage commitment takes priority.
 
Note: Allocation by rate offering is supported for setup, tracking, and service provider. Allocation by rate offering is not supported for route selection or container optimization.
 
Assign allocation group if you want to be able to define different commitment allocations on the same lane

Note: The parameter APPLY ALLOCATION GROUP ON PRIMARY LEG ONLY impacts this. The parameter determines whether the allocation group from the order will be matched to the allocation group on the commitment allocation for all shipments on the itinerary path or only the shipment on the primary leg

Order Release Actions for Shipment Creation

Bulk Plan:

Bulk planning is the consolidation of two or more orders into one or more shipments
Use this action when you want Oracle Transportation Management to determine the optimal shipment plan for multiple order releases at one time. Oracle Transportation Management builds direct or multi-stop shipments with the least cost.
Oracle Transportation Management does not automatically split orders to maximize equipment capacity, but tries to put as many whole orders as possible on a piece of equipment

When you initiate the bulk plan action, Oracle Transportation Management asks you to specify a parameter set that determines the parameter settings that are used to process the bulk plan. The default parameter set configured for the domain in Domain Settings appears if a default was configured

The bulk planner first bundles orders that have the same source and destination and then consolidates the remaining orders into multi-stop shipments, if possible. The remaining orders that cannot be bundled or consolidated are built into direct shipments

Show Routing Options:

Use this action when you want to create a shipment (buy or sell), and want to review and assign an itinerary from a valid list generated by OTM

Show Network Routing Options:

This action considers both itineraries and routing networks, and uses network routing to determine what possible routes are available

Show Network Routing Options - Ocean:

This action focuses on ocean shipments with the primary leg being the ocean leg. Instead of giving a list of possible routes, it shows the vessel options enabling you to pick the best option for you based on the most important leg.

Build Buy Shipment on Primary Leg:

The order will be scheduled on a main leg of a valid itinerary. Order movements are created for all the legs on the itinerary. Only the main leg order movement is scheduled to a shipment; either consol, ground schedule, or ordinary shipments


If the order release you are working with already belongs to a shipment, it is removed from that shipment and resent through the planning logic. Potentially, it can be put onto a new shipment

The order release status value is set to PLANNING_PLANNED - FINAL after a shipment is successfully created

Order Release Agents

Below are the Order Release Agent Actions which can be used on Order Release Agents

ORDER RELEASE - MOD - PROPAGATE CHANGES : This agent action can be used to propagate changes on Order Release changes to Shipment/Order Movement.

If ship units do not exist on order release before propagation, then OTM builds new ship units using the order configuration on the order release.

If you want ship units to be recalculated on Order Release before propagating the changes to shipment, set-up the agent as Pre-Persist agent.

Below options can be selected at the agent action addition

• Propagate ship unit quantity.
• Propagate pick-up dates.
• Propagate delivery dates.
• Propagate equipment change.
• Recalculate cost.
• Propagate special service change.

ORDER RELEASE - MOD - NO PROCESSING: If you do not want to save Order release, then call this agent action from order release pre persist agent and then order’s status ORDER MODIFIED is set to ORDER MODIFIED_DENIED.

ORDER RELEASE - MOD - EDIT SHIPMENT: OR ship units will be regenerated if it were created from OR lines, else OR ship units will be recalculated. Both recalculation and regeneration will be done based on order configuration.

Then, shipments will be edited according to the changes on the order release.

Note: This action only applies to orders that have not been split, either across shipments or shipment equipment.

ORDER RELEASE - MOD - FUTURE PROCESSING: This will persist(save) the order changes without modifying the related shipment and set order’s status ORDER MODIFIED to ORDER MODIFIED_MODIFIED.

ORDER RELEASE - MOD - FULL IMPACT: This agent action will impact everything related to the order release. It will do the following:

• Delete bills.
• Delete unmatched shipment invoices.
• Remove tender offers.
• Unassign the order release from shipments.
• Delete the order’s ship unit if ship units are created from order release lines or order base lines.
• Recreate/calculate order ship units.
• Build shipments for the order release.

Order Release

Order Release can be created in OTM by

1. Releasing Order Base
2. Manually creating Order Release via UI
3. Sending Release Xml from external application

An order release always contains at least one ship unit and one line item

Ship Unit/Line Update:

• Any updates on Ship units or ship unit line of order release will automatically update the released quantities on the order base ship unit or order base line respectively. 
• Deleting order releases also updates the appropriate values on the order base. 
• Ship units or ship unit lines that are added to an order release are not reflected on the original order base and these new records do not impact the order base

OTM uses the plan from/to locations on the order release as the source/destination location during shipment planning. If these fields are blank, OTM uses the source/destination location fields to plan a shipment

If you specify a source location and not a plan from location, the plan from location field will be automatically populated with the substitute location(if exits) from the location manager

If a port of load or port of discharge is defined for an order release, then for an itinerary to be valid, it must have a matching via Source or via destination location respectively.

Order Base Actions

There are many actions available on Order Base screen which can be used to release order.There are few actions available on Order Base Ship Unit / Line Item screen as well to release order.

Order Base Actions:

• Release Lines: Allows you to add release instructions or mark the line shippable. This action will attempt to bundle lines from different order bases.
• Release Ship Units : Allows you to add release instructions or mark the line shippable
• Re-Release Order Base: Deletes existing order releases and re-processes the existing release instructions.

Order Base Ship Unit Actions:

• Release Ship Units: Allows you to add release instructions or mark the line shippable

Order Base Line Actions:

• Ready to Ship : Prompts for line/ship unit information, defaulting to the remaining amount to release. Data entered is used to create and process a new release instruction
• Release Remaining Order Amount : Creates and processes a release instruction for the remaining unreleased amount.
• Release Total Order Amount: Creates and process a release instruction for the full amount, regardless of existing release instructions.

Release Instructions

Release instructions decide how many ship units/lines should be released to create order release  and can be entered on Order Base Ship Unit or Order Base Line.

Release Instructions can be added at Ship Unit or at Line level

Release Instructions can be created in two ways

1) Can be added manually added via UI or sent via XML

• Shippable flag on Line/Ship Unit should not be selected
• Allow Releasing check box should be selected

2) Automatically release Order Base

• if Shippable flag on Line/Ship Unit is selected, OTM would create Release for full amount. After processing the release instruction, OTM will check the processed check box

In the Release Instruction field, select one of the following:

• Unit Amount: unit amount to release.
• Weight : amount of weight to release.
• Volume : amount of volume to release.

Allow Releasing CheckBox: to allow the release instruction to release the quantities you specify.

You can enter Source/Destination Locations to override the Source/Destination Locations on Order Base.

 Enter a Release Date to control when the order release is created for the release instruction. Later 

Order Release process should be scheduled to run from the process manager on the date/time. If no Release Date is entered, then Order Releases would be created once release instruction is saved.

Note: If you want all ship units/lines to be released every time, then order releases can be inserted from Release interface directly into OTM with out Order Bases

Order Configuration

Order Configuration can be linked to both Order Bases and Order Releases. If order configuration is entered at  Order Base level, it will be propagated to Order Release after its creation.

Order Configuration can be used to create Ship Units on Order Releases if Order Bases does not contain Ship Units.
Order Configuration can also be used to determine values for certain fields.

• The Order Base/Release Creation field on the release configuration should be set to Ship Unit if ship units will be specified. If only order lines will be provided and OTM is to build the ship units, the Order Base/Release Creation setting should be set to Line.

• Order Configuration/Order Base: 

If you do not fill the Net Weight, Net Volume, Total Package Count, and Packaging Unit Count fields on the Order Base Line window, the definitions on this page will be used to calculate those values based on information from other fields

Allow Over Releasing: Select this check box if users can release more items than originally defined.

Single Release Per Instruction: Select this option if there will be only one order release per instruction.

• Order Configuration/Order Release 

1) When Order Configuration is of Type Line, Order Configuration will create Ship Units on Order Release

Select the Allow Repack option if you want all lines to be placed into one ship unit

2) When Order Configuration is of Type Ship Unit, Weight and Volume will be calculated on Order  Release based on the formula you select

Ship Unit Calculation:

Calculate Ship Unit Metrics from Ship Unit Line:

Create/Update Single Ship Unit Line for Ship Unit: 

Calculate Ship Unit Metrics Within Ship Unit/Ignore Lines

Order Base Agents

Pre-Persist Agents:

1) As soon as order is received in OTM via Integration, Public Agent ORDER BASE - INSERT will be triggered with agent action "ORDER BASE - INSERT" which does the following

• If the Shippable flag is 'Y' in TransOrder xml, then OTM creates either order base line or ship unit release instructions for the full amount. Then, de-selects the Shippable check box.
• Updates the released count on the order base line or ship unit each time a release instruction is processed.
• In addition, below parameters can be selected for the above Agent Action which indicates if Buy or Sell Shipment to be created 

2) If you Don’t want to save Order Base modifications done via xml to database , then use agent action "Order Base - Mod - No Processing" (on agent with event order modified with before persist restriction) and agent sets the order release’s ORDER BASE MODIFIED status to ORDER BASE MODIFIED_DENIED

3) If you want to delete Order Bases via Agent, use agent action Order Base - Delete which Unassigns order releases(if shipments exist), then deletes order movements, then deletes order release and then order base

4) Order Base - Mod - Full Impact Agent Action does the below steps

• Deletes Bills
• If its auto generated invoice, then deletes invoice, if unable to delete invoice, then un-matches the invoice(status set to INVOICE MODIFIED_DENIED)
• Withdraws tenders on all related shipments
• Re-releases the order base and sets order base status to ORDER BASE MODIFIED_MODIFIED
• Re-plans the order release and sets order release status to ORDER MODIFIED_MODIFIED
• In addition, below parameters can be selected for the above Agent Action which indicates if Buy or Sell Shipment to be created 

Order Base

Order Base in OTM represents the total amount of product ordered.Its a requirement for movement of goods from one location to another location.

Order Base can be created in OTM in two ways

1. Sending TransOrder XML from External Application
2. Create Order Bases via OTM UI

Processing Code will be sent only via TransOrder XML interface.

• PLN value indicates planning of shipments happen automatically
• NOPLN value indicates planning of shipments to be done manually

Note: Order Bases can contain both Ship Units and  Line Items or only one of them, but Order Releases must have Line Items at the time of creation and Ship Units can be calculated later using Order Configuration or Agent Actions

 Order Configuration  determines how ship units are created on order bases/releases and how calculations(Weight/Volume) are to be performed when an order is being built

If inbound order base and order release XML integrations does not have ReleaseMethodGid element, then OTM will default the release method to SHIP_UNIT_LINES for orders with ship units and ONE_TO_ONE for orders with order lines only. These defaults may be changed via the glog.releasemethod.shipunit.default and glog.releasemethod.line.default properties

Release instructions decide how many ship units/lines should be released to create order release  and can be entered on Order Base Ship Unit or Order Base Line.

Constraints

• Order-level constraints only impact the planning of the primary leg. Leg-level constraints can be used to influence the planning of any other itinerary leg
• If Rate Offering and Itinerary Constraints are entered on Order Base, these entries override the "Active" state of those business objects as well as any effective or expiration dates
•  Multiple Orders with same Ship With Group values can be grouped for shipment creation. Orders with different Ship With Group values cannot be grouped together for Shipment Creation.

By default, Pre-Persist Order Base Public Agents are enabled to allow processing of TransOrder XML into OTM. 

OTM Terminology

Order Base represents a requirement to move freight from one location to another location. Order base contains detailed information about the order like the involved party, scheduling information, source and destination locations, accessorials, special services, ship units and line items.

Order Release is created from Order  Base indicating that the order is ready for Shipment. An order release can be for the entire amount (count, weight, volume), an entire order or a portion of an order depending on what you want to release for transportation.

Order Movement is created from Order Releases based on Routing(multiple order movements for different transportation modes).

Buy Shipment represent the physical movement of freight from one location to another location. Its a service you buy from Service Provider. Payment will be done to the service provider for the delivery of goods from source to destination.

Sell shipment represent the cost for shipping freight to a specific final customer and contains the order for only one customer. Freight Cost will be billed to Customer.

Invoice is documented payments owed to service providers, carriers, and other parties.Invoices are buy-side records.

Bill is documented payments due from shippers and other customers. Bills are sell-side records.

Voucher is an authorization to pay all or part of the amount due on a payment invoice. Vouchers are typically created when an invoice is approved for payment.The actual payment of a voucher is performed by an accounts receivable system once the voucher has been issued.

Some other terminologies used in OTM

Order Release Line : Line Items within an order release - one order release can have several order release lines, such as 1000 shoes, 200 socks, 500 pants, etc.

Packaging Unit (PU): represents the object which goods to be shipped are packed in, such as a box or a tote (ex. box containing cans of soda).

Packaged Item (PI): form of product being shipped; contains attributes of the packaging (ex. can of soda).

Transport Handling Unit (THU) :represents the object used to hold the goods during transportation (ex. pallet or a crate). You can get more info about pallets from the below wiki article

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet

Ship Unit:shippable unit, usually including the packed goods and the Transport Handling Unit (THU); the entity that will be used when planning orders into shipments.

Note: Line items (or lines) should be used when information is known about the product such as net weight or net volume and not much is known about how it will be packed for shipping. Ship units should be used when it is known how the product will be packed for shipping

Equipment represents any mode or method of storage or transport used for the movement of a shipment from one location to another.

Equipment Groups identify the kinds of equipment (such as dry vans, flatbed trucks, container cars, hoppers, tankers, box cars, etc.) that are used to transport shipments from one destination to another.

Below example describes about the relation of above objects in detail

Toothpaste is sold in stores by the tube. The tube would be a Packaged Item.
Six tubes of toothpaste go into a small box. The small box would be a Packaging Unit.
Five hundred small boxes go onto a pallet. The pallet would be a Transport Handling Unit.
Twenty pallets fit into a twenty foot container. The container would be an Equipment Group

Shipping Charges

Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF) Surcharge - an adjustment to shipping companies' freight rates to take into account fluctuations in the cost of fuel oil (bunkers) for their ships.

Currency Adjustment Factor (CAF) Surcharge is an adjustment to shipping companies' freight rates to take into account the effect over time of fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

IMO Surcharge is applied when transporting goods classified by the UN as hazardous (in accordance with the IMDG code (International Marine Dangerous Goods code)) , the shipping company imposes a surcharge on the sea freight. This relates to the additional handling required for planning the goods at the terminal and onboard the ship.

Demurrage fees are charged when import containers are still full and under the control of the shipping line.  In this situation, the container has not yet been picked up by the consignee, and the free time for pick up set by the ocean line has expired for the container.

Detention Fees occurs when the consignee holds onto the carrier’s container outside of the port, terminal, or depot beyond the free time that is allotted. Detention is charged when import containers have been picked up, but the container (regardless if it’s full or empty) is still in the possession of the consignee and has not been returned within the allotted time

Pro-Forma Invoice as a ‘confirmed purchase order’ from the seller, although the official purchase order has to be issued by the buyer. The pro-forma invoice is issued before sales takes place.
The content of commercial invoice is almost same as pro-forma invoice. However, the final sale price may vary with the pro-forma invoice, as pro-forma invoice is issued prior to actual sale takes place

MBL is Master Bill of Lading issued by main carrier of goods on receipt of goods from a freight forwarder to deliver at destination as per agreed terms.

HBL is House Bill of Lading issued by a freight forwarder on receipt of goods from shipper agreeing to deliver goods at destination.

MAWB is Master airway bill issued by main carrier of goods on receipt of goods from a freight forwarder to deliver at destination as per agreed terms.

HAWB is House airway bill issued by a freight forwarder on receipt of goods from shipper agreeing to deliver goods at destination

Logistics Terminology

Shipper is the person or company who is usually the supplier or owner of commodities shipped. Also called Consignor.

Carrier is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport.

Freight Forwarder is a person or corporation who arranges transport of goods on behalf of either the seller or buyer. In many cases the freight forwarder will also consolidate several small shipments into one larger one to take advantage of better freight rates. In most cases the freight forwarder will assume the legal liabilities of acting as a carrier

Non vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC) is a cargo consolidator who does not own any vessel, but acts as a carrier legally by accepting required responsibilities of a carrier who issues his own bill of lading (or airway bill), which is called House bill of lading under sea shipment and House airway bill under air shipment.Activities between a NVOCC and a freight forwarder are similar to each other except some differences.

• An NVOCC need not be an agent or partner of a freight forwarding company, where as a freight forwarding company can act as a partner or agent for an NVOCC.  
• Basically speaking, NVOCC acts a ‘carrier to shipper’ and ‘shipper to carrier’.
• NVOCC can own and operate their own or leased containers.    
• NVOCC acts as a virtual carrier and accepts all liabilities of a carrier legally, in certain areas of operation

Consignee is the party shown on the bill of lading or air waybill to whom the shipment is consigned. Need not always be the buyer, and in some countries will be the buyer's bank.

Notify Party is the person or company to be advised by the carrier upon arrival of the goods at the destination port.

Less than Container Load (LCL): If a shipper does not have enough goods to accommodate in a fully loaded container, he arrange with a consolidator to book his cargo. This type of shipment is called LCL shipment.

Full Container Load (FCL): If an exporter has goods to accommodate in one full container load, he books an FCL Difference between LCL and FCL copy (Full Container Load) to stuff his cargo. In an FCL cargo, the complete goods in the said container owns by one shipper. In an FCL owned by one shipper, the cargo in the container need not have fully loaded cargo in the container

Incoterms rules or International Commercial Terms are a series of pre-defined commercial terms. You can find more details about it in the Wiki article

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incoterms

Container Freight Station (CFS) is a warehouse where goods are consolidated into or deconsolidated from containers for transport to their next destination.This is typically used when you are shipping your cargo as a Less than Container Load (LCL) shipment

• If you purchased less than a container’s worth of goods, your shipment will head to a warehouse (CFS) for consolidation in the origin country.  There, your shipment will be loaded into a container along with other people’s goods, before the container is taken aboard a ship for transportation to the destination country.
• Once the container reaches the destination country, it will be taken to another warehouse so that your goods can be de-consolidated and separated from the other shipments.  The warehouse will then store your goods until you or a trucker picks it up.

Container Yard (CY) is the area that is within the port, container terminal or dry port where shipping containers are stored. The containers are going to be stored there either before the container is loaded onto the ship or after the container has been unloaded from the ship after it arrives in port.

Inland Container Depot (ICD) are Depots situated at inland points away from sea ports. In ICD, a combination of services of sea custodian, customs department, carriers, freight forwarders, customs brokers etc. are carried out to facilitate exporters and importers for smooth handling of cargo.

Mother vessel is big in size compared to feeder vessel. Mother vessels only serve difference between mother vessel and feeder vessel 1 between major big ports. Mother vessels have the capacity to carry thousands of containers.

Feeder vessel is normally small in size compared to Mother vessel. Feeder vessels serves between smaller ports and major ports. In other words, feeder vessels feeds cargo to mother vessel from smaller ports to large ports for exports and from major main ports to smaller ports for imports