Merchant Haulage vs Carrier Haulage: Who Moves Your Container Inland, and Who Is Liable If It Goes Wrong

Two shipments can leave the same Chinese port on the same vessel string and still arrive under completely different inland arrangements once the container reaches Bangladesh — one moved by a truck the shipping line arranged, the other by a truck your forwarder booked separately. That split, known as carrier haulage versus merchant haulage, decides who controls the inland leg, who is liable if something goes wrong on the road, and often, which side ends up eating a detention charge nobody budgeted for.

The Basic Difference

Carrier haulage means the shipping line itself arranges and is responsible for inland container movement, typically from the destination port to a named inland point such as an ICD or the consignee’s warehouse, usually as part of a combined sea-plus-inland rate quoted at booking. Merchant haulage means the shipper or consignee (in practice, almost always the forwarder acting on their behalf) arranges its own trucking once the container clears the port, using a haulier separate from the ocean carrier entirely. The container itself does not change; what changes is which party’s name is on the inland transport contract and, critically, whose free-time clock and liability terms apply once the box leaves the terminal gate.

Why the Choice Rarely Feels Like a Choice

For most Bangladeshi importers using LCL or standard FCL bookings through a forwarder, the haulage arrangement is decided by the forwarder’s standard operating model rather than negotiated shipment by shipment. Larger corporate importers with volume-based contracts negotiated directly with a carrier have more room to specify one or the other, because they are buying at a scale where the carrier will tailor the inland leg to the customer’s preferred trucking partner. This is part of why the practical experience of two importers on the same trade lane can look so different: one is on a carrier haulage arrangement bundled into a single quoted rate, the other is on a merchant haulage arrangement where the ocean freight and the inland trucking appear as two separate invoices from two separate parties.

Free Time and Detention Under Each Model

This is where the distinction has real financial teeth, covered from the demurrage side in our guide to demurrage and detention charges. Under carrier haulage, the free time the carrier allows for using the container and returning it empty is set by the carrier’s own tariff, and because the carrier also controls the trucking, any delay in inland movement caused by the carrier’s own trucking subcontractor is, in principle, easier to hold the carrier accountable for. Under merchant haulage, the importer’s own appointed haulier is responsible for getting the container back to the depot within the carrier’s free time, which means a delay caused by traffic, a breakdown, or a scheduling conflict with the haulier is squarely the importer’s cost to absorb, even though the carrier set the free-time clock in the first place. Importers who assume carrier haulage terms apply to a merchant haulage booking are the ones most often surprised by a detention invoice they did not see coming.

How This Interacts With SOC and COC Containers

Haulage arrangement is a separate question from container ownership, covered in our article on SOC versus COC containers, though the two are often confused because both affect who controls the box after discharge. A carrier-owned container (COC) can still move under merchant haulage if the shipper arranges its own trucking; a shipper-owned container (SOC) removes the carrier’s free-time clock from the equation entirely, since there is no empty return deadline to a carrier depot at all. Knowing which of the two arrangements applies — container ownership and haulage responsibility — is necessary to correctly read your own shipping documents rather than assuming one implies the other.

Who Bears Liability for Cargo Damage on the Inland Leg

Liability for damage during inland transport follows the haulage arrangement closely. Under carrier haulage, damage during the inland leg generally falls under the same bill of lading and carrier liability terms that cover the ocean leg, subject to the carrier’s standard limitations. Under merchant haulage, liability shifts to whatever contract exists between the importer (or forwarder) and the independent haulier, which is a separate agreement, often with much lower liability caps than a carrier’s bill of lading terms unless additional inland transit insurance is arranged. This is a genuine gap many importers do not realize exists until a container is damaged on the road between Chattogram and an inland warehouse and they discover the standard marine cargo policy stopped covering the shipment the moment it left the port.

Choosing Between the Two When You Do Have a Say

Where an importer or their forwarder does have room to choose — typically on higher-value or higher-volume shipments where the carrier is willing to negotiate — the trade-off comes down to control versus convenience. Merchant haulage lets you choose a trucking partner you already trust, negotiate rates independently of the ocean freight, and route the container directly to a specific warehouse without going through a carrier’s standard inland network. Carrier haulage is simpler to manage administratively, since one party is contractually responsible for the box from vessel to final delivery, but it removes your ability to shop the inland leg separately or resolve a delay dispute without going through the carrier’s own customer service chain.

Reading Your Own Booking Confirmation for the Answer

Most importers never actively decide between the two — the arrangement is set by whichever forwarder or carrier contract governs the shipment, and the only way to know for certain which applies is to read the booking confirmation or bill of lading itself. Carrier haulage bookings usually name an inland destination point directly on the bill of lading, described as a combined transport document covering both the sea and inland legs under one carrier liability regime. Merchant haulage bookings show the port of discharge as the final point on the ocean carrier’s documents, with a separate trucking arrangement, often on a completely different set of paperwork from a local haulier, covering the leg from port to warehouse. If your shipping documents only mention the port and nothing beyond it, assume merchant haulage applies and confirm who is contracted for the inland leg before the container arrives, not after.

What This Means for Door-to-Door Shipments Specifically

For importers using a genuine door-to-door service rather than a port-to-port booking, the haulage question is meant to be invisible — the forwarder handling the door-to-door arrangement, covered in our overview of door-to-door versus port-to-port shipping, is contractually responsible for the inland leg regardless of whether it technically books that leg as carrier or merchant haulage on the underlying paperwork. The practical benefit of door-to-door is that this distinction becomes the forwarder’s problem to manage rather than yours, which is exactly the point of paying for the bundled service instead of arranging port clearance and inland trucking separately.

DE International structures the inland leg of every shipment based on what actually protects your cargo and your schedule, not on whichever arrangement is administratively easiest for us. Talk to us through our contact page about how your next shipment’s inland transport should be arranged, or see our full door-to-door service for shipments where we manage both legs directly.