When using the Portcast Web Application, one of the most useful places to look for container information is the container events timeline. This component is part of the single container view, and is visible by default when opening any container associated with your Org, under the “Detailed Events” tab:

Example of the detailed events timeline view. Note the different sections of the voyage, aggregating different events by location.

This component is crucial to understand the actual journey a shipment is undertaking. To generate and display the information included, the Portcast platform will proceed to:

1. Fetch all the available information for the shipment based on the provided identifiers, and referring to any available carrier track and trace milestones;
2. Enrichen and verify it based on vessel-level tracking information (as typically the carriers have limited updated information and slow refresh cycles for milestones);
3. Normalize chronologically and regroup it onto logical, place-based sections, and verify if any errors subsist.

What are the available sections in the events timeline?

Available sections of information, regrouping events onto logical sections, include:

• Pre-Port of Loading (pre-POL) events: these include any events previous to the container being loaded to any carrier vessels; they can be Truck or Rail events, for example, that precede the Ocean journey stage. They can include milestones like:

  • Empty container release to shipper
  • Gate in
  • Loading or Unloading onto other intermodal methods of transportation
  • and more

  One or more pre-POL sections can be available in the timeline, depending on the available information and coverage from the carrier.

• Port of Loading (POL) events: these are events that take place in the scheduled or observed port where the container is loaded onto the first carrier vessel in its journey. Events bundled in this section can include:

  • Arrival and unloading events from intermodal transportation (rail, truck, airplane…) arriving at POL
  • Gate in at POL
  • Loading onto vessel at POL
  • Departure from POL in carrier vessel
  • Incidents that are observed at POL: limited to “Late departure from POL” in this section, which indicates that the vessel has had an Actual Time of Departure (ATD) that is substantially later than the initial scheduled Estimated Time of Departure (ETD) indicated by the carrier.

• Transhipment port (TS) events: these are events that take place at ports where the container is transferred from one carrier vessel onto another. Not all containers have TS events, since some containers will be loaded onto a single carrier vessel from POL to POD. Events available for TS locations can include:

  • Arrival event at TS port
  • Berthing event at TS port
  • Unloading event onto TS port
  • TS intermodal events (truck/rail) to transfer the container between vessels
  • Loading event onto new carrier vessel at TS port
  • Departure from TS port on new carrier vessel
  • Incidents that are observed at TS port. These can include:
    • “Late departure from TS port”: indicates that the vessel has had an Actual Time of Departure (ATD) from the TS port that is substantially later than the initial scheduled Estimated Time of Departure (ETD) indicated by the carrier
    • “Vessel Rollover at TS port”: indicates that the container has failed to be loaded onto the originally scheduled vessel and will be included in a later, subsequent voyage
    • “Port rotation change”: indicates that the original scheduled ports in the voyage have changed, and can indicate an unscheduled stop or a skipped port.

  TS sections can be single or multiple. In the case of multiple transhipments, TS port labels displayed on the associated sections will be labelled sequentially, as such: TS1, TS2, TS3, etc.

• Port of discharge (POD) events: these are events that take place at the Port of Discharge (POD) of the container, meaning the final Ocean voyage destination scheduled. Typical events at POD can include:

  • Arrival event at POD
  • Berthing event at POD
  • Unloading event at POD
  • Gate out event at POD
  • Empty container returned from customer at POD

• Post-Port of Discharge (post-POD) events: these are events that take place after the container has left the Port of Discharge (POD). Typically they indicate an intermodal transportation leg from POD to the final destination of the container. Events for post-POD sections can include:

  • Loading or Unloading onto other intermodal methods of transportation
  • Arrival events at non-port locations
  • and more

  One or more post-POD sections can be available in the timeline, depending on the available information and coverage from the carrier.

What are the detailed fields available for each milestone?