What is Container Yard?
A container yard (CY) is the area at a port terminal, off-dock facility or inland depot where full and empty containers are received, stacked and stored before loading onto a vessel or after discharge while awaiting pickup. Unlike a container freight station, the CY handles containers as sealed units and does not open them. CY is also a service term: CY/CY on a bill of lading means the carrier's responsibility starts when the loaded container is received at the origin yard and ends when it is made available at the destination yard, the normal basis for FCL shipments. Export containers must be gated in before the carrier's CY cutoff, and under SOLAS chapter VI regulation 2, in force since 1 July 2016, a packed container may not be loaded without a verified gross mass. Import containers stay in the CY under free time, after which demurrage applies until the box gates out.
Why it matters for forwarders
Most FCL charge disputes trace back to CY events: gate-in, discharge, availability, last free day and gate-out. Forwarders should record the terminal's actual availability date, because free time is measured from it, and in US trades the FMC billing rule requires demurrage and detention invoices to state the availability date and the start and end of free time (46 CFR 541.6). A container can be physically in the yard yet unavailable because of a customs, freight or carrier hold, so confirm release status before dispatching a trucker. Whether the move is merchant haulage or carrier haulage decides who books the pickup and who bears detention after gate-out. Reconciling yard events against carrier invoices is the most effective defence against incorrectly billed charges.