Cargo Ready Date (CRD) vs Ex-Factory Date: Are They the Same?
Ask a factory when the goods will be ready and you will get an ex-factory date. Ask a freight forwarder and they will want a cargo ready date. On a simple order the two land on the same day, so people use them interchangeably. When they do not match, the gap is usually where a booking gets missed.
What does cargo ready date mean?
The cargo ready date, or CRD, is the date the goods are ready to be handed to the freight forwarder, packed, labelled and with the export paperwork in order. It is the date the forwarder plans the booking around: which vessel or flight, when to collect, and which cut-off the cargo has to meet.
What does ex-factory date mean?
The ex-factory date, often written XF or EXF, is the date production is finished and the goods are ready to leave the factory. It is a production milestone. It is the date the supplier commits to on the purchase order, and the date the production timeline counts towards.
When the two dates are the same
On a straightforward FOB or EXW order, where the goods are collected from the factory as soon as they are packed, the CRD and the XF date are effectively the same day. Many buyers simply put one date on the purchase order and treat it as both.
When they are different
- Inspection after packing. If a final inspection is booked after the goods are packed, the cargo is not ready to release until it passes. The XF date can be met while the CRD is a few days later.
- Delivery to a consolidator. For LCL or multi-supplier consolidation, the supplier may have to truck goods to a CFS warehouse. The CRD may then be the date the goods are at that warehouse, not at the factory gate.
- Paperwork. Goods can be packed but not ready to ship if the commercial invoice, packing list or certificates are not done.
- Balance payment. If the balance is due before release, some suppliers will not hand over the cargo until it is paid, even though production is finished.
- Different definitions. Some companies use CRD to mean goods delivered to the origin port or warehouse. Agree what it means with each supplier and forwarder.
A gap of even two or three days matters. If the forwarder books against a CRD that the cargo then misses, it can miss the cut-off and roll to the next sailing, which may be a week later.
Which date should go on your purchase order?
Put the ex-factory date on the purchase order as the supplier's commitment, because it is the production date the whole timeline is built from. Then agree in writing what has to happen between XF and CRD, inspection, payment and documents, and how many days that takes. Give the forwarder the CRD, not the XF date, so the booking is made against the day the cargo can actually move.
How to keep them from drifting apart
- Agree one definition of CRD with each forwarder: ready at the factory, or delivered to their warehouse.
- Book inspections so they finish before the CRD, not on it.
- Ask for draft shipping documents a few days before XF.
- Send the balance payment early enough that it is not what holds the cargo.
- When the XF date moves, update the CRD and tell the forwarder the same day.
ImportHQ keeps the ex-factory date and the shipment details on each purchase order together, so when an XF date moves you can see straight away which shipment it affects.
Your Incoterm decides where the supplier's job ends and the forwarder's begins. The free Incoterms guide shows what each term covers. Open the free Incoterms guide
The bottom line
The ex-factory date is when production is done. The cargo ready date is when the shipment can actually move. On simple orders they are the same day. When inspection, payment, paperwork or a consolidation warehouse sit in between, they are not, so agree both and give each to the person who plans around it.
Related guides
- ETD vs ETA in Shipping: What They Mean and Which to Plan Around
- Your Supplier Missed the Ex-Factory Date. What Now?
- Ex-Factory Date Meaning: What It Is and How It Differs From Ship Date
Incoterms 2020 Guide is free and needs no account.