Cargo Ready Date (CRD)

The Cargo Ready Date (CRD) is the date when goods at the origin factory or warehouse are fully manufactured, packed, inspected, and available for pickup by the carrier or freight forwarder. It is the starting gun for the shipping process. Until the cargo is ready, no booking, no container pickup, and no vessel slot matters. Everything downstream in the supply chain hinges on this date being accurate.

Why the CRD Matters

Ocean carriers and freight forwarders plan container pickups, vessel bookings, and documentation timelines around the CRD. When a forwarder books space on a vessel departing Shanghai on March 20, they work backward from that sailing date. The container needs to arrive at the port terminal by March 18. The container must be loaded at the factory by March 16. The empty container must be dispatched to the factory by March 15. That means the CRD must be March 15 or earlier for the shipment to make the sailing.

A missed CRD creates a cascade of problems. If cargo is not ready when the container arrives at the factory, the container sits idle. Most carriers allow 3 to 5 free days of container usage before charging detention fees of $75 to $200 per day. If the delay is long enough to miss the booked vessel, the forwarder must roll the booking to the next available sailing, which might not depart for another 5 to 10 days. On the Trans-Pacific trade lane, a one-week delay at origin means goods arrive a week late at the destination, potentially missing a sales window or causing a stockout.

CRD vs. Ship Date

These two dates are different, and confusing them causes planning errors. The CRD is when goods are ready at the factory. The ship date (or ETD, Estimated Time of Departure) is when the vessel leaves the origin port. Between the CRD and the ship date, several steps must occur: container pickup, factory loading, trucking to the port, customs export clearance, terminal receiving, and vessel loading. This process takes 3 to 7 days in most Chinese ports and can take longer during peak season or when port congestion delays terminal operations.

FBA sellers placing orders with manufacturers should request the CRD, not the “shipping date.” A factory that says “we will ship on March 20” might mean the goods will be ready for pickup on March 20, or they might mean the goods will leave the port on March 20. The ambiguity costs days of planning.

How to Get Accurate CRDs

Factory-provided CRDs are often optimistic. A manufacturer quoting a 30-day production time on an order placed February 1 will give a CRD of March 3. In practice, raw material delays, quality control failures, and production scheduling changes push the actual CRD to March 10 or later. Experienced importers add a buffer of 5 to 10 days to any factory-quoted CRD when planning their logistics timeline.

Third-party inspection companies (such as QIMA, SGS, or Bureau Veritas) can verify cargo readiness by conducting a pre-shipment inspection at the factory. The inspector confirms that the correct quantity is produced, quality meets specifications, and packaging is complete. The inspection report serves as an independent confirmation of the CRD, giving the importer confidence to trigger the logistics process.

CRD in Purchase Orders

Well-structured purchase orders include the CRD as a contractual term. Some buyers include penalty clauses for missed CRDs, such as a 1% to 2% price reduction for each week of delay. These clauses incentivize the factory to provide realistic dates and prioritize on-time production. Without a contractual CRD, the buyer has limited recourse when goods are late, beyond choosing a different supplier for future orders.

For sellers coordinating inbound FBA shipments, the CRD feeds directly into inventory planning. If a product’s CRD is March 15, ocean transit to Long Beach takes 14 days, and prep and inbound shipping to Amazon take another 5 days, the earliest the inventory will be available for sale is approximately April 3. Working backward from a target in-stock date to determine the required CRD is one of the most basic supply chain planning exercises, and getting it right prevents both stockouts and excess storage fees.