​​Import Procedures

Bookmarks on this page:
Arrival/Advice Notices
Merchant CY Haulage Release
OOCL Store Door Delivery Handling
Change of Destination Requests
Change of Customs Clearance Location Requests
North America OOCL Customer Service Control Areas
Shipment Management
Electronic Funds Transfer

Arrival/Advice Notices

Arrival/Advice Notices are now available online through My OOCL Center (MOC) at www.oocl.com. Please kindly refer to the following instructions on how to obtain your Arrival/Advice Notice through MOC. In addition, OOCL will issue Arrival/Advice Notices through Internet Upload to MOC and Cargo Smart, or issue via email based on customer profile set up with OOCL.

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Merchant CY Haulage Release

For import merchant CY cargo release requirements, a properly endorsed Original Bill of Lading (or Sea Waybill release), all collect charges paid in full, and customs clearance must be received.

For inland intermodal rail shipments in which a pick up number is required per container for cargo pick up, please visit My OOCL Center at www.oocl.com to obtain the pickup number online (user name and password is required). Pick up numbers will also be issued (once cargo is fully cleared for release) via OOCL’s Arrival Notification at Final Destination or Rail Pick Up Number Notification via email based on customer profile set up with OOCL.

For local port merchant CY moves in which shipments are picked up directly from the marine terminal, cargo availability is visible through www.oocl.com or the local marine terminal website.

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OOCL Store Door Delivery Handling

For import Store Door Deliveries, a properly endorsed Original Bill of Lading (or Sea Waybill release), all collect charges paid in full, and customs clearance must be received prior to dispatch movement by OOCL appointed truck supplier. OOCL encourages our customers to arrange all release requirements timely to avoid any delivery delays and any demurrage exposure.

For registered OOCL.COM customers, the Delivery Instructions (DI) may be submitted through the My OOCL Center Service Request feature. Please see DI Guide for information on how to submit DI's.  To follow up the actual delivery information for your shipment, kindly refer to the attached North America Customer Service Handling Structure Link to identify the Import Customer Service Center for your final destination location and its corresponding email address.

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Change of Destination Requests

All Change of Destination (COD) requests must be received at least 3 business days prior to (1) the arrival of vessel at an interchange/discharge port or (2) dispatching from the destination interchange terminal for intermodal cargo as long as the original destination interchange terminal does not change as a result of the COD request.​

For registered OOCL.COM customers, the COD request may be submitted through the My OOCL Center Service Request feature. COD requests may also be emailed to OOCL by completing the COD form and email to NAIMPCOD@OOCL.COM.

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Change of Customs Clearance Location Requests

All Change of Customs Clearance Location requests must be received at least two business days prior to vessel arrival at the port of discharge.

For registered OOCL.COM customers, the Change of Customs Clearance Location request may be submitted through the My OOCL Center Service Request feature. Change of Customs Clearance Location requests may also be emailed to OOCL by completing the Change of Customs Clearance Location form and email to ITCANX@OOCL.COM.

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North America OOCL Customer Service Control Areas

To determine which OOCL Customs Service Center is handling your shipment, please kindly refer to the North America Customer Service Handling Structure list. In addition, local contact information for each North America OOCL Customer Service Control Area is available by clicking on the OOCL Office name.

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Shipment Management

Managing your OOCL shipments on-line has never been easier when you register with My OOCL Center. From here you can obtain complete shipment details plus our innovative ‘dashboard’ user-interface enables you to monitor and control all the interactions regarding your shipments easily.

A sampling of these activities includes:

• Submit a Service Request to amend shipment information
• Obtain documents directly from our Shipment Folder. Retrieval, sharing and printing of any document during the life of the shipment also eliminates the need to keep a duplicate archive of the document.
• Documents available are Arrival / Advice Notice, BL Copy, and Invoice Copy.

We also provide 24/7 automated cargo status information by dialing our toll free customer service number 1-888-388-6625.

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Electronic Funds Transfer

For customers interested in freight payment via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) please kindly refer to the attached EFT guidance.