About CargoMerger: What We Do and How We Work
How a shipment moves through us, which jobs we take on and which we leave to others.
CargoMerger is an international freight forwarder operating in multiple countries. A freight forwarder is an organiser of international transport: we do not move cargo in our own vehicles, but bring the carrier, the customs broker, the warehouse and the road leg together under one file. For sea, air and road shipments, organisation, documents and cost follow-up are in our hands. This page explains the scope of the company, how a shipment runs and which jobs fall outside it.
What does a freight forwarder do, and how is it different from a carrier?
A freight forwarder does not carry the cargo itself but organises the whole movement. A shipping line runs the vessel, an airline the aircraft and a haulier the truck, and each sells capacity; the forwarder buys that capacity, places the cargo on a suitable service, links the road legs and customs step at both ends, prepares the documents and runs the process through one point of contact. The difference shows most when things get complicated: working with a carrier directly, responsibility mostly begins and ends at the port or terminal, and the coordination of collection, clearance, storage and delivery is left to you. The transport document shows the split too: the one issued by the carrier is called a master, and the one the forwarder issues to its own customer a house document; see bill of lading for the details.
- The carrier operates and sells capacity; its liability usually stops at the port or terminal.
- The forwarder buys capacity, places the cargo on it and joins the steps at both ends in one file.
- The party that registers the customs declaration is the customs broker; the forwarder runs the process together with the broker.
- Several carrier options can be compared for the same route, so the choice is made by size, deadline and budget.
Which jobs does CargoMerger take on?
We organise transport in all three modes, together with customs clearance coordination, bonded warehousing and storage, and distribution at the destination. Shipments leave from or arrive in Türkiye. The balance of weight and volume, the deadline and the budget decide the mode: at sea the FCL/LCL threshold starts at roughly 13–15 m³ for a 20-foot container and 25–30 m³ for a 40-foot one; by air the charge is based on the higher of actual weight and volumetric weight (divisor 6000 by air, 5000 for express courier, 3000 by road); in road groupage the space measure is loading metres (ldm). We also work with forwarders who run their own businesses, under a separate model described on the CMI Partner page (in Turkish).
- Sea: FCL and LCL container shipments — Sea Freight
- Air: standard and express air cargo — Air Freight
- Road: full-truck (FTL) and groupage (LTL) loads — Road Freight
- Customs: the declaration process is run with a customs broker — customs clearance
- Bonded warehousing and storage: goods waiting under customs supervision — bonded warehouse
- Distribution: planning the domestic or international delivery leg at the destination
How does a shipment run, step by step?
The flow has seven steps, and who does what is clear from the start. What we expect from you is mainly correct information and documents on time; the rest is on the organisation side. Most steps run in parallel, but one thing breaks the sequence: cut-off times. Document and container cut-offs fall before departure, and if they are missed the cargo goes to the next sailing.
- Request: you send the origin and destination, the type of cargo, gross weight and dimensions, the delivery term and the ready date; we ask for anything missing.
- Quote: we send the freight, the included and excluded items, the transit time and the validity date in writing; you compare the scope and approve.
- Booking: after approval the line, flight or vehicle booking is opened and the document and cargo cut-off times are passed to you.
- Operation: loading is planned and the container or vehicle is arranged; at sea, the verified gross mass of the loaded container is declared — VGM.
- Documents: the transport document (bill of lading, AWB or CMR) is issued; the invoice, packing list and, where needed, A.TR or EUR.1 must agree with each other — a weight mismatch in the declaration stops the process.
- Arrival and delivery: arrival notice, customs clearance, closing of charges, the delivery order, collection from the port and, in FCL, return of the empty container.
- File closing: all cost items are finalised and invoiced, and the documents are archived in the file.
What do we not do?
Saying what is out of scope up front saves your time and ours. CargoMerger organises commercial freight; personal effects and individual parcels are outside that scope. For requests on the points below we prefer to point you to the right address rather than give a quote.
- House moves and the transport of personal household goods.
- Individual parcels and courier shipments; for small commercial samples, the micro-export route with an ETGB (Türkiye's electronic export declaration) runs through courier and cargo companies — micro export and ETGB.
- Registering the customs declaration: this is the customs broker's authority; we coordinate the process with the broker.
- Issuing a cargo insurance policy: the insurer issues the policy; we agree the cover with you and organise its issue.
- Giving a binding price without a description of the cargo: a figure given before dimensions and weight are clear is an estimate, not a quote.
What does a quote include, and what can come later?
A quote has two parts: included items and excluded items. The included part lists the freight and the services the quote covers, line by line; the excluded part lists items that may arise during the shipment and whose amount cannot be known in advance. The difference between two companies' quotes often comes from this scope rather than from price, so bring both quotes to the same scope before comparing. Most costs that arise later are caused by delay and can be avoided: if the documents are complete before loading, the cargo is cleared before the clocks start running.
- Free-time overrun: demurrage if the container waits, detention if the empty return is late — demurrage and detention
- Storage: the yard fee paid for waiting in the port area or a warehouse
- Inspection, weighing, labelling and, where needed, repacking costs
- Import duties, VAT and the customs broker's fee; these are not part of the freight
- Terminal handling and periodic surcharges — THC
- For the items in detail see the FAQ, and for terms the glossary
Official details
The trade name used in contracts, invoices and official correspondence is below. Working hours and which channel to use for which subject are on the Contact page.
- Trade name: CARGOMERGER LOJİSTİK YAZILIM LİMİTED ŞİRKETİ
- Phone: +90 232 421 94 94 — Email: info@cargomerger.com
- New shipments and price requests: quote request
Frequently asked questions
Is CargoMerger a carrier or an intermediary?
CargoMerger is a freight forwarder: it organises the transport and obtains capacity from shipping lines, airlines and hauliers. This is different from simple brokerage. A forwarder does not just bring two parties together; it runs the operation itself, from placing the cargo on a service and preparing documents to sequencing the customs and storage steps and following the cost items, and acts as the single point of contact.
Do you also handle customs clearance?
Organising customs clearance is within our scope; registering the declaration is the customs broker's authority. In practice this means we follow that the document set is complete and consistent, that it reaches the broker on time and that permits and inspection documents are in order, while the broker registers the declaration and handles any inspection.
Do you move household goods or individual parcels?
No. House moves, personal household goods and individual parcel or courier shipments are outside our scope. We focus on commercial freight; for small commercial samples, the micro-export route with an ETGB runs through courier and cargo companies.
What information do I need to get a quote?
The origin and destination, the type and packing of the cargo, gross weight and volume, the delivery term (Incoterm) and the date the cargo will be ready are enough. If either weight or volume is missing, the quote can only be an estimate, because freight is often calculated on the larger of the two. You can send the details through the quote form.
Which ports and transport modes do you work with?
We organise in all three modes — sea, air and road — and the choice of port and line depends on where the cargo starts and the destination country. Main container ports on the Türkiye side include İzmir Alsancak, Ambarlı, Mersin, Gemlik and Aliağa; which port is used often depends less on price than on whether the line calls there.