Help Centre

Find frequently asked questions and user guides of FreightSmart features 

FreightSmart Platform

Welcome! To register a FreightSmart account to quote and book with OOCL’s services online, you will need the following:

  • Personal Contact Information
  • Business Registration Documents (applicable in specific countries/regions only)
  • Corporate Bank Account Information (Mainland China companies only)  
  • Email Address for Activation

To register, go to the registration page and follow the instructions. 

FreightSmart Platform

FreightSmart offers you an account trial period to check E-Spot spot rates for 7 days. In some countries/regions, please submit your business registration documents before placing your first order.

  1. Go to FreightSmart Account Verification.
  2. Have a copy of your business registration documents ready (applicable in some countries/regions only).
  3. Follow the submission instructions.  
  4. Once verified, you will receive a welcome email from us.  
FreightSmart Platform

If you have already created an OOCL account or upgraded your My OOCL Centre (MOC) account, you don’t need to create a separate FreightSmart account to quote and book with us. You can sign in directly with the following procedures:

  1. Sign in with your OOCL or My OOCL Centre account email address and password.
  2. You will be prompted to set up access to FreightSmart. 
  3. Supplement additional information to the pre-filled form.
  4. Sign in again to access FreightSmart. 
FreightSmart Platform

You can retrieve your registered company records and verification status on the Company Information page . Once your company verification has been submitted, records cannot be changed.

If you need to update any of the following records, please contact our customer support team.

  • Business registration documents or number
  • Company registered country/region, name, address or phone number 
  • Company contact person or phone number

Additional verification documents may be required to process the update.

FreightSmart Platform

FreightSmart supports multiple users registered with the same company, allowing collaborative management of quotations and bookings. To register a new account to your company: 

  1. Register a new FreightSmart account
    In the company verification stage of account registration, choose to associate the new account with your existing company ID. How do I find my company ID?

  2. Approve the new user’s association request
    The primary user should proceed to the User Management page to approve the request.

  3. Review permission settings 
    On the same page, primary user will have control over each sub-user’s permission such as: 

    • Access Control Tower as a company or individual role
    • Create E-Spot orders
    • Manage and submit existing E-Spot bookings 
    • Pay with E-Wallet (applicable companies only)
FreightSmart Platform

To recover your FreightSmart account, please contact our customer service team. Supporting documents may be required to confirm your identity.

FreightSmart Platform

You may reset your password by the following steps:

  1. Go to the Sign In page and enter your FreightSmart or OOCL account email address.
  2. Click Forget Password.
  3. Check your email for the password reset link. It may be in the Junk or Trash folder.
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions to reset your password.
E-Quote

When booking with E-Quote, you can use an E-Quote Rate Reference Number to directly retrieve your rate sheets without searching by the origin and destination of your shipment. The E-Quote Rate Reference Number is a unique 15 or 19-character alphanumeric code used to access your specific E-Quote rate sheet.

E-Quote

FreightSmart allows you to export your E-Quote rate sheets in Excel spreadsheet format. Follow these steps to export your E-Quote rate sheets:

  1. Go to E-Quote Delivery
  2. Click Generate Rate Sheets to begin the export process. The file will typically be ready within a few seconds
E-Spot

To book a door-to-door or door service for either the outbound or inbound leg of an E-Spot quotation, follow these steps to provide inland locations as the origin and destination: 

  1. Switch ❶ from ”CY” to “Door” to change your haulage mode from Merchant Haulage to Carrier Haulage.
  2. Provide ❷ a specific area, city or state for door locations in supported countries/regions.
  3. Confirm your selection by verifying ❸ the full address and postal code.
E-Spot

E-Spot is OOCL’s ocean freight quotation offered as a spot rate. When you book with E-Spot, your booking is confirmed with reserved shipping space for the specified sailing and fixed ocean freight rate and surcharges, reducing the risk of your freight being rolled over and securing your logistic costs.

Additionally, you will have the following benefits of booking with E-Spot:

  • Priority access to container equipment
  • High transparency in conditional surcharges and D&D 
  • Option to purchase extra free time after the booking is made

E-Spot

E-Spot will identify all viable routes of your desired origin and destination from different ports of the same country. To refine your results, you can enter a specific port of loading, transsphipment and discharge into the corresponding fields under Advanced Criteria.

To specify a vessel, you can use the Advanced Criteria to: 

❶ Vessel: Enter a keyword for your preferred vessel, such as “OOCL Piraeus”.
❷ Service: Choose from a dropdown of available OOCL service routes.

To refine your results, you can use Search Filter to display: 

  • No Cancellation Fee: Quotations without cancellation fees.
  • Promotional Offer: Quotations that are labelled with promotional rates.
  • Currently Available Only: Hide any quotations that are currently unavailable for booking.
  • Max Transshipments: Set a limit on the number of transshipments.
  • Max Transit Days: Cap the maximum duration for ocean freight voyage.

You can also use Sorting to find results by the Earliest Departure, Earliest Arrival or Shortest Transit Time.

E-Spot

When booking with E-Spot, not all container types may be available for a particular sailing. Here is what you might see and what it means:

  • Unavailable Container Types
    If a container type is not currently on the shelf, its rate will be displayed as a long dash “——”.

  • Sold Out Container Types
    Rates displayed as asterisks “***” indicate that the container type was once available but is now sold out.

E-Spot

E-Spot opens bookings for OOCL sailings up to 8 weeks in advance, though actual availability may vary. Here are some reasons why an OOCL sailing on E-Spot might be unavailable for booking:

  • Spaces Not Yet Open for Booking
    Although the sailing is listed on E-Spot, the spaces are not yet available for booking. To check the shelving schedule by each trade lane, visit E-Spot Product Shelving Schedule.

  • Part of Container Types Sold Out
    If you encounter a prompt message to adjust your search criteria, it means we cannot offer all of your requested container quantities or types. You may need to reduce the container quantity or switch to a different type of container. Ocean rates for all container types will still be displayed to maximise rate transparency.

  • Spaces Currently Sold Out
    If you see all freight rates displayed as dashes “—”, the sailing is currently sold out. 

  • Purchase Limit Exceeded 
    During peak seasons, we will implement purchasing limitations to each trade lane and different PlumSmart tier customers to ensure everyone has a fair chance to book with E-Spot. If this affects you, you’ll see a prompt with your specific limit and the reset date, if applicable. 

E-Spot

In the E-Spot search results page, you may switch to List View to compare multiple E-Spot quotations or Card View for a comprehensive and chronological order of the shipment. Your viewing mode will be saved for future search results. Here is how to switch between the viewing modes:

  1. Find “View Mode” at the top of the E-Spot shipment search results. 
  2. Change viewing mode to “Card View” or “List View”. 
  3. Compare and browse search results. 

E-Spot

When placing an E-Spot order, you will need to decide a payment term for your charges. You can select either Prepaid or Collect charges for Inbound Inland Haulage, Ocean Freight and Outbound Inland Haulage separately. Payment terms for surcharges are followed by your selection of ocean and inland charges, while some are fixed. Here is how to select a payment term: 

  1. In the Review Quote page of E-Spot, choose a Payment Term from the dropdown menu.
  2. Review payment terms for your rates and surcharges.
  3. Review the Charges Summary.

E-Spot
FreightSmart E-Spot coupons are the exclusive benefit to offset the ocean freight of specific routes. You can find these in Coupons on your account page.
E-Spot

To redeem your promo code, follow these steps:

  1. Click on your username to enter the account centre, and go to the Coupon & Promo Code page
  2. Enter your promo code in the provided box and click Add
Your promo code will automatically appear on the Details & Payment Methods page for eligible products you book in the future.
E-Spot

To apply a promo code to your E-Spot Order, follow these steps:

  1. On the Details & Payment Methods page, scroll down to the Coupon & Promo Code section
  2. Enter your promo code and click Add (The code is only applicable if your order meets the stated criteria of the offer)
  3. Select the coupon you just added
  4. Check the Charge Summary to see if the discount is applied
E-Spot

If you receive an error message when trying to redeem or apply a promo code, or if the promo code cannot be found on the Details & Payment Methods page, please check the following:

  1. Promo Code Expired: The validity of the promo code is stated on the coupon. Note that the effective period is in UTC/GMT +8, so consider the time difference with your local time zone.
  2. Invalid Promo Code: Ensure you enter the correct promo code without extra spaces or symbols.
  3. Order Criteria Not Met: Verify that your order meets all criteria outlined in the promo code. You can review the qualifying criteria by hovering over the Terms and Conditions at the bottom of the coupon.
  4. Inventory Sold Out: Certain promotions may have restricted inventory. Our promo code offers are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
  5. Another Coupon Applied: Only one coupon can be applied per order.
If you continue to experience issues with the promo code, please contact our customer service team.
E-Spot

To cancel an E-Spot booking, please submit a cancellation in the Control Tower. Follow these steps:

  1. Go to Bookings tab in Control Tower and locate your E-Spot booking.
  2. For Pending and Confirmed bookings, find the Cancel Booking option in the action menu.
  3. Choose a cancellation option:

    1. Cancel the E-Spot Booking
      This will cancel your booking but return the ordering space to your account. No cancellation fee will be incurred unless you cancel the corresponding order after 24 hours.

    2. Cancel the E-Spot Booking and Order
      This will directly cancel both the E-Spot booking and order.

      • If you cancel a new, pending, or confirmed booking within 24 hours, and cancel the order within 24 hours, no cancellation fee will be incurred.

      • If you cancel only the booking and do not submit a new booking within 24 hours, the order will not be automatically cancelled by FreightSmart. A cancellation fee will be incurred. To avoid possible cancellation fee, submit a cancel order request within 24 hours according to the mitigation policy.

  4. Submit your cancellation request.
  5. Review the status of your cancellation request in the booking status.
E-Spot

Booking Template in E-Spot allows you to save and quickly apply frequently used booking information when submitting a booking.

Create or Edit Saved Booking Templates

  1. Create a new template or edit an existing one.
  2. Booking templates allow you to store the following information:
    • Contact Details for Booking Party, Forwarder/Agent at Origin, Shipper, Consignee, and Notify Party.
    • Container Quantity and Cargo Weight
    • Cargo Commodity, package, quantity, and other details.
    • Additional contact information for FreightSmart booking and remarks.
  3. Save and name your booking template. 

Apply Booking Templates

  1. When submitting a booking, choose the desired booking template from the dropdown menu.
  2. All applicable fields will be automatically filled with the template information.
  3. Review the pre-filled information and continue submitting your booking.
E-Spot

After creating an E-Spot order, you can submit a booking immediately or retrieve it later in the Control Tower. You can also access your submitted and cancelled E-Spot orders. Follow these steps to find your E-Spot orders:

  1. Go to Orders tab in Control Tower
  2. View your list of E-Spot orders. You can filter the results by:
    • Container types
    • Order time, payment status, booking status and ordering user
    • Origin, destination, vessel name and voyage number 

E-Spot

Once you have submitted an E-Spot booking, you can go to Control Tower to check and manage your bookings for the following actions:

  1. Check Booking Status
    Each booking will be displayed as one of the following status: 
    • New 
    • Pending
    • Confirmed
    • Cancelled

  2. Submit Necessary Documents
    Once the booking is pending for confirmation, you can start submitting the required documents, such as:
    • Shipping Instructions (SI)
    • Verified Gross Mass (VGM)
    • Any supplemental documents as requested

  3. Track Your Shipment
    When your cargo is being shipped, you can track its location and status on the Cargo Tracking+ page.

  4. Purchase Extra D&D Free Time
    You have the option to purchase extra Demurrage and Detention (D&D) free time for the origin and destination ports if needed.

E-Spot

You may purchase extra Demurrage and Detention (D&D) free time for your origin and destination ports of shipping in Control Tower by the following steps:

  1. ​Go to Bookings tab in Control Tower and locate your E-Spot booking.
  2. For bookings that are Pending Confirmation or Confirmed, find the Buy Extra D&D option in the action menu. Alternatively, enter the E-Spot booking number directly on the Buy Extra D&D page.
  3. Choose the desired number of total free time in days of origin or destination port and submit. 
  4. You will receive a confirmation once your request has been accepted. 

You can retrieve your extra free time application records on this page

E-Spot
Bills of Lading under different E-Spot order numbers can be combined, but FreightSmart and non-FreightSmart bills cannot be combined.
E-Spot

Unfortunately, we cannot combine or split your E-Spot orders or bookings.

However, when creating a booking, you may create multiple bookings with a single order. For example, if you have created an order for 10 × 40GP containers, you can create two bookings of 5 × 40GP containers each.

E-Spot

Each E-Spot booking provides container space protection, ensuring that the space is reserved specifically for your shipment. After creating an order, you should submit a booking within 24 hours. Cancelling an order, or not submitting a booking after 24 hours incurs administrative and operational costs, and therefore, a Cancellation Fee will be automatically charged to your account. The amount of the cancellation fee will be shown on the E-Spot quotation and in the Control Tower.

  • If you cancel the entire order within 24 hours 
    No cancellation fee will be incurred.

  • If you do not submit a booking for all spaces within 24 hours
    Your order will be automatically cancelled, and no cancellation fee will be incurred. 

  • If you only submit a booking for partial spaces within 24 hours 
    The remaining spaces will not be automatically cancelled and will be subject to a cancellation fee if not booked.

  • If you do not submit the entire booking or cancel the order after 24 hours 
    If the spaces were returned from a cancelled booking, it will not be automatically cancelled. A cancellation fee will be incurred.

E-Spot

During peak periods, we may limit the number of customers access E-Spot to maintain system performance and prevent booking conflicts from multiple users. If you see a pop-up when entering E-Spot interface or viewing E-Spot results, please wait until users ahead of your have completed their browsing. 

PlumSmart

You will enjoy benefits like increased purchasing limits, ocean freight discounts, and cancellation fee discounts. 

Explore Benefits with Each Loyalty Tier

PlumSmart

You can check your loyalty tier by logging in to your FreightSmart account and access PlumSmart account overview .

PlumSmart

In order to retain membership of your existing tier, or move to a higher tier, members must meet certain requirements in respect of quarterly accumulated points. The new loyalty tier will be reflected in your FreightSmart account at the beginning of January, April, July, and October. The PlumSmart membership level will be assessed and updated quarterly.

Check My PlumSmart Loyalty Tier

FreightSmart Platform

FreightSmart is an online platform that you can access anytime, anywhere. For the best experience, we recommend using a desktop browser such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge on desktops. Please note that the platform has limited support for screen resolutions below 1366×768 and for Apple Safari.

FreightSmart also offers a WeChat Mini Programme, so you can manage your shipment bookings on the go. With the Mini Programme, you can sign in to check your order and booking status, receive notifications directly in WeChat, and enjoy WeChat-exclusive offers. Please note that the WeChat Mini Programme is available only in Simplified Chinese and is intended for customers in mainland China and Hong Kong.

To access the Mini Programme, scan the QR code below or search for “OOCL FreightSmart” in WeChat.

FreightSmart Platform

The FreightSmart Company ID (FSID) is an 11-digit number uniquely assigned to each verified company. You can find your FSID on the first screen after logging in. The FSID helps you to:

  • Identify your business with our customer service team.
  • Share your E-Quote quotations with your booking agents.
  • Associate new users with your company.

All sub-users of the same company account will share the same FSID.

E-Spot

You can recharge your E-Wallet in the Top Up page in Account Settings by either of the following methods:

  1. Top-up with Mainland China’s Online Payment Gateways 
    1. Type in your desired top-up amount (minimum CNY 1,000). 
    2. Choose your charging bank or gateway and select from a bank account, WeChat Pay, or Alipay.
    3. Complete charging process on the bank’s payment page.

  2. Top-up with Offline Banking Transfer
    1. Complete your banking transfer by instructions shown on the Top Up page. 
    2. Fill in details of your bank transfer, including the transaction number, depositing bank and amount.
    3. Upload a copy of your bank transfer notice.
    4. Submit and wait for validation. Our customer service team usually confirm it within two working days.
E-Spot

E-Wallet is a prepayment account that allows customers to settle E-Spot surcharges when an order is created and before submitting a booking. It is currently available for companies registered in Mainland China and for settling local surcharges in Mainland China.

  • For shipments originating from Mainland China and charges in Chinese Yuan
    You can settle these charges online using E-Wallet.

  • For shipments originating from other countries/regions and in other currencies
    Please use offline banking transfers to settle the charges.
FreightSmart Platform

FreightSmart will occasionally send you exclusive discount information and direct messages by email and account messages. You can opt out from promotional messages in the Notice page in Account Settings  by the following steps:

  1. Find Subscription settings.
  2. Choose the types of messages and channels you wish to receive:
    • New product and rate updates
    • Company updates
    • Discount and limited offers
FreightSmart Platform

You can manage permissions or transfer main user ownership to another user in your company through the Sub-user Settings page in Account Settings. To transfer ownership:

  1. Sign in with the main user account and go to Manage Sub-users.
  2. Choose the sub-user to whom you want to transfer the main user authority.
  3. Click the Settings icon and select Transfer Main User Authority.
  4. Enter the new main user's details and any required supporting documents (for users in Mainland China only).
  5. Once submitted, the new main user can configure the permissions of the original main user.

User Guides

Download step-by-step user guidance

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide
Legacy

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide
Legacy

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide
Legacy

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide
Legacy

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide
Legacy

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide
Legacy

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide
Legacy

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide

Please download the below file for step-by-step guidance. 

Download User Guide
Can’t find your answers? Ask us directly.
We’re sorry that your question might not have been covered – see extra options to connect with our customer service team.
Contact Us