Consolidation means that several shippers' goods travel under one movement, packed together in one unit and separated again at destination. It reduces the cost of the main journey because the unit is filled, and it adds a layer of handling that a direct shipment does not have.
That layer is where the risk changes. A crate that travels alone is handled as a unit from loading to delivery. A crate inside a consolidated unit is handled when it is packed in, when the unit is moved and when it is unpacked.
In a consolidated movement the chain of custody passes through a consolidator who is neither the carrier nor the supplier. Goods are received into a facility, recorded, loaded with other cargo and released against documents at the other end.
Each transfer is a point at which a crate can be damaged and at which responsibility can become unclear. The paperwork that matters is the receipt at each end: what was received, in what condition, and against which reference.
Risk normally transfers at the point named in the terms of sale, not at the point where the goods are physically moved. On a consolidated shipment those two points can be far apart, which is why the terms matter more here than on a direct booking.
Read the terms before the goods are packed, and make sure the insurance starts where the risk starts. A policy that begins when the goods are loaded onto the main vehicle leaves the consolidation facility uncovered, and that facility is a working warehouse.
Insuring a consolidated consignment is not difficult, but the cover has to describe the goods accurately: what they are, how they are packed and what the whole consignment contains. A policy written for general cargo may exclude the very thing being shipped.
Declare the packing standard honestly. A crate described as fully crated when it is palletised and wrapped is a misdescription that can be used to decline a claim, and the point will be argued at the worst possible moment.
Damage is often discovered after the unit has been opened and the crates separated, which means the handling stage that caused it cannot be identified from the goods alone. Photographs of the crate before it was opened become the only usable evidence.
Record the condition of the outer crate when it is collected from the consolidation facility, before it is opened. If the crate is already marked at that point, the damage happened earlier and the claim belongs to a different party from the one you would otherwise approach.
Consolidation suits small consignments that would otherwise travel half empty, and it suits buyers who can accept a schedule set by somebody else's cargo. It suits less well when the goods are fragile, when the schedule is tight, or when the value makes an unattributed loss unacceptable.
Dealers ordering regularly can usually do better by grouping their own lines into one shipment, which keeps the unit under their control. That option is available through the dealer programme, and it is often the sensible middle ground for exhaust pipework bought in modest quantities.
