By the Waymore Shipping Operations Team | Last updated: October 2026 | 5 min read

What Is Cut-off Time? What Happens If You Miss It

Cut-off time is the deadline by which your cargo or paperwork must reach the carrier or terminal to make a specific vessel. Miss it, and your container rolls to the next sailing — usually adding a week or more.

The Four Cut-offs You Actually Face

One booking, several deadlines. Carrier schedule pages such as Maersk's publish them per sailing, and they are not the same date:

1. SI cut-off (Shipping Instructions) — the details used to create your bill of lading. Typically 5–7 days before ETD.
2. VGM cut-off — the verified weight of your stuffed container. Typically 24–48 hours before loading; our VGM guide explains what happens when it's late.
3. CY cut-off (Container Yard) — your physical container must be inside the terminal. Typically 24–48 hours before ETD.
4. Doc cut-off — final Bill of Lading instructions and documents. Usually 24–72 hours before ETD.

A Real Week: Shanghai Export Timeline

What Missing a Cut-off Really Costs

The direct costs are visible: change-of-booking fees (often $50–150), possible re-negotiation of a rate that expired, and origin storage if the container sits past free time — our demurrage and detention guide shows how fast those accumulate. The indirect costs hurt more: a missed sailing can push delivery past a sales deadline or an Amazon FBA appointment window, and rollovers compound when the next sailing is also full. That's why we build every booking backwards from the CY cut-off, padding factory ready dates by 2–3 days during peak season when terminals run tight.

A typical recovery story from our desk: a supplier missed the Thursday CY cut-off at Shanghai after a trucking delay, and the booking rolled one week. Because we had documented the missed connection immediately, we re-booked onto the following sailing at the original contract rate, kept the BL data intact so the ISF and AMS filings carried over, and the cargo reached the client's US warehouse nine days after the original plan — not the twelve a rushed, poorly documented re-booking would have cost. Cut-offs are deadlines, not disasters; the difference is how fast they're managed.

How to Never Miss a Cut-off

A five-line discipline prevents almost every cut-off failure we see:

1. Fix the booking backwards from CY cut-off, not from ETD. If the container must be at the terminal Thursday noon, production must finish Tuesday and trucking must depart Wednesday.
2. Send SI data with the booking, not after. Amendments cost money and sometimes the booking itself.
3. Get the VGM weighed at stuffing, at the factory or warehouse — never guessed from packing lists, which carriers reject.
4. Pad 2–3 days in peak season. Terminal queues, truck driver shortages and typhoon port closures all compress the same week.
5. Confirm everything in writing — cut-off dates vary by carrier, port and even terminal within a port, so never copy last month's timeline onto this month's booking.

Hang this list next to your order calendar. In a typical month our operations team manages hundreds of bookings across eight ports, and virtually every cut-off miss traces back to one of these five lines being skipped.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a shipping cut-off time?

A cut-off time is the deadline for each stage of getting your shipment onto a specific vessel: shipping instructions (SI), verified gross mass (VGM), delivering the container to the terminal (CY), and submitting documents. Miss any one and your cargo rolls to the next sailing.

What happens if I miss the cut-off time?

Your container is rolled to the next available vessel, typically adding 7–14 days. Depending on booking terms you may also face change-of-booking fees, expired rate validity, and storage charges if the container sits at the terminal past free time.

Which cut-off comes first, SI or VGM?

Shipping instructions (SI) usually come first, around 5–7 days before vessel departure, because the carrier needs them to issue the bill of lading. VGM is typically due 24–48 hours before loading, and the CY cut-off is usually 24–48 hours before departure.

Can I extend a cut-off time?

Sometimes. Carriers grant short extensions for SI or VGM when asked before the deadline, and terminals occasionally extend CY cut-off on congested days. Extensions are discretionary and never guaranteed, so plan production and trucking to beat the original deadlines.