Operator licence OF2023521 Freight liability £6,500/t Since 2019

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Ports

Felixstowe London Gateway Tilbury Purfleet Southampton Liverpool
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Purfleet, CLdN terminal

Container haulage from Purfleet

We collect containers from CLdN’s ro-ro terminal at Purfleet, off its short-sea sailings, including those from Zeebrugge and Rotterdam, and deliver them across the UK. The same vehicles cover London Gateway and Tilbury, and the three are planned together.

Terminal
CLdN Ports London, formerly C.RO
How boxes arrive
CLdN ro-ro sailings, including Zeebrugge and Rotterdam
Collection window
24 hours from discharge, on CLdN’s standard terms

Price a Purfleet collection

Container

Container plus cargo, from the booking or the VGM.

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The port

A ro-ro terminal that carries containers

Purfleet is worth being plain about. The terminal on the Thames at Purfleet is CLdN’s, and its two berths are ro-ro berths. Containers arrive there on CLdN’s short-sea sailings, including its direct routes from Zeebrugge and Rotterdam, with trailers and vehicles on the same ships. There is no deep-sea container quay here, and a collection is planned around a short-sea sailing rather than a mother vessel.

You will still see the terminal listed as C.RO Ports London, the operating company’s name until April 2022, and older lists say Purfleet Thames Terminal, its name until 2004. It is the same place. Since August 2024 freight has had a new gate and access road on the east side of the terminal, built to take traffic off London Road.

The same vehicles cover Purfleet, London Gateway and Tilbury, and the runs are planned together. A forwarder with short-sea boxes into Purfleet and deep-sea boxes into the other two can place all of it with one haulier.

Purfleet at a glance

Operator
CLdN Ports London
Berths
2 ro-ro berths
Sailings
CLdN short-sea, including Zeebrugge and Rotterdam
Traffic
Containers, trailers, swap bodies and vehicles
Collections
Against CLdN’s release and PIN

Terminal details from CLdN, the Port of London Authority and Companies House.

What we move

Containers we collect from Purfleet

We collect the containers. Purfleet also handles trailers and vehicles; this page is about the boxes. CLdN handles a container at Purfleet as a lift unit, lifted onto our skeletal trailer at the terminal, and each of the less ordinary ones changes the vehicle or the plan.

20ft and 40ft
Standard boxes to ISO dimensions, on our own skeletal trailers. The everyday work.
High cube and 45ft
An extra 30 cm of height, and the longest ISO box on UK roads. We check the route before we quote.
Heavy boxes
Tell us the gross weight at quote stage. It decides the vehicle, and whether the load is legal on the road.
Out of gauge
Send the dimensions, and we confirm at quote stage what the load needs and whether we can move it.
Hazardous
Send the UN number and class with the request and we confirm whether we can take it before we quote.

Services

Merchant haulage

You book the haulage, not the shipping line. Your slot, your rate, your say.

FCL container transport

Full container loads in 20ft, 40ft, high cube and 45ft, port to door.

Overweight containers

Heavy boxes planned against axle weights and route, legal on the road.

Refrigerated containers

Reefers moved with the power and timing the temperature needs.

Out of gauge

Flat racks and open tops, with the route planned before collection.

Animal feed, Category 3

APHA registered to carry Category 3 feed in containers. Most hauliers are not.

How it runs

Getting your box out of Purfleet

Collection from Purfleet runs on CLdN’s own release process, and the clock is measured in hours, not days. CLdN publishes the sailings and terminal hours for each route on its sailing schedules, and we plan from those.

  1. The release

    CLdN’s terms tie a collection to a pick-up notification and its PIN code system. You send us the container number, the CLdN booking reference and the PIN, and confirm the customs position.

  2. The sailing

    We plan the collection against the sailing’s arrival, not the day you want the goods. CLdN’s standard terms allow 24 hours from discharge to collect, unless your contract says otherwise.

  3. The lift

    Containers are lift units at Purfleet, and CLdN publishes narrower hours for lifts than for trailers. We check them against the sailing before a vehicle leaves.

  4. Delivery, and exports

    Delivered to your postcode on the agreed day. An export must be pre-booked on CLdN’s platform, and CLdN’s terms say it reaches the terminal no more than 24 hours before its sailing.

Lanes

Where Purfleet boxes go

The lanes we run most out of Purfleet are London and the South East, the Midlands, and East Anglia, where our yard is, at Woolpit in Suffolk. We deliver across Great Britain beyond those.

Same day collection and delivery is realistic on the shorter lanes when the booking allows it. On longer runs we tell you at quote stage what is realistic, rather than promise a day and miss it.

The clock starts at discharge

Under CLdN’s standard terms a unit still on the terminal 24 hours after discharge sits at your risk and can be served with a notice of removal, and after the date in that notice CLdN may move it at your cost. That is a different planning problem from deep-sea free time. The haulier has to be booked before the ship sails, not found after it lands.

Lanes we run most

  • London and the South EastGreater London, Kent and the Home Counties
  • MidlandsDistribution centres along the M1, M6 and M42
  • East AngliaEssex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire
Merchant haulage

Why book the Purfleet leg yourself

With carrier haulage the carrier arranges the truck, on its own schedule and at its own rate. With merchant haulage you book the haulier: you choose the day, you see the rate, and you have one number to call when the plan changes.

On a ro-ro box the case is stronger, because the window is short. A haulier who already holds the booking reference, the PIN and the sailing can have a vehicle planned for the discharge, rather than start looking for one once the ship is in.

How merchant haulage works

What we need to book

  • Container number
  • CLdN booking reference and PIN
  • The sailing the box arrives on
  • Customs position
  • Delivery postcode and the day you need it
  • Gross weight, if the box is heavy
Licences and cover

What stands behind a Purfleet collection

The same freight liability limit on every box, whether it moves on our vehicle or a partner’s. Partners run on their own operator licences.

Operator licence
OF2023521
40 vehicles and 40 trailers, on the DVSA public register.
Freight liability
£6,500 per tonne
Under RHA 2024 conditions, five times the RHA standard of £1,300. Subcontracted loads carry the same limit. Up to £10,000 per tonne by arrangement for high value freight.
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Any one event.
Public and products liability
£5,000,000
Each, any one event.

All licences and cover

Questions

Purfleet container haulage, answered

Does Purfleet handle containers?

Yes, on ro-ro. CLdN’s terminal at Purfleet has two ro-ro berths and takes its short-sea sailings, including the direct routes from Zeebrugge and Rotterdam, which carry containers alongside trailers and vehicles. It is not a deep-sea container terminal like London Gateway or Tilbury, and a collection there is planned differently.

How long do we have to collect a container from Purfleet?

Under CLdN’s standard terms, 24 hours from discharge, unless your contract with CLdN says otherwise. After that the unit sits at your risk, terminal charges apply, and CLdN can serve notice of removal and then move it at your cost. Book the collection before the ship sails, not after it lands.

What do you need to collect from Purfleet?

The container number, the CLdN booking reference and the PIN for the unit, the customs position, the delivery postcode and the gross weight if the box is heavy. CLdN’s terms expect collections to use its PIN code system, so the PIN matters as much as the container number.

Is the terminal C.RO or CLdN?

The same terminal. The operating company was called C.RO Ports London until April 2022 and is now CLdN Ports London. Before 2004 it was Purfleet Thames Terminal, so you may see any of the three names on a booking or an address list.

How do exports into Purfleet work?

Every unit arriving at the terminal must be pre-booked on CLdN’s booking platform, and CLdN’s terms say it arrives no more than 24 hours before the sailing. Lift units also have a closing time before each departure. If you have an export to go in, send the sailing with the request for a price and we plan the delivery against that window.

Do you also collect from London Gateway and Tilbury?

Yes. The same vehicles cover Purfleet, London Gateway and Tilbury, and the runs are planned together, so a forwarder with short-sea boxes into Purfleet and deep-sea boxes into the other two is still dealing with one haulier. Felixstowe, Southampton and Liverpool are covered too.

Other ports

Also collecting from

London Gateway and Tilbury run on the same vehicles as Purfleet and are planned with it. Felixstowe is our home port.

Felixstowe

Our home port. The yard at Woolpit is about 35 miles from the gate.

20ft, 40ft, high cube, reefer, overweight

Container haulage from Felixstowe

London Gateway

Deep-water Thames terminal, planned alongside Tilbury and Purfleet.

20ft, 40ft, high cube, reefer, overweight

Container haulage from London Gateway

Tilbury

Port of London container work, on the same Thames runs.

20ft, 40ft, high cube, overweight

Container haulage from Tilbury

Southampton

South coast deep-sea boxes, delivered inland across the UK.

20ft, 40ft, high cube, reefer, overweight

Container haulage from Southampton

Liverpool

North west collections, including the Liverpool2 deep-water berths.

20ft, 40ft, high cube, overweight

Container haulage from Liverpool
Further reading

Purfleet, in more depth

Collecting from Purfleet this week?

Send the container, the sailing, the delivery postcode and the date. We price it the same working day, and tell you straight if the 24 hour window is tight.

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