Commercial Schedules standard

A common way for carriers to communicate vessel schedule information to customers

DCSA Commercial Schedules

Take a closer look at DCSA's Commercial Schedules Standard. It is designed to expand the scope of applicability of OVS by providing to BCOs, LSPs, and Platforms with three alternatives to consume schedules from carriers. With these standards in place, carriers can digitally share point-to-point routings, port schedules, and vessel schedules.

The problem

Today, carriers do not uniformly share schedule information. For customers, getting clarity on vessel voyage information, such as scheduled arrival and departure and routing changes, is essential for planning subsequent operations activities. But piecing together schedule information to achieve clarity can be manual and time-consuming. Data discrepancies and inaccessibility create a lack of transparency that increases dwell times at terminals and causes inland delays. As a result, supply chains are less reliable, which hinders effective resource planning and ultimately disrupts business performance.    

The solution

The DCSA Commercial Schedules (CS) standard creates a common way for carriers to communicate vessel schedule information to customers. With the DCSA CS standard in place, customers can expect to receive high-quality data about their container shipments regardless of which carrier is transporting them. CS expands the scope of the DCSA operational vessel schedule (OVS) standard with three options for accessing schedules from carriers: 

  • Point- to-Point Routing: provides single or multiple end-to-end routing options with estimated timestamps during the pre-booking phase; 
  • Port Schedule: provides estimated timestamps for all vessels arriving and departing from a defined port/terminal on a given date; 
  • Vessel Schedules: provides estimated departure and arrival times for a required service, voyage or vessel, for each port call on the vessel’s rotation. 

Key benefits

Optimise your supply chain with DCSA's Commercial Schedules to receive high-quality data about their container shipments, regardless of which carrier is transporting them.

Help Shape the Future of Shipping Standards with DCSA+

Our standards are built in collaboration with industry leaders to ensure they are practical, scalable, and aligned with the real needs of the global supply chain. Through our DCSA+ shipping programme, your organization can partner up with DCSA and actively contribute to the development of standards like the electronic Bill of Lading and others that are transforming container shipping.

By joining DCSA+, you’ll have the opportunity to:

  • Collaborate directly with DCSA and fellow industry stakeholders
  • Co-develop solutions that support digital transformation and interoperability
  • Gain early insight into upcoming standards and influence their direction

If you're passionate about driving innovation in global trade, we want to hear from you.

Interested in adopting?

Whether you are a ocean carrier, solution provider or cargo owner interested in implementing an API based on the Commercial Schedules standard, please review the standard documentation or reach out to us for implementation support.

Meet the team

Contact us

Shape the future of container shipping with us. Our team of experts is ready to assist you with any questions or comments regarding the Commercial Schedules standard.

Contact us

Contact us

Shape the future of container shipping with us. Our team of experts is ready to assist you with any questions or comments regarding the Commercial Schedules standard.

Contact us

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