General
Estimated Time of Departure (ETD)
The carrier's projected date and time for a vessel, aircraft, or vehicle to depart from a specified port or origin.
In depth
The ETD is the reference point for every origin deadline. Documentation, VGM, and cargo delivery cut-offs are all set relative to it, usually one to several days before, and missing any of them risks the container being rolled regardless of whether the vessel has actually sailed. ETDs move — vessels are delayed inbound, sailings are blanked, and berth windows shift — so the practical discipline is to work to the cut-offs rather than to the ETD itself, and to reconfirm close to the date.
Key points
- The reference point from which origin cut-offs are calculated
- Documentation and cargo cut-offs fall days before it
- Cut-offs do not always move when the ETD slips
- Work to the cut-off, not to the sailing date