Calculator and rules
Who pays for wagon idle time and other LTG Cargo charges?
Author: Outturn · Published: · Last reviewed:
LTG Cargo invoices wagon use (EUR 2.16 per LTG wagon-hour) and storage organisation (EUR 46.60 per day) to the party it has a contract with: the consignor or consignee, or the forwarder whose payer code is in the consignment note; siding delivery and extra shunting are paid by the siding client, often the terminal. The clock that decides the amount is usually controlled not by the payer but by whoever unloads the wagons and hands over the documents. Each charge with its source is below.
In short: who pays what
| Charge | Whom LTG Cargo invoices | Who controls the time or the cause | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| LTG wagon use, EUR 2.16/h after 24 h | The contract client or forwarder; under the rules, the consignor (consignee) | Whoever accepts and unloads the wagons, marks the end of operations and hands over the documents | Price list point 9; Rules point 86; General Conditions 7.2.1.1, 7.2.8 |
| Private wagon on the client's own siding | Nobody – no charge | – | General Conditions 7.2.9 |
| Storage organisation, EUR 46.60/day | The client, when the consignee does not collect within 24 h | Consignee, terminal capacity, documents or customs | Price list points 37-38 |
| Delivering wagons to the siding, extra shunting | The siding client, also when the service was provided to its sub-client | The terminal's unloading order | General Conditions 7.2.5 |
| Carriage charges (SMGS) | Consignor – carriers up to the delivering one; consignee – the delivering carrier, unless a third-party payer is named in the note | – | SMGS Art. 31 |
Who the "client" on an LTG Cargo invoice is
LTG Cargo provides its services under a Service provision contract. A client that is neither the consignor nor the consignee acts as a forwarder (General Conditions point 1.12). The price list defines the client as the buyer of services, the consignor or the consignee; the terminal is not named separately. The Lithuanian Rules for carriage of goods by rail state that the consignor (consignee) pays for using wagons owned by railway undertakings at departure, intermediate and destination stations and on sidings (point 86).
Payer code and the forwarder
- The forwarder signs an annex with LTG Cargo, the "Agreement on organising carriage of goods on the territory of the Republic of Lithuania" (General Conditions point 3.15.1).
- The payer code or sub-code issued by the carrier is confidential, and the forwarder is responsible for its proper use (point 9.17).
- Under SMGS Article 31, a consignor that assigns payment to a third party must name it as the payer in the consignment note.
- LTG Cargo, acting as a forwarder, passes wagon-use and storage organisation charges on to its client in its forwarding terms (point 4.9). Our inference: other forwarders usually do the same, so the amount ends up with the cargo owner.
Who controls the clock
LTG wagon-use time ends only when the client marks the end of operations in e.Krovinys and hands over proper transport documents (General Conditions points 7.2.1.1, 7.2.8). The times are signed by the carrier and the client or sub-client (point 7.5). A terminal that is the cargo owner's sub-client therefore holds the best evidence of time, even when it does not pay. A cargo owner who wants to dispute an invoice usually needs the terminal's times; a terminal to which the cargo owner passes delay costs needs the same times to defend itself.
Example
A synthetic case. A grain exporter is LTG Cargo's client and the consignee at the port; the terminal is its sub-client on the siding. A train of 54 LTG wagons is unloaded on time, but the transport documents are handed over 5 h 30 min later: 4 h × EUR 2.16 × 54 = EUR 466.56 (see example 2 of the calculator). LTG Cargo invoices the exporter; the terminal signed the times on the sheet (point 7.5). Whether the exporter can pass the amount on to the terminal depends on their handling contract; the price list and the rules do not decide that.
Checklist before you pay
- Check who is named as payer on your invoice and in the consignment note.
- Recompute every wagon with the calculator.
- Ask the terminal for the end-of-operations and document hand-over times for each wagon.
- Check that private wagons on your siding are not charged.
- Check your contracts with the forwarder and the terminal: who takes on delay costs.
How we checked
Points 7.2.1.1, 7.2.8, 7.2.9, 7.5, 3.15.1 and the price list points were checked against the text of the official PDFs on 2026-10-07. Points 1.12, 7.2.5 and 9.17, point 4.9 of the forwarding terms, point 86 of the Rules and SMGS Article 31 come from the same research read through automatic text extraction; check them by hand before a formal dispute. Individual contracts with LTG Cargo may provide otherwise.
Check the whole invoice for free
Send up to 3 months of LTG Cargo invoices and your own wagon times. Within 5 working days you get a written report by e-mail: every wagon, the rule and the euro amount. Free, no call.
More calculators and rules
- LTG Cargo wagon-use charge
24 free hours, the 15-minute rule, EUR 2.16 per LTG wagon-hour, EUR 0.46 for a private wagon on public tracks and EUR 46.60 per storage day. Calculator and 5 worked examples.
- Claim deadlines (CMR, CIM, SMGS)
CMR: 7 days excluding Sundays and holidays for hidden loss, 21 days for delay; CIM: 7 and 60 days; SMGS: commercial act within 3 days, 9 months for a claim. Calculator.
- Weight shortage allowances (SMGS, CIM)
SMGS: 1% for dry, 2% for liquid or wet cargo, +0.3% per transhipment, 0.2% for cargo that does not lose mass; CIM: 1% and 2%. Calculator.
Frequently asked questions
- Who pays LTG Cargo for wagon idle time at Klaipėda?
- The invoice goes to the party that holds the contract with LTG Cargo: the client (consignor or consignee) or a forwarder. Under the Lithuanian rules for carriage of goods by rail, the consignor (consignee) pays for using railway-owned wagons at stations and on sidings. Who carries the cost in the end depends on your contracts with the buyer, the forwarder and the terminal.
- Does the terminal pay for wagon use?
- Only if it is LTG Cargo's client for that cargo, or if its handling contract with the cargo owner passes delay costs on to it. For delivering wagons to the siding and extra shunting, however, LTG Cargo charges the siding client, often the terminal, even when the service was provided to its sub-client.
- What is the payer code in the consignment note?
- A code issued by the carrier that tells LTG Cargo whom to invoice for carriage on Lithuanian territory. A forwarder receives it after signing an agreement with LTG Cargo on organising carriage in Lithuania and is responsible for its use. Under SMGS Article 31 a third-party payer must be named by the consignor in the consignment note.
- Who pays for storage organisation?
- The EUR 46.60 per day charge applies when the consignee does not collect the cargo within 24 h of the arrival notice (price list point 38.1), so by default it falls on the consignee's side or its forwarder.
- Who holds the evidence when an invoice is disputed?
- Times are recorded in the wagon delivery and removal sheet and the general act, signed by the carrier and the client or sub-client (General Conditions point 7.5), and the end of operations is marked by whoever unloads the wagons. The payer therefore often needs the terminal's times.
Sources
- LTG Cargo, Service provision contract – General conditions (valid from 2024-10-01), points 1.12, 3.15.1, 7.2.5, 7.2.9, 7.5, 9.17: https://doc.ltgcargo.lt/lt/dokumentai/sutarciu_dokumentai/Service%20provision%20contract%20-%20General%20conditions%20(valid%20from%202024-10-01).pdf (accessed 2026-10-07)
- LTG Cargo, additional services price list PP-LTG Cargo (effective 2026-01-01), definition of client, points 9, 37-38: https://doc.ltgcargo.lt/lt/dokumentai/kainodara/Papildomu_paslaugu_kainynas_LTG_CARGO_2026.pdf (accessed 2026-10-07)
- Lithuanian Minister of Transport Order No. 174, Rules for carriage of goods by rail (consolidated text), point 86: https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/rs/actualedition/TAIS.103871/YExfDuzkpo/ (accessed 2026-10-07)
- LTG Cargo, Contract for the provision of forwarding services – General terms and conditions (valid from 2023-10-15), point 4.9: https://doc.ltgcargo.lt/lt/dokumentai/en_lt/Contract%20for%20the%20provision%20of%20forwarding%20services%20-%20General%20terms%20and%20conditions%20(valid%20from%202023-10-15).pdf (accessed 2026-10-07)
- OSJD, Agreement on International Railway Freight Communications (SMGS), unofficial English text, Article 31: https://en.osjd.org/api/media/resources/710240 (accessed 2026-10-07)