In-bond freight: IT, T&E and IE, and who carries the liability

Notes from the yard — published September 3, 2026 by the dispatch desk at Long Road Transportation.

Three letters that decide the route

In-bond means the freight leaves the pier before duty is paid, and stays under U.S. Customs control until it is either entered somewhere else or exported. Three entry types cover nearly everything we pull out of Seattle and Tacoma.

• IT — Immediate Transportation. The container leaves the terminal and moves inland to a different port of entry, where the formal entry is filed. A box discharged at Terminal 18 and cleared in Spokane, Portland or Chicago moves on an IT.
• T&E — Transportation and Exportation. The freight crosses U.S. soil and leaves it. This is the Canada move: discharged at Tacoma, trucked north on our own power, exported at the border. No duty is ever owed to CBP.
• IE — Immediate Exportation. The cargo never really enters commerce. It arrives and is exported from the same port, usually onto another vessel.

The bond belongs to the carrier

Only a bonded carrier is entitled to move in-bond merchandise. The custodial bond is posted by the trucking company, and it is what guarantees the government gets paid if a container goes missing between the pier and the destination port. That is a standing obligation, not a per-load formality — which is why plenty of drayage outfits simply decline the work.

For the importer the practical effect is simple: once the box is on our chassis under our bond, the seal discipline, the filing and the reporting are ours to get right.

The clock and the electronic paperwork

Paper in-bond is gone. Everything is filed electronically, either direct with CBP or through a service provider, and the deadlines are hard:

• Transit limit is 30 days by truck, 60 by barge. Missing it is a bond violation, not a service complaint.
• Arrival at the destination port has to be reported electronically within two business days of getting there.
• Diverting to a different port requires electronic permission first. A driver cannot simply be re-routed to a closer building.
• IE cargo must be exported within 15 calendar days of arriving at the port of exportation, unless CBP grants an extension.

What dispatch needs before the box moves

Bonded moves fail on missing information far more often than on trucks. Send these together and the container leaves the terminal the same day it is available:

• The in-bond number and the entry type — IT, T&E or IE.
• Destination port, consignee, and whether delivery is to a bonded warehouse or a CFS. Both keep their own hours, and neither will break them for a late truck.
• The broker's contact, so the arrival can be reported without a day of phone tag.
• Seal number on the pickup, so the seal on the delivery can be matched against it.

Where we run it

We move in-bond containers off Terminal 5 and Terminal 18 in Seattle and off Husky, Washington United and Pierce County Terminal in Tacoma, on our own trucks and chassis. When a bonded destination is not ready to receive, the container sits sealed in our own yard at 1531 Portland Avenue East in Tacoma rather than accruing storage on the pier.

That yard is also why our northbound T&E work holds its schedule: a box that arrives Friday afternoon does not have to wait on a terminal gate to be staged for a Monday border crossing.

Questions we get asked

Can any trucking company haul in-bond freight?

No. The carrier has to hold a CBP custodial bond. Without it the container cannot legally leave the terminal duty-unpaid, no matter who filed the in-bond.

How long can an in-bond move take?

Thirty days by truck from the date the in-bond is authorized, sixty by barge. Arrival at the destination port then has to be reported electronically within two business days.

Can the container be opened during an in-bond move?

No. It travels under seal, and the seal number is recorded at both ends. Breaking it in transit without CBP authorization is a bond violation.

Read next

• Crossing into Canada: PARS, PAPS and the one-hour rule
• Hazmat placards: Table 1, Table 2 and the 1,001-pound rule

Long Road Transportation is an asset-based carrier operating its own trucks, chassis and heavy-haul equipment out of Kent and Tacoma, Washington. USDOT 3388302, MC 113242, SCAC LRDP.