equipment_availability
Assess container availability for a shipping lane to avoid booking without a box. Models equipment imbalance and seasonal crunches, provides shortage risk and alternatives.
Instructions
Check whether the shipper can even GET A CONTAINER on a lane — and what the equipment imbalance costs — BEFORE pricing the move. The rate tools assume a box exists; this answers the constraint that often binds first: in a deficit origin you can have a rate and a sailing and still not secure a box. Returns a 0-100 AVAILABILITY INDEX for the empty box at the origin and a SHORTAGE-RISK score, driven by the structural EQUIPMENT IMBALANCE of container trade: trade is directional, so empties PILE UP at net-importer ports (LA/Long Beach, Rotterdam, Hamburg) and run SHORT at net-exporter hubs (north/central China, Vietnam) — carriers must reposition empties back against the loaded headhaul. It models the balance per TYPE: 40HC (the deep-sea workhorse) is the tightest dry type in a crunch, 20DV is structurally easier to source (the classic alternative), and REEFER is a separate, far scarcer, plug-limited pool. It overlays the SEASONAL swing on the real lunar calendar: the acute PRE-CHINESE-NEW-YEAR crunch (every exporter loads before the factory shutdown — equipment, not space, becomes the binding constraint), the POST-CNY glut (the empties that surged out sit stranded at destinations while China demand collapses), Golden-Week front-loading, and peak-season tightening — evaluated for YOUR ship date. It prices the EQUIPMENT-IMBALANCE SURCHARGE (EIS) and reposition cost the deficit imposes, plus the soft +% it pushes onto the effective booked rate, and lists the reposition INCENTIVES (triangulation/street-turn, fast empty return) that relieve it. When the requested box is short it proposes ALTERNATIVES — split a scarce 40HC into 2×20DV, shift the ship window out of the crunch, triangulate an import empty, or book a mega-fleet carrier (Maersk/MSC/CMA CGM) whose deep own-box pool and local depots ease the SAME deficit (a thin niche line is more exposed). Pass a carrier to refine the numbers. The shortage risk also feeds the book-now timing — a worsening crunch means anticipate and lock equipment early. Everything is a MODELED structural + seasonal profile expressed as honest bands — NOT a live depot inventory; we never claim a specific box count is available at a depot today (regla 7). PREMIUM: pay per call with x402 (USDC on Base) or set a prepaid key (FREIGHT_PULSE_KEY). Same UN/LOCODE port normalization as get_spot_rate.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| origin_port | Yes | Origin port (city name, UN/LOCODE, or 'City, Country'). The origin REGION's net export/import role drives the equipment deficit/surplus. | |
| dest_port | Yes | Destination port (city name, UN/LOCODE, or 'City, Country'). The destination is where empties pile up (the reposition-from side). | |
| container_type | No | Container size '20ft'/'40ft'/'40HC' — maps to the 20DV / 40DV / 40HC equipment pool. Optional; defaults to '40ft'. Use 'reefer' for refrigerated. | |
| reefer | No | Set true for a REEFER (refrigerated) move — a separate, far scarcer, plug-limited pool than dry. Optional; default false. | |
| ship_date | No | Intended ship date (ISO 'YYYY-MM-DD'). The seasonal equipment swing (pre-CNY crunch, post-CNY glut, Golden Week, peak tightening) is evaluated for THIS date. Optional; defaults to today. | |
| carrier | No | Optional carrier to refine availability by its own-box fleet & depot depth (e.g. 'Maersk', 'MSC', 'CMA CGM', 'ZIM'). A mega line eases the crunch; a thin niche line is more exposed. | |
| band | No | EIS / reposition-cost band to report: 'low', 'typical' or 'high'. Optional; default 'typical'. |