FOR (Free On Rail)
/glossary/forDomestic delivery label that can mean Free on Rail; not one of the eleven Incoterms 2020 rules.
FOR can mean Free on Rail, but it is not one of the eleven Incoterms 2020 rules. Kanpur buyers also write FOR Kanpur or FOR destination on road POs. Name the Bartan Bazar yard or the destination station, who loads, who pays freight, and which document proves handover. FOR is not DAP and not FOB. Budget a defined FOR movement with GST 18% extra; the tax invoice applies the rate in force.
In detail
FOR can mean Free on Rail in Indian steel trade, but it is not one of the eleven Incoterms 2020 rules. Parties also write FOR Kanpur or FOR destination for road dispatch. The quotation must name the station or yard, who loads, who pays freight, when risk transfers, and which document (railway receipt or dispatch challan) proves handover. FOR is not DAP, not EXW, and not FOB.
What FOR is, and what it is not
FOR is a commercial abbreviation used on Indian steel quotations. One reading is Free on Rail: the seller loads wagons at a named origin station and hands over a railway receipt. Another reading on Kanpur POs is a road delivered or origin label: FOR Kanpur, FOR destination, FOR site.
FOR is not one of the eleven Incoterms 2020 rules. The ICC wallchart retrieved 2026-09-05 lists EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU, and DDP for any mode, and FAS, FOB, CFR, and CIF for sea and inland waterway. FOR does not appear on that list.
FOR is not DAP. DAP is an ICC any-mode rule with a delivery sentence: goods at the buyer's disposal on the arriving means of transport, ready for unloading, at the named place. FOR has no ICC delivery sentence.
FOR is not EXW. EXW places the goods at the named place without requiring seller loading. FOR is not FOB. FOB is a sea or inland-waterway rule. Do not write FOB Kanpur Goods Yard for a truck or wagon.
Who should use FOR, and who should not
Use FOR only after the quotation defines the named station or place, loading, carriage, risk, insurance, unloading, taxes, and the handover document. A Lucknow fabricator who wants wagons at a named goods yard can write FOR plus that station if both parties mean rail.
A PWD or JJM bidder who wants seller-arranged road freight to a PIN should prefer DAP plus PIN Incoterms 2020, or a plain domestic delivered clause. Those texts allocate unloading. The three letters FOR do not.
Do not use FOR for a Bartan Bazar pickup. That handover is EXW Kanpur or a defined yard collection. Do not use FOR as a synonym for freight included. Do not use FOR to imply nationwide rail service or a transit day count.
Sugar mills, hydraulic shops, and fire-system installers can still write FOR destination if the quotation then names the gate, who unloads, and the challan. The label alone does not book a wagon or a truck.
FOR Kanpur versus FOR destination versus ICC rules
Write the handover in the same columns before comparing rupees. The last two rows are ICC rules; the first three are domestic labels Kanpur buyers actually type.
| Label | Typical Kanpur use | Handover document | Risk point | Carriage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FOR Kanpur | Origin yard or station named in the FOR clause | Challan or railway receipt | PO must choose yard handover or station loading | PO must assign seller or buyer |
| FOR destination | Seller-arranged move to a named place | Challan, lorry receipt, or RR | PO must state the destination risk event | Seller-arranged to the named place |
| FOR named station | Wagon load at that station | Railway receipt | At wagon loading when defined as Free on Rail | Rail |
| EXW Bartan Bazar | Buyer collects, seller need not load | Challan at collection | At the named place | Buyer |
| DAP named PIN | Arriving vehicle, ready to unload | Transport document plus challan | At the named place, ready to unload | Seller |
The freight guide already warns that FOR is used informally with different meanings. If a quote says FOR Kanpur or FOR destination, define the exact handover place and each party's loading, carriage, risk, unloading, and tax duties. Do not treat FOR as an Incoterm or as a synonym for EXW.
How to specify FOR on a pipe RFQ
Treat FOR as a heading, then fill the fields. Within 4 working hours, RP Sales returns a technical and commercial offer defining the FOR basis. Quotes stay ex-warehouse Kanpur unless the PO writes a defined FOR destination or DAP plus PIN.
- Named place: Bartan Bazar yard, a named Kanpur goods station, or the destination PIN and gate.
- Mode: road truck, rail wagon, or either. FOR does not select the mode by itself.
- Loading: who lifts at the Kanpur yard or the origin station. EXW does not oblige the seller to load; say so if the seller will load.
- Carriage and freight: who books and who pays. Show freight as a separate line from the steel rupee-per-kg.
- Risk transfer: wagon loaded, truck loaded, or arriving vehicle ready to unload. Pick one event.
- Document: railway receipt, lorry receipt, e-way bill, and dispatch challan.
- Goods: process, grade, OD, wall or class, length, quantity, MTC, IBR / TPI as on the RFQ.
- Tax: GST 18% extra as the budgeting basis; the tax invoice applies the rate in force. E-way bill when CGST Rule 138 applies.
- Unloading: who cranes at the destination station or site. FOR does not assign that duty.
Worked mass example for a FOR lot
For the FOR freight comparison, theoretical plain-end steel mass uses W = (OD − t) × t × 0.02466 kg/m, with OD and wall in millimetres. Rail freight and wagon placement are dated carrier quotes; this page does not publish a per-tonne rail rate.
For this FOR example, use 65 NB Medium IS 1239 from the site class chart and pipe-weight table: OD 76.1 mm and wall 3.6 mm. The calculation W = (76.1 − 3.6) × 3.6 × 0.02466 gives 6.44 kg/m; a 6 m length is 38.6 kg, and one hundred lengths are 3.86 MT before coating or threading.
On 24 May 2026, the MS ERW price list put 65 NB Medium at ₹53-59 per kg ex-warehouse Kanpur, GST 18% extra. For 3.86 MT, that is about ₹2.05 lakh to ₹2.28 lakh before GST and freight (3.86 × 53,000 = 204,580; 3.86 × 59,000 = 227,740). A FOR destination offer adds the carriage the quotation actually names. Normalise both offers to 3.86 MT and the same named place before comparing them.
The glossary lead-time entry lists a 3-7-day stock window before wagon or truck placement. Ask the quotation to state the wagon or truck placement date. Placement is a later event than stock dispatch. Do not treat FOR as a 3-7 day delivered promise.
Common FOR mistakes on pipe orders
One recurring failure is treating FOR as EXW. EXW does not oblige the seller to load. A buyer who arrives at Bartan Bazar without a crane has not bought FOR Kanpur unless the quotation said the seller loads.
The second failure is treating FOR destination as DAP. DAP assigns unloading to the buyer and uses an ICC risk sentence. FOR destination assigns nothing until the quotation writes the duties.
The third failure is writing FOB Kanpur for a wagon or truck. FOB is a sea or inland-waterway rule on the ICC wallchart. Use FOR plus a defined station, DAP plus PIN, or a plain road clause.
The fourth failure is a missing handover document. A railway receipt proves a wagon booking. A road challan proves a truck left the yard. The site clerk needs the paper that matches the mode.
The fifth failure is comparing an FOR destination rate with an ex-warehouse Kanpur rate without subtracting freight. The 65 NB Medium steel band stays ₹53-59 per kg ex-warehouse as of 24 May 2026; carriage is a second line.
Standards and compliance for FOR
Incoterms 2020 does not define FOR. The ICC wallchart retrieved 2026-09-05 lists eleven rules. Free on Rail is absent. Parties who want an ICC rule should incorporate DAP, FCA, or EXW by name and edition.
The ICC Digital Library DAP text still helps a FOR destination draft: name the place, state who unloads, and state when risk transfers. Borrow the precision, not the three letters, unless the PO actually incorporates Incoterms.
For a registered person moving taxable goods inside India, CGST Rule 138 generally requires e-way-bill information when the consignment value exceeds ₹50,000, subject to exemptions and state rules. FOR does not replace the e-way bill. The freight guide already cites that threshold.
IBR forms stay on the goods, not on the delivery label. Form III-A is steam pipes, Form III-B is tubes, Form III-C is boiler mountings and fittings. A wagon receipt does not register a boiler tube.
Buying FOR dispatch from Kanpur
The origin is the Bartan Bazar / Basanti Nagar (208014) yard. FOR Kanpur may mean that yard, a named Kanpur goods station, or something else. Write the address or station code on the quotation.
Intra-Kanpur drops to Panki (about 12 km), Dada Nagar (about 8 km), and Jajmau (about 10 km) are short road runs. Calling them FOR Kanpur without a street still leaves the driver without a gate. PWD, JJM, sugar-mill, and hydraulic buyers should give PIN, crane, and receiving hours.
For defined FOR orders, RP Sales dispatches daily from Kanpur to destinations across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi NCR, and Uttarakhand. A Free on Rail line ties that dispatch to the named origin station. Steel pipes in Lucknow, steel pipes in Bareilly, steel pipes in Gorakhpur, and steel pipes in Jhansi describe city delivery from the same yard.
See the Kanpur steel market and freight from Kanpur. A city page is delivery context, not a wagon timetable.
Railway receipt versus road challan
A railway receipt is the rail carrier's document for a wagon load. The buyer tracks and collects at the destination station with that paper when the parties actually booked rail. Do not promise an RR on a road truck.
A dispatch challan is the packing list that leaves Bartan Bazar with a road load. It lists items, quantities, heat numbers, and the order reference. Buyers sign it on receipt. The e-way bill travels with the same truck when Rule 138 applies.
Write which paper the PO needs. An LC presentation that asks for a railway receipt will fail if the lot moved by road. UCP 600 treats banks as dealing with documents, not with the wagon.
If the destination station has no crane for 6 m bundles, the buyer still needs a road leg. FOR named station does not unload at the consignee gate. Add that road leg or write DAP plus the factory PIN.
FOR versus FOB on a North India PO
FOB is Free On Board, a sea and inland-waterway Incoterms 2020 rule. Delivery is on board the vessel at the named port of shipment. Kanpur is not a seaport. FOB Kanpur Goods Yard mis-states the rule.
FOR as Free on Rail is an older domestic rail phrase. It can still describe a wagon handover at a named station if the quotation writes that meaning. It does not become FOB by swapping one letter.
CFR and CIF are also sea rules. Do not use them for a truck to Patna. CPT, CIP, DAP, and DPU are the any-mode destination family. Pick one ICC rule or write a domestic clause.
A Kanpur export lot that later loads at a port should use the sea rule at that port, not FOR Kanpur as a substitute. Keep the inland leg and the ocean leg on separate lines.
GST, e-way bill, and the dispatch pack
For the FOR dispatch pack, GST is 18% extra as the budgeting basis; the tax invoice applies the rate in force. FOR does not change the HSN. Seamless pipe, welded pipe, and boiler tube keep their own headings.
The dispatch pack is the invoice, challan, MTC, e-way bill or railway receipt, TPI release if named, Form III-B when the line is an IBR tube, and Form III-C when the line is a mounting or fitting. The receiving clerk matches those papers to the bundles.
A 3.86 MT Medium lot at the 24 May 2026 band is well above the ₹50,000 Rule 138 threshold. Plan the e-way bill before the truck leaves Bartan Bazar. FOR destination does not waive that step.
Send the named place, mode, and document list on the RFQ. Steel pipes in Kanpur and the FAQ cover origin collection versus seller-arranged carriage.
Where you'll meet this in procurement
You will meet FOR (Free On Rail) when setting commercial and logistics terms. Spell out FOR (Free On Rail) on the RFQ or PO so price, quantity, delivery point, and lead time are comparable across suppliers and disputes at dispatch are avoided.
Related terms
Related resources
Key points
- FOR can mean Free on Rail or a domestic origin or destination label. It is not one of the eleven Incoterms 2020 rules.
- Write the named station or PIN, who loads, who pays freight, when risk transfers, and the handover document.
- FOR is not EXW, not DAP, and not FOB. FOB is a sea and inland-waterway rule.
- Use a railway receipt for a booked wagon and a road challan for a truck that left the Kanpur yard. Match the paper to the mode.
- RP Sales quotes ex-warehouse Kanpur unless the PO defines FOR destination or DAP plus PIN. Budget the defined FOR movement with GST 18% extra.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Incoterms 2020 wallchart. Eleven Incoterms 2020 rules; FOR does not appear among EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU, DDP, FAS, FOB, CFR, CIF (International Chamber of Commerce)
- Incoterms 2020 DAP. Delivered at Place delivery sentence used as the contrast rule when parties want an ICC destination term (International Chamber of Commerce)
- CGST Rule 138. E-way-bill requirements for registered-person movements, value threshold, and exemptions (GST Council, Government of India)
- Indian Boiler Regulations, 1950. Forms index: III-A steam pipes, III-B tubes, III-C boiler mountings and fittings (Central Boilers Board, Government of India)