about-us

About Us

With the introduction of containers to the Sri Lankan shipping trade in the late 70’s the Port of Colombo faced an acute shortage of space for storing empty containers and the then Minister of Trade and Shipping requested private entrepreneurs to set up container storage facilities in the surrounding urban environs.  As a result Sri Lankan entrepreneurs made considerable investments and set up Inland Container Terminals and Container Freight Stations.

Consequently the Association of Container Terminal and Depot Operators (ACTDO) was formed in 1983 by a group of Depot Operators.

The Association was incorporated as a Public Limited Liability (Guarantee) Company in June 1999 and the name was changed to Association of Inland Container Depot Operators (ACDO).

ACDO has grown since its inception and now counts a Membership of fifteen of the most accredited Inland Container Depots in the country.    ACDO is affiliated to the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and is a Member of the Joint Council of Port Users.  ACDO is actively involved in the meeting of various Government Authorities to address many issues faced by the Membership and also works closely with other trade Associations such as Ceylon Association of Ships’ Agents (CASA), Association of Container Transporters (ACT), Sri Lanka Shippers' Council, Sri Lanka Freight Forwarders' Association (SLFFA) to bring a positive change to the industry.

 

Achievements

 

  1. In 1985 ACDO was successful in getting the revenue earned from Container Repairs exempted from income tax, based on an appeal to the Inland Revenue Department subsequent to the Governments implementation of tax relief for revenue earned from Ship Repairs.
  2. The year 1990 established a minimum tariff for Container Depots and Container Freight Stations after the Controller of Exchange issued a directive to implement same on the recommendation of the then Secretary to the Ministry of Trade & Shipping and Director Merchant Shipping.
  3. In 1994 ACDO was successful in getting the Institute of Container Lessors (IICL), USA to include Colombo, Sri Lanka as a Test Centre for IICL Container Inspector’s Examination conducted by them.Inclusion of Colombo as a Test Centre benefited many Sri Lankans as a way of obtaining relevant IICL qualifications locally instead of having to travel abroad to obtain same.
  4. In 2016 ACDO formulated the Standard Trading Conditions & Depot Services Agreement for it’s Members.