To Our Valued Customers:
As peak season takes its usual hold over the industry, we are seeing rising congestion in ports across the US and Canada, especially on the West Coast.
Truckers are facing increasingly strained conditions due to very limited availability of port appointments, port imposing measures like "missed appointment fees", and a high demand on their services. As a result, many truckers are implementing congestion fees, and requiring delivery orders as early as 3 weeks in advance of arrival to ensure availability.
Through this chaos, Shippabo will make every effort towards having your containers picked up and returned as timely as possible and helping mitigate any demurrage charges by following the below steps:
- Delivery Orders will be sent out as close to ETD as possible
- Customs will be submitted at least 5 days in advance, provided that documents are provided with enough time.
- Freight release will be submitted in advance of arrival, provided that telex has been secured.
- Account Managers will contact terminals to extend free time when no appointments are available.
While the circumstances and actions of the ports and carriers are ultimately out of our control, the Shippabo Operations team will manage what we can and urge you to do the same. You can help to mitigate potential demurrage and/or detention by doing the following:
- Be sure delivery instructions are correct.
- Provide clearance documents and information upon departure from origin.
- Secure telex releases at least 5-7 days prior to arrival.
- Alert your receivers to be flexible with scheduling to allow coordination with limited port appointments.
- Use live unloads if possible, and aim for quicker empty turnaround for drop deliveries.
We appreciate your partnership and trust in our services, and we will do our best to help maintain stability for you through the coming season!
Thank you!
Shippabo
