Telling the recipient the date of delivery of the cargo at its own discretion, without checking the queues at the border and without asking the driver about his working hours, is a common thing in Ukraine. As a result, the vehicle is loaded on Friday and the recipient is informed that the cargo will arrive next Tuesday. But on Tuesday morning it turns out that the car is still in line at the border. The client thinks that he was deceived and the cargo did not leave anywhere on Friday, his production begins to stop and, ultimately, the second time he is unlikely to agree to cooperation. Not a single carrier or forwarder is insured against cargo delays at customs. As well as from unexpected expenses, errors in documents and damage to goods during transportation. But all these risks can be minimized if you know some lifehacks.
1. Freight buffer
Freight is the cost of shipping the goods. When a client asks to calculate the cost of a product, it is usually also about delivery and sometimes installation. In this case, transport freight must be submitted separately from the price of the goods and preferably with a small gap, that is, by the same buffer. Why is that? Because usually freights jump like prices in the Turkish market during the tourist season.
To protect yourself, the best solution would be to name the price from and to, or to understand for what period it is needed. And in any case, to refine it closer to the time of sending or have a buffer. Another example of the situation is selective customs inspection at the border with Europe, for which the sender pays. After such an inspection, it will be necessary to pay an unplanned 100-200 euros for the work of loaders. Therefore, when negotiating the cost of delivery, do not forget about the freight buffer.
2. Time buffer
The standard time for obtaining permits, transportation and crossing the Ukrainian border is 2-3 days. However, no one is insured against force majeure and there have been cases when the downtime took more than 14 days.
In order to minimize the risks of both the forwarder and the client, when speaking the delivery lines, it is necessary to lay down at least a small time reserve in advance. In addition, agree on a delivery date with the carrier and driver. The correct solution would be to negotiate a later date with the client and deliver earlier than promise and not fulfill.
3. Documents
The human factor has not been canceled, and it is difficult to fully insure against errors in important documents. The sender confused the invoices because of which the car stood at the border for several days, the accountant indicated the wrong item at a much higher cost, confused phyto-certificate numbers and much more. Usually these mistakes are one of the stupidest and most expensive at the same time. Therefore, before sending the documents, you need to check and agree with the recipient and specifically with the recipient’s responsibility center for customs clearance. Especially if the goods are traveling for the first time, since careful control equals minimizing risks.
4. Safety
Road transport is the most popular, but also the most dangerous type of transport. During transportation, there are cases of damage to the goods. How to protect yourself from this and what to do with compensation?
In Ukraine, logistics companies practically do not bear any responsibility and there are not even any standards or requirements in this area. Therefore, when concluding a contract for transportation, it is necessary to check the authorized capital, the availability of property, own transport, the availability of CMR and TTN insurance and the amount and country of coverage, insurance of the forwarder. In addition, according to the 1976 international convention on transport, on which everything is based, there is such a thing as CDM. This is a coefficient that indicates that a kilogram of damaged cargo is worth no more than 13 USD per kg and in this proportion and is reimbursed in case of damage. However, a product weighing 4 tons can cost 20-30 thousand euros. Therefore, the insurance contract must contain compensation at the invoice value, and when choosing a logistics company, safety must come first.
5. Working with an experienced freight forwarder
What is the difference between a freight forwarder and a carrier? The carrier has its own transport, the forwarder may have its own transport and carrier base with whom it cooperates on different countries and routes.
When making a choice with whom to work, there is a fear that working with a freight forwarder who does not have his own transport is less reliable than working with a carrier. However, it is impossible to be a successful carrier across the board. A good forwarder in this case differs in that over the years of work he has collected the experience of all carriers in all countries and directions. In addition, he always has the right transport and reliable partners in every country and along every route, to solve any logistic problems.
To summarize, the forwarder always works in the interests of the client, the second, as a rule, in his own and acts as a narrow contractor.
The forwarder can be called a conductor in transportation and the one who is obliged to know where your cargo is and in what mode it is located, the forwarder will always close the need for your application for transportation from whatever part you deliver the cargo to Ukraine.
