Tips, Tricks for the everyday Forwarder
Posts tagged freight
A customs broker’s life
Apr 27th
Interesting how I’ve come across this post, pretty amusing and rather interesting read! Talks all about customs brokers and their sufferings! This might be a case in the US, but it probably is also applicable worldwide. 
Let’s start from square one and there is not nearly enough for me to write otherwise we would be here for the next 10 years.
For one, the exam is extremely difficult. And with no real world experience? You are almost guaranteed to fail. For instance the April 2003 exam had a national passing rate of 2%! And up to 80% of licensed attorney’s (people who passed the bar exam) fail the brokers exam. And guess what? Passing it is just the start. Afterwards you have to apply to the Department of Homeland Security to actually become a Customs broker for CBP.
They will do an intensive background investigation and you will be interviewed by an special agent from the DHS who will recommend “yes or no” on the license. Remember when you skipped class and were arrested at 16 years old for smoking a joint in the high school bathroom? Your dad hired a $500/hr lawyer and the court “expunged” the arrest from the records. Or did they? Application DENIED. How about your credit? Everyone has some credit disputes or even delinquencies these days. Just look at the foreclosures going on. Do you have less than average credit? Application DEINIED. Get the picture? They look for ANY and EVERY reason to deny your application.
They don’t want you or anyone else to become a Customs Broker. It’s that simple. And assuming you are Mr. or Mrs. perfect and you are granted the license you face a competitive “mature” market with falling salaries and entry fees nationwide. Everyone is competing on “price” just like in a 3rd world country. As result wages and salaries are falling nationwide. You would be better off working for Customs. In this field you carry a high degree of professional risk and low reward (income). And that’s not all – the entire time you are licensed Customs Broker Management looks for ANY EXCUSE to revoke your Customs Brokers license.
You see, Customs regulations are bigger than the biggest bible you have ever seen. For Customs Brokers (as well as importers) they exist SOLEY as a means to an end of total and complete control by the government (Customs) where they may issue fines, and revoke your license AT WILL. If you think these regulations were written by Customs to “facilitate rights, fairness, and due process” you are sadly mistaken. People become dedicated experts in this field, (as a Customs Broker) then one day they get into an argument with the wrong person, and it’s all over. And because NOBODY is perfect (not even the women down the hall with 30 years of experience) Customs will always find something. Always. No matter what. That’s how it starts.
Then they start looking at you, and grind away until they find something. It’s called selective enforcement. This is basically an “abuse of discretion” that you cannot prove under any circumstances. Ironically (actually it not) one of the few “defenses” you have if they try to disbar you is that it’s an “abuse of discretion”. Which you then must “prove” which nobody can or EVER has. If you look at all the cases in the court of International Trade not ONCE has a Customs broker ever won a case against Customs trying to revoke their license (aka: destroy their life) for ANY reason. This is because they have total control and UNLIMITED resources from the USA taxpayers. It costs you everything but it costs them nothing! You will see teams of government prosecutors funded courtesy of our tax dollars against one lone attorney for the Customs broker who is charging the Broker $500/hr to defend himself against the government. It’s a pointless battle.
Think twice before you make becoming a Customs Broker your life. The license is as valuable as many college degrees, yes. But one day you will make an innocent mistake, or negligent oversight, and Broker Management will latch on like a great white shark and shake their jaws until there is nothing left but your life’s career/work shredded into pieces laying in shambles. They will destroy your entire life then cite a *regulation* to back it up. Why? Because they can. Or more precisely because of a naïve oversight, innocent mistake, or other “violation” you made simply because you forgot one of the 1 million and 500 thousand regulations you are supposed to remember This is the truth. And that is just the start of it. If you lose your license you’re essentially banned for life from the only thing you know how to do! Then.. surprise, surprise, you discover you are worthless in the outside job market.
Proceed with extreame caution in this occupation. It is hard enough to get the license, let alone keep it. And when all you know is Customs brokerage, and that is taken away from you; your life is essentially over.
Regards,
A Customs Broker.
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_problems_encountered_by_a_customs_broker#ixzz1KhQgI8fA
TEU. Sounds rude.
Jan 23rd
Frankly, what’s a TEU? Sounds strange..
A TEU actually stands for Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit. Which, actually stands for the regular 20′ containers you find in container ports all over the world.
More on TEU here.
Officially: it’s a 20-foot (6.1 m) long shipping container. What about those 40′ containers? They are referred regularly as 2 TEU instead.
The economy of a country is usually viewed from the container ports of the country, with respect to import/export business. Therefore, TEU is a way to judge the profitability of a container port, based on the quantity of containers every year.
Here’s a list of the world’s busiest ports.
Make sure you learn this, because this term is used fairly regularly in the shipping business! Don’t show your weakness by asking ‘what’s a TEU?’ You’ll thank me for saving your day 
Appointment Letter.
Sep 7th
In common sense, an appointment letter is a letter that says you appoint someone to do something. Common sense right?
In freight terms, an appointment letter appoints a forwarder to handle all the customs clearance and what nots for you. It’s pretty much a document to the customs officials saying “Hey you, I’m sending stuff across, and these mean guys are my forwarders. LET THEM THROUGH.” (though it might be the other way around. In terms of mean guys I mean.)
It shouldn’t be a complicated letter, and should state clearly that you wish to appoint so and so to handle your cargo through the customs clearance process. Other requirements may include your company name, a bill of your company (electric or water bill – to prove the actual address existence), a copy of your Identification Card, and other misc. details that your forwarder will require from you.
Usually though, they will give a sample piece of document for you to fill up, so you can just sign the document and send it to the forwarder.
Asiatic Freight
Sep 7th
Asiatic Freight! Fancy name, shipping wonder.
We Asiatic Freight Brokerage, are bringing logistics into the world wide web. The best thing about AF is, you don’t have to do a thing. Just let us do the job of searching through the entire shipping mess (it’s really a mess, the shipping industry), and we will get you the quotes you need.
Follow us on Twitter!
Check us up on Facebook!
Customer Retention
Sep 7th
Done deal! Just completed a deal. What’s next?
Customer retention is an invaluable strategy for every business alike.
Many bosses use many ways to do customer retention.
- Offering them discounts.
- Giving them freebies.
- Providing free advice in times of needs.
- Meet up for tea.
- Give vouchers for either their own products or for others like Starbucks vouchers for example.
What about freight forwarding? How does a freight forwarding company deal with customer retention?
I notice that in the freight business, customers want a no-nonsense policy when dealing with their cargo. They want a few yet important things that you have to provide in order to win them over.
1) Fast. What does it mean by fast? Simple; Be quick to respond, be quick to reply, be quick quick quick. They want quotations fast. They want the items shipped fast. Any delays, they want an explanation fast. If you can be faster than them, you win. Provide them information before they ask. Proactively tell them where is the goods currently located at. The key word here is to be PROACTIVE.
2) Precise. You need to provide accurate and to-the-point quotations. Never be too far off from the actual amount in the invoice you will charge to them. This is a fact I learnt whilst working as a developer a few years back. I was required to provide my delivery times to make sure that I deliver my projects on time. Initially I set my deadline too quick, and was lectured. After that I cowardly set super long deadlines. Of course I completed the task before schedule, but then was lectured again on the waste of presumed man hours. ALWAYS BE AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE. If you want to give a pre-quote to your customer, always refer to past figures. If you don’t have any, make sure you get the exact figures before quoting! Do not punch yourself by quoting too much or too little, and when the real amount appears, your customer will not be satisfied at all.
3) Explanation. Explain clearly what are the things that he/she is paying for. List down in detail each charge he/she is required to pay. Then provide a total figure at the bottom. This is a win-win, because some customers want to go through every figure. (Note: All those shipping terms, make sure you know them! They will ask about it!) Other customers only want to see the total. If the total figure is within their budget, they are good to go.
4) 24/7/365 Customer Service. Customers like to do sudden knee-jerk actions. (Actually they don’t, but they tend to do shipping-related things at the last minute) Always be ready to clear their doubts, confirm the shipments, etc. Knowing how customers think is a very valuable resource! Key is to know thy customer. You need to be 1) Quick to ensure super customer service.
Customer Service
5) Reliability. If you speak like a pro, they will know you are reliable. They will feel all cozy inside because your authoritative voice will clear their doubts and guide their cargo to safety (their destination). No harm being a ‘big brother’ to them! Always suggest alternative cost-saving ways to keep their shipping expenses to a minimum. Of course.. don’t ever do a loss-business. Don’t sacrifice your earnings to make the customer happy. Instead, try to provide them good tips to ensure that their shipment will arrive safely, on schedule, and inexpensively. I can tell you, the customers probably shipped more items of that specific kind than you. So they know what is the acceptable figure and what’s not. If you can offer a good rate to them, keep it up! Be there for them like you are there for your love-of-your-life!
These 5 key points are enough to keep customers satisfied. Remember, the freight business is unique. The business model isn’t your regular company that could offer discounts at any time because in freight, your cost is much higher than regular businesses. Servicing lorries? Maintaining ships? They need money. Your bakery bread costs a few cents but sold for a few dollars right? See the percentage they earn! Doesn’t apply for freight!
Be smart! Keep your customers happy!
BonoKo
Delivery Order
Sep 7th
Today we talk about Delivery Order (or delivery note).
What’s a DO or delivery order for? Adding to the overly crowded list of documents required for shipping, a DO is sometimes regarded as a nuisance to some. Adding more paperwork to the abundant dead trees in your office, a DO is actually rather important.
What’s a DO for? (did I repeat this twice?) A DO is a document that ensures the items are being delivered in the same quality and quantity as you would purchase the items right from the store. Simply said, a DO confirms that you receive the right amount of things you send/receive.
How does it work? First off, a DO is usually written by the supplier or sender. He or she double checks the number of items being delivered, then takes down the items and the quantity on a piece of paper. That’s your DO. Frankly, it’s actually the exact same as a Packing List (or packing slip). So a DO and a PL are essentially the same, just for different purposes. Packing lists usually apply for ‘packing’ (house moving for example), whilst a delivery order is usually used for ‘delivery’ (supplier sending to buyer).
Why it’s important: If you are supposed to receive 1000 iPhone 4s, and you only receive 998, you know there’s something wrong with the delivery when you check your delivery order and you count the quantity. Now you don’t want 2 iPhone 4s to be missing do you? (please send one to me)
Iphone 4
Note that in some countries, the terms are used interchangeably. Don’t take the name too seriously.
Bad Customers
Sep 7th
There are many customers, some short, some tall, some fat, some skinny. But most importantly, there are 2 very important types of customers: Good customers and Bad customers.
Question is, how to deal with them?
How I do it: Be nice, be honest, and always remember; he’s your customer.
Take a customer I had a long time ago. He was agitated because I requested for numerous information repeatedly. When I start to source for a suitable carrier through my shippers network for a suitable candidate that could help my customer deliver his goods, the carrier requested for many information just to make sure the tariffs and the duties are declared properly. That’s a good thing I reckon, because you don’t want to get taxed unnecessarily due to wrong declarations.. Well, the customer was agitated because he couldn’t understand why I need so much info, when all the other carriers that he had used (and all the many years experience that he had), he never had to encounter such issues. During that period, I was rather inexperienced, and keep passing the information back and forth. Carrier asks questions, I ask customer, customer returns with some info, I return to carrier, carrier asks for more info…. and so on and so forth. You get the idea. This action probably bugs the customer off, as it might have shown that I do not have that much shipping knowledge as I should if I am helping him to deliver his cargo.
After all the arrangements, the day arrived. It’s time to pick up the goods. The goods was picked; at a very late timing. The customer wanted to pick it up in the afternoon, and the truck arrived in the evening. Constant pressure from the customer was a really bad experience, so to speak. I had to keep explaining why it took so long, and the carrier I used could not answer me well. (had to pick other goods along the way, no trucks available, traffic jams, etc). This is probably my fault, the carrier isn’t a very good carrier after all. Poor service, affordable rate. You get what you pay for.
Bad Customers
End of story, I tried to settle it on my own, clarifying with the carrier as much as posssible before I connected to the customer, and asking questions I think should be asked before I return to the customer. For future customers after that incident, it seems better, as I now provide more detailed information than what they could have gotten if they tried to dig it on their own.
Conclusion:
-Always be prepared for any questions from carriers and customers – this can be gained from experience;
-Research well before choosing a specific carrier – because your reputation is only as strong as the weakest carrier;
-Make sure you try every possible beneficial options for the customer. Make the customer happy is the priority. Carrier happiness actually ranks in second. Don’t get me wrong but, your customer is the one paying you, not the carriers. You actually pay the carriers.
-Greet, befriend your customer, and always remember their name.
-Don’t ever lose your cool. Let the customer rant the hell out of his/her soul. He probably had a bad day himself.
-Be quick-witted. Being quick and create solutions out of problems will ensure that customers will rely on your skills to help them with their issues at hand. Reliance is the key.
