Author: arkod_admin

Cargo delays don’t happen often, but if they do, they can be extremely frustrating. Given the recent challenges in global trade, delays can happen and your cargo might depart or arrive later.

When you have booked a shipment, often you want to get it delivered as planned. Your customers rely on you and request your products arrive timely – and they won’t be happy if the products won’t arrive on time or are simply out of stock. At Twill, we are striving for delivering your cargo on time. However, delays can happen, and we know that this can be a huge challenge for many small and medium-sized business owners.

So, why can your cargo get delayed, and how can you prevent your business from potential delays? Read our checklist to find out what might cause delay for your cargo and how you can prepare for it: 

1. The pandemic and the ever-changing customer habits

Since 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic is having a significant effect on shipments and deliveries. As consumer behaviours have changed, they are shifting towards an increase in purchased goods and a decrease in purchased services. With that, many carriers are currently extremely busy transporting goods around the world. Especially trade lanes from Asia to Europe and from Asia to North-America are severely impacted. This is resulting in a lack of equipment and space restrictions on many vessels. While the situation continues, it is essential to follow the latest developments.

2. Extraordinary events and external factors in the shipping world

Some delays might be totally out of your or your logistics partners’ scope – for example, external factors such as the weather, piracy, wars, fire and extraordinary events – which is being described as “force majeure”. Hurricanes, cyclones and many other natural catastrophes can happen, and unfortunately, they can have severe impacts on ocean freight.

Another example is the vessel blockage in the Suez Canal in March 2021. The blockage made it hard to ship cargo smoothly and without any delay. With about 12% of global trade passing through the Suez Canal per year, the trade route provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe. And the blockage has exactly stopped this global trade for a week at the end of March. Now, delays are continuing, and on top of that, equipment and space on vessels are lacking.

These factors should play a role when forecasting your supply chain. To prepare yourself, check out the different methods of supply chain forecasting to make it easier for you to prepare for such events.

Ocean freight is the transport of choice for 90% of all global trade, but it comes with risks. Our Value Protect offers a simple source of protection. Learn now how it works.

Traditional marine cargo insurance offers protection for cargo owners against the known risks of transports – but the process of applying it for all shipments can be complicated, time consuming, and expensive. And as a result, 30% of cargo moved by ocean freight is uninsured.

For a small business, those three words are red flags, because your time is valuable, and you might not have the budget to contract insurance for multiple shipments and containers. A single container represents not just a portion (sometimes a big portion) of your inventory; but it is also a key link in a supply chain that begins with you and ends with your customers. And it needs to get to its destination safely and timely.

That’s why Twill, supercharged by Maersk, has introduced Value Protect to the logistics services within our platform. But you may be wondering, what is Value Protect? And why should I use it? Well, let’s take a look in more detail!

You know how important it is to smooth out the entire process from purchase to fulfilment, ensuring a trouble-free delivery. However, there is one shipping stage that can stop you: customs clearance.

In today’s world, products are most likely not made in only one part of the world. Due to globalisation, many products are produced in one part of the world and then shipped to another part where they are sold. This is often referred to as “Made in the World”.

When the product passes through borders, it has to cross different countries and sometimes even the same borders multiple times. This applies to multiple products from various industries such as the automotive and aerospace industry and the pharmaceutical and food sectors. On the way are possible worst-case scenarios for such global supply chains, as Stefan Reinhardt, Area Sales Manager DACH at KGH, explains:

There are multiple worst-case scenarios for a supply chain. There can be delays when goods are stuck in Customs. This can happen because tariff numbers are wrongly selected, or there are formal errors on the documents. Sufficient customs expertise internally or by an external service provider can prevent this.

Stefan Reinhardt, Area Sales Manager DACH at KGH

The last ships stranded by the giant container vessel that was stuck in the Suez Canal have now passed through the waterway, the canal authorities say.

More than 400 vessels were left waiting at either end of the canal when the 400m – long Ever Given became wedged across it on 23 March.