Container vessels get the twice-over

Air freight may be down, but containers are up - and ocean carriers will soon have some new regulations surfacing from the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Control (CBP). According to the CBP, the new Importer Security Filing and Additional Carrier Requirements, or "ISF 10+2," require importers to submit additional information about their cargo to the CBP before the cargo is brought by vessel to the United States.


U.S.-bound carriers will have to provide, within 24 hours prior to shipment, importer and consignee numbers, name and address of the seller, the buyer, and the manufacturer, the ship-to party and the country of origin. Other information required prior to arrival includes container stuffing locations and consolidator name and address. All of this will have to be transmitted electronically via vessels' automated manifest systems.

Ocean carriers will need to be compliant with the new rules as of January 26, 2010, but forbearance may be available under extenuating circumstances.

Gas prices ease, providing some relief

Returning to terra firma, gas prices have for the moment steadied, which is great news for trucking companies. "Gas prices have definitely eased," says Paul Catinella, director of business development for Daniel's Moving, a transport company within the Atlas Van Lines network. "It has certainly helped us a lot since last October when the bottom fell out."

Not only are fuel prices a sensitive issue, but figuring out where to set fuel surcharges is also a challenge. Many carriers calculate their charges using data provided by the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA).

"We have a formula," says Sowers. "The EIA provides a weekly national average of highway diesel prices. We use this to calculate proper quotes on shipments, but it's a delayed system. You can't change out the system fast enough to factor in current gas prices. It's like you're trying to recover from the fuel being really high two weeks back. It's not an exact science."

Most of the fuel surcharges out there are adequate to cover costs, says Catinella. Commercial fuel surcharges are much higher than those of household shipments and range between 15 and 22 percent of the estimated cost, depending on different tariffs and modes of cargo.

"Before fuel got crazy we didn't have surcharges; fuel was built into the normal cost of business, but after 9/11 we decided to charge when diesel hit $1.35 a gallon. That became the zero point."

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