Preventing and Managing Misplaced International Shipments
Time and time again we hear about misplaced shipments. It seems to be a common part of air and ground transportation because reports tend to focus there, with good reason. The very nature of air cargo means that it’s important cargo. However, misplaced shipments are a far less common occurrence than we think because, with the right partner, misplaced shipments can be prevented and/or tracked down.
At Courier NetWork, every person on our international courier team is invested in providing our customers with the highest level of service and security with respect to preventing and tracking down misplaced shipments.
Misplacement Prevention
Our shipments stand out. We’ve found the best way to avoid misplaced shipments is tomake our shipments stand out from all those other brown boxes and pallets of materials. We put each shipment in a yellow bag. If the shipment is too large for our bag, we use bright pink tape that says CNW and easy to view labels. Our colorfully packaged and marked shipments are easily recognized at every step of the way during transport.
We let our carriers know in advance that a shipment is coming. Pre-alerting carriers draws attention to our shipments and enables everyone from the ground to air to be on the lookout for them. Carriers on the lookout for our shipments means misplaced packages are rarer for our customers, and on the rare occasion packages are misplaced, they are more readily tracked.
Oversight at every stage is important. Last year, our TMS system logged a total of 70,000shipments with less than a handful misplaced – and then tracked down. We have a dedicated airline team that watches and tracks airlines. At major ports, such as Frankfurt, we have someone on the tarmac, watching the connections, taking photographs of our shipments, and staying with the aircraft until the doors are closed. This level of oversight enables us to confirm that our shipments are on the correct flights.
Every part of the freight’s journey from door-to-door is checked and connected. Our international courier services are unsurpassed. We have a tried and true 13-milestone checklist. Some of the milestones on our checklist include the following:
Our TMS systems are connected to the airlines’, providing us with real-time data
We track flights, watching and recording every movement
Our experts on the tarmac provide our clients with photographs of their shipments in our labeled bags, and photographs of the shipments being placed on the airplane
We know where the packages we ship are at all times.
Managing a Misplaced Shipment
What happens in the rare event an international shipment has been misplaced? We send our agents to the origin and destination airports. An “eye test” is done to see if the shipment is there. We then set up a “trace” group. Because we have such a solid system for keeping track of shipments from start to finish, we follow the trail methodically and thoroughly. Within one hour, a misplaced shipment is escalated to the carrier.
What differentiates us? Relationships make the difference in our services. We have invested time and care in building relationships with airlines. For example, top airline management is alerted about specific CNW shipments. We stay close to people on the ground doing things such as bringing pizza to the ground crew when a shipment is delayed. Building relationships with our carriers adds a level of comfort and care that sets us head and shoulders above other air cargo services.
Being passionate about what we do sets us apart. We love freight! We love our customers! We love to wear gloves! Even the directors at Courier NetWork have physically gone to an origin or destination airport to check on misplaced shipments.
