America Focus

Reefer Claims Loss Prevention is a 10 part guide covering the stages of transit for handling reefer units. With the US in mind, the guide covers each stage from the booking phase to loading, discharging, trucking, and claims etc. By following the guide members can expect to minimise the types of problems and claims described. The guide includes the following phases:

Phase 1 The booking	Phase 6 On board the vessel
Phase 2 The empty release	Phase 7 Discharge from the ship
Phase 3 Loading at shippers' premises	Phase 8 Final delivery
Phase 4 Return at the port of loading	Phase 9 Record keeping
Phase 5 Loading to the ship	Phase 10 Claims handling

Claims involving hijackings have been on the rise in recent years, and many shipping companies are suffering losses for cargo shipped under through bills of lading. Analysts estimate hijackings cost the shipping industry millions of dollars each year.

Legal liability for hijacking claims often falls on the shipping line if the line arranged the trucking. In the United States, all truckers are required to sign the UIIA (Uniform Intermodal Interchange Agreement), which requires truckers to carry a minimum of $100,000 cargo insurance. There is no uniform agreement in Canada and Mexico and the cargo insurance is usually insufficient to pay the claim.

Shipping lines are increasingly having shipments of low value cargo (wastepaper and scrap plastic) shipped from the US and abandoned by the cargo receivers at the discharge port. The cargo can sit idle for several months while shippers and consignees negotiate, or shipping lines take it upon themselves to try to find a new buyer for the cargo.

This results in tens of thousands of dollars in accumulating demurrage costs, several shipping line containers out of circulation not generating revenue, and tens of thousands of dollars in freight charges to return the cargo to the origin. If no new buyer is found, and the shipper has gone out of business, the shipping line must pay to dispose of the cargo. It is also likely the ocean freight was not paid adding to the losses.

Overweight containers and mis-declared weights are becoming a very serious problem. It is estimated that as many as 20% of containers are overweight or mis-declared.

As containers are stacked higher to keep up with the growth of world trade, overweight and mis-declared weights can lead to vessels being improperly stowed which can adversely affect vessel stability and possible loss of containers overboard. They can cause damage to chassis and terminal handling equipment. Overweight and mis-declared containers can also cause injury to dock workers while containers are handled in container yards, and contribute to citations or accidents on highways and railways. Overweight and mis-declared containers are caused by poor loading controls by shippers who try to maximize the space in the container.