Tag
#Risk Management
Strait of Hormuz Disruption: A Shipper's Playbook for Gulf Cargo
Hormuz has been effectively closed to mainstream container traffic since late February 2026. Here is how shippers are still moving cargo into and out of the Gulf, and what it costs.
8 Contingency Questions to Ask Your Freight Forwarder Before the Next Disruption
Every forwarder handles a normal shipment. 2026 showed which ones handle a closed corridor. Eight questions that reveal whether your provider has a real plan B.
War Risk and Emergency Surcharges: How to Read and Challenge Them
WRS, ECS, EFS, PSS: 2026 invoices carry more emergency surcharges than base freight in some lanes. What each one is, when it legitimately applies, and how to push back.
Air Charter vs Scheduled Air Freight: When a Charter Is Worth It
Charters are not just for oversized cargo. A cost and risk framework for deciding when a full or part charter beats waiting for space on scheduled services.
How to File a Cargo Claim: The Step-by-Step Process
Notice deadlines, the documents you need, what carrier liability actually pays, and the three mistakes that kill a claim before it starts.
What Your Forwarder's Trading Conditions Actually Say
The standard terms behind every booking: liability caps, time bars, lien clauses and the agent-versus-principal distinction that decides who you can sue.
Restricted Party Screening: What Exporters and Forwarders Must Check
The lists, the free official tool, why EAR99 does not mean unrestricted, and the ownership rule that blocks companies whose names appear on no list at all.
US Customs Bonds: Single Entry vs Continuous, and How the Amount Is Set
What a bond actually guarantees, the formula behind the number, and why paying high duties does not use it up.
Cargo Securing Inside the Container: The Step Most Shippers Skip
Packing a container is not stacking boxes: weight distribution, void filling and lashing decide whether cargo arrives intact or becomes a claim.
Demurrage and Detention Invoices: The FMC Rules That Let You Refuse to Pay
A US invoice missing any required element eliminates your obligation to pay it, plus the provision that was struck down in 2025 and is still quoted everywhere.
Institute Cargo Clauses A, B and C: What Each One Covers
A and C are not the same product at different prices. One covers all risks minus exclusions, the other covers a short list of named perils and nothing else.
Carrier Liability Limits: What You Actually Get Paid
Carriers are liable, but only up to a limit set per kilo or per package. On most cargo that limit pays out a fraction of what the goods were worth.
Cold Chain Data Loggers and Temperature Excursions
An excursion is not automatically a loss. The damage is usually done by whoever decides on the spot to write the shipment off, or to accept it without telling anyone.
Dunnage, Lashing and Bracing: Securing Cargo for Sea
Cargo at sea is not sitting still. It is being accelerated in three axes for weeks, and restraint has to be designed for that, not for the drive to the port.
General Average: Why Another Shipper's Fire Can Cost You
Your cargo is undamaged, the ship is safe, and you still owe money. General average is the oldest rule in shipping and the one that surprises shippers most.
What Cargo Insurance Does Not Cover
The exclusions apply to all risks cover just as much as to the narrow clause sets. These are the ones that decline real claims on genuinely damaged cargo.
Export Crating: When a Box Is Not Enough
Machinery and capital equipment need structure, not cardboard. Crating is also where corrosion protection, desiccant and shock indicators come in.
How Much Cargo Insurance to Buy: CIF Plus 10 Explained
CIF plus 10 percent is the default sum insured on almost every shipment. It comes from one line in Incoterms, and for some cargo it is materially too low.
Cargo Insurance Explained: Why Carrier Liability Is Never Enough
Carrier liability is capped by weight, not value, so it pays a fraction of most losses. Cargo insurance covers the gap, and it is cheaper than shippers expect.
Stretch Wrap, Strapping and Getting a Pallet to Arrive Intact
Most pallets fail the same way: the film never gripped the pallet, so the load slides off the base as one piece. Thickness is not the measure that matters.
Freight Forwarder Insurance: E&O, Cargo Legal Liability and Cyber Cover Explained
A freight forwarder needs different insurance than the cargo insurance sold to shippers. Here is what errors & omissions, cargo legal liability, and cyber cover each actually protect against.
Handling a Cargo Claim Against Your Forwarding Business
A cargo claim lands on your desk and the clock starts on three separate deadlines, only one of which is the customer claim against you. Here is what a forwarder should do first, which notice periods genuinely bar a claim, what the current liability limits are, and how forwarders lose the right to pass a claim up the chain.
Freight Fraud: Fictitious Pickups and Double Brokering
A load vanishes because it was handed to a convincing imposter, not because it was hijacked at gunpoint. Fictitious pickup, double brokering and carrier identity theft are distinct problems with distinct defences, and a May 2026 Supreme Court decision just changed who is liable when the vetting fails.
Retail Vendor Compliance and Chargebacks for Forwarders
A shipper delivering to a major retailer is bound by a routing guide the forwarder never sees: approved carriers, appointment windows, label formats and advance ship notices. Miss one and a chargeback lands on the shipper, not the truck that caused it. Here is how the system works and how a forwarder stays out of it.
Currency Risk in Freight Quotes: What Forwarders Should Do About It
A forwarder often buys in one currency and sells in another, and the gap between quote date and invoice date is where the exposure sits. Here is where it arises and how to contain it in the quote itself.
Trade Credit Insurance and Credit Control for Freight Forwarders
A forwarder often pays carriers, haulage and duties before the customer pays it. Here is how to check a customer, set a limit, decide when to hold cargo, and where trade credit insurance fits.
Letters of Indemnity in Shipping: What Forwarders Need to Know
A letter of indemnity moves cargo when the paperwork has not caught up, but it is only as good as the credit of whoever signs it and does nothing for an innocent third party who later holds the bill. Here are the four situations forwarders actually see one in, and what P&I clubs themselves say about when their cover stops applying.
Marine and Cargo Surveys Explained: When You Need One
A marine or cargo survey is the independent record that settles a dispute before it starts, whether that is a buyer confirming quantity before loading or an insurer establishing cause of damage after arrival. Here is what each type checks, who pays, and how fast to move.
Standby Letters of Credit and Demand Guarantees: A Forwarder’s Guide
A carrier wants security before opening a credit account, or a project-cargo customer wants a performance guarantee. Both a standby letter of credit and a demand guarantee will do it, and both tie up a bank line the moment they are issued.
Port State Control Inspections and Vessel Detentions Explained
A Port State Control inspection can stop a vessel from sailing, and the difference between a routine deficiency and a full detention changes how long the delay might run. Here is what the inspectors actually check, how ships get selected, and what happens to the cargo on board.
Vetting a Trucking Carrier: MC Authority, Insurance and Carrier Packets
An active MC number and an active USDOT number are not the same thing, a certificate of insurance is not proof it is still in force, and a mismatched remit-to name is the cheapest red flag you can check. Here is the vetting checklist to run before you tender a load to a trucking carrier you have not used before.
Business Email Compromise and Bank Detail Fraud in Freight
Payment-diversion fraud does not steal cargo, it steals the invoice: a convincing email changes the bank account and your money, or your customer's, goes to a criminal. This guide covers how it works in freight, the controls that stop it and the first hours after a loss.
Dangerous Goods Training and Certification for Freight Forwarders
Any forwarder staff member who prepares, accepts or signs for dangerous goods needs function-specific training, refreshed on a fixed cycle and backed by records. Here is what IATA, the IMDG Code and 49 CFR require, and an internal control that stops untrained acceptance.
Job Costing, Accruals and Disbursements for Freight Forwarders
A freight forwarder only knows what a shipment earned once every cost has landed on the job file, and carrier invoices arrive weeks late. This guide covers estimates vs actuals, accruals, disbursements, month-end cut-off and where margin leaks.
Abandoned Cargo and the Forwarder’s Lien: What to Do When a Consignee Disappears
When a consignee walks away or a customer stops paying, the forwarder’s lien is leverage, not a licence to sell. Here is how the lien, the carrier’s charges, customs deadlines and a lawful sale fit together.
Container Seals Explained: ISO 17712 Classes, Bolt Seals and Seal Numbers
A container seal is a numbered, tamper-evident lock on the door, and its number is a piece of evidence that follows the box from stuffing to unloading. Here is how ISO 17712 classes work, who applies the seal and what happens when the number does not match.
FIATA Documents Explained: FBL, FWB, FCR, FCT and FWR for Forwarders
FIATA publishes five standard documents for forwarders plus three model forms. Only the FBL and FWB put carrier liability on the issuer; the FCR, FCT and FWR are receipts and certificates that banks do not treat as transport documents.
Air Cargo Booking Status Codes, Offloading and Next Flight Out Explained
An air cargo booking is a request, not a seat on a flight, and accepted cargo can still be offloaded. This guide explains booking statuses, tracking events, why cargo is bumped, and what the Montreal Convention says about delay.
CMR Consignment Note and Road Freight Liability in Europe Explained
The CMR Convention of 1956 governs most international road freight between countries that have joined it. This guide explains the CMR consignment note, the carrier liability limit of 8.33 SDR per kilogram, the claim deadlines and what a forwarder changes.
Customs Bonds and Guarantees for Freight Forwarders: US, EU and UK
A forwarder is asked to back its promises with money from regulators, customs authorities, airlines and carriers. This guide separates a bond from a guarantee and from insurance, and sets out what the US, EU and UK actually require as of October 2026.
Cybersecurity Basics for Small Freight Forwarders
A small forwarder does not need a security department, but it does need a short, written baseline: multi-factor authentication, backups that cannot be wiped from the office network, prompt updates and clean account offboarding. This guide maps that baseline to a public framework and covers what to do on the day something goes wrong.
Importer of Record Explained: Who It Is and How Non-Resident Importers Work
The importer of record is the party legally answerable to customs for an import, and it is often not the party people assume. This guide explains who qualifies, what the role carries, and how non-resident importers and third-party IOR services fit in.
Know Your Customer Checks for Freight Forwarders Opening a New Shipper Account
Know your customer (KYC) for a forwarder means proving a new shipper exists, learning who owns and controls it, screening it against sanctions lists and deciding how much credit it deserves, before the first booking. This guide gives a tiered method and a checklist, and says where the law depends on your country.
Managing Detention and Demurrage Exposure as a Freight Forwarder
A carrier bills whoever is the merchant on its bill of lading, and for a forwarder-issued house bill that can be the forwarder. This guide covers how the exposure arises, the contract terms that move it back to the customer, and the habits that catch it before the free time runs out.
Recovering Cargo Claims from Carriers: Subrogation and Time Bars for Forwarders
When a forwarder has paid a customer for lost or damaged cargo, the money is only half recovered until the carrier or subcontractor has paid it back. This guide covers the notice rules and time bars by mode, the paperwork, subrogation and the traps that quietly kill a recovery.
Related Party Transactions and Customs Value: How Transfer Pricing Affects Duty
When an importer buys from a parent, subsidiary or sister company, customs will accept the invoice price only if the relationship did not influence it. Here is how that test works and why a tax-approved transfer price is not automatically a customs value.
Sanctions Compliance for Freight Forwarders: OFAC, OFSI and Red Flags
A freight forwarder can break sanctions law without shipping to a sanctioned country or using a listed name. This guide covers why forwarders are in scope, what to check beyond the consignee, the red flags regulators publish, real penalties, and what to do on a hit (as of October 2026).