Freight Insights
Industry news, guides, and best practices from the CargoLinked team.
Inward and Outward Processing Relief: EU and UK Duty Suspension Explained
Inward and Outward Processing Relief are EU and UK customs procedures that suspend or reduce duty before it is paid, not refund it afterwards. Here is what each actually requires, and why the paperwork burden is the part importers underestimate.
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.
Reefer Container PTI and Cold Chain Monitoring: What Shippers Need to Know
A Pre-Trip Inspection tells you a reefer container can hold set point before you load it, nothing more. Here is what PTI actually checks, who is supposed to pay for it, and why it is not the same thing as watching the box during the voyage.
Assists, Royalties and Customs Value: What You Must Add to the Price Paid
First sale lowers the price you start from. This is the mirror-image problem: the assists, royalties, resale proceeds, packing costs and commissions the law requires you to add back on top, and when each one actually applies.
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.
Charter Party Laytime, Demurrage and Despatch Explained
Charter party demurrage and container demurrage share a name and nothing else. Here is how laytime, Notice of Readiness, demurrage and despatch actually work in a voyage charter, verified against BIMCO and GENCON text, for a shipper or forwarder chartering bulk or breakbulk space.
Binding Tariff Rulings Explained: EU BTI vs US CBP Rulings
A binding ruling locks in your tariff classification before you ship, but the EU and US run genuinely different systems, and both cover less than importers assume. Here is how BTI and CBP rulings actually work, what protection they give you, and what they never touch.
Vendor Managed Inventory and Milk Runs: A Forwarder’s Operational Role
Vendor managed inventory and milk run collection both sound like buyer-side strategy decisions, but a forwarder is the one who has to run them: scheduled pickups on a fixed timetable, buffer-stock warehousing, and data feeds accurate enough that nobody upstream needs to ask what is coming.
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.
Section 321 De Minimis and Type 86 Entry: What Changed
The $800 Section 321 exemption is suspended worldwide and Entry Type 86 has not accepted a new filing since August 2025, and neither the Supreme Court IEEPA ruling nor the litigation that followed brought either one back. Here is what CBP actually requires for low-value shipments now, sourced to the Federal Register and CBP guidance.
Hormuz and Red Sea Shipping Update, Late September 2026: What Changed Since the 21st
Four days after our September market update, the Gulf picture has moved again: another fatal attack on a merchant ship, a blockade tally, talk of a phased deal, and mixed signals from the Red Sea. Here is what changed as of 25 September 2026 and what to do about it.
CBP Is Voiding Importer of Record Numbers: What Importers and Brokers Should Check
Since 18 September 2026, US Customs and Border Protection has said it will void any importer of record number whose Form 5106 data is inaccurate or incomplete. Here is what the Federal Register notice actually says, what is still unreported, and what to check this week.