Logistics, Trade Administration and Supply Chain

The transportation of good by land forms a crucial link between the producer of goods and the user of goods whether the destination is domestic or overseas. The evolution of land transport infrastructure and equipment has long followed the trading needs of the producer and users over the years. Decisions on where to site a factory for example was dependent on the experience and vision of the entrepreneur who is investing. The road network too has much followed the easiest route regardless of distance. It can also be traced that growth of civilization, towns and cities were in tempo with the developments in the transportation technology. Sitting of communities along river banks slowly changed to more inland sites as land transportation became better developed for transporting large volumes quickly and economically. This has led to the planned development of inland and offwaterway sites for communities and their peripheral services. In more recent times, the decision to site factories ha...

Consignments will be accepted for air carriage if such consignments do not violate any national regulations or application laws. In order to determine if a consignment is acceptable for carriage, we must observe the following: Documentation Shipper's Letter of Instruction (SLI) for issuing Airwaybill form A Letter of Instruction with Shipper's Letterhead The Airwaybill Shipper's Declaration of Transport for Dangerous Goods (DG) Shipper's Certificate of Live Animals Commercial Invoice, Customs documentations Certificate of Origin US Government Bill of Lading Health Certificate for Live Animals Death Certificate, Burial Certificate and Embalming Certificate for shipping Human remains via air Export/import or transit license/permits which the carrier is required to present to customs or any other government agencies Independent Surveyor's report confirming items to be exported or their quality, quantity and weight/dimensions Agricultural, Phytosanitory or Fisheries Cer...

The following is a list of air cargo terms commonly used in the industry: Advance Charge or Disbursement - A charge paid by a carrier to an agent to another carrier, which the delivery carrier then collects from the consignee. Such charges are usually for agents' forwarding fees and incidental expenses paid out of pocket for account of the shipment by an agent or other carrier. Airline, Delivering - The carrier who delivers the consignment to the consignee or his agent. Airline, Issuing - The airline whose airway bills is issued. Airline, Participating - An airline over whose air routes one or more section of carriage under the air way bill is undertaken or performed. Airway bill - The document made out by or on behalf of the shipper which evidences the contract between the shipper and carrier(s) for carriage of goods over routes of carrier(s). Airway bill Neutral - A standard airway bill without identification of issuing carrier in any form. Air Cargo Aircraft - An aircraft...

In addition to the earlier advantages listed, the following additional services are offered by air cargo agents: Door to Door Delivery As there are many landlocked countries, such as Nepal, Laos, Switzerland, Austria, Mali and many more in the former Soviet sub-continent, air transportation has provided new access into these countries for international trade. The air cargo agents also provide door delivery service for those customers that may require them. Arranging Customs Clearance With the Just in Time (JIT) concept, some users prefer that the goods move from the shipper's door to the consignee's door under one contract, thus the need for the air cargo agents to arrange Customs clearance of cargo. Insurance Coverage More and more users of air cargo services are going for a package of services. In view of this, the carriers have always provided for insurance coverage on their own where one may declare a "value for carriage" and then a premium ls levied by the carrie...

The transportation charges by air are generally higher than by surface or sea. However, such charges are only part of the long list of all the cost of distribution. Goods will be forwarded by air if this means offers the customers some advantages. The advantages will be the combination of the following: Speed and Frequency The most important factors that a customer will consider are no doubt speed and frequency, especially if he has some urgent shipments. Reliability Owing to the high cost of the airport facilities, these comes a need for maximum utility. As such, the arrival and departure times of flights are highly reliable. Network of Destination and Interline Facilities Nowadays, there are many airlines that have a large network which covers almost the entire world. Airlines also accept each others air waybills and that means the shipper can send his shipment to nearly every destination using the same air waybill. Warehousing Using air cargo, the customer has less need for local wa...

Prior to World War Two, the air cargo industry was almost limited to the transportation of air mail and emergency supplies. During the period from 1939 to 1945, a tremendous development took place in response to military requirement. Like the beautiful lotus flower with an ugly looking and dirty root system. Wars have somehow been the mother of invention for many new equipment, machinery and in this case transportation logistics, namely the air transportation. The progress made in aircraft design and conversion of military transport aircraft into civilian purpose led to the growing use and demand for this mode of transportation. The birth of the fan jet engines brought about the birth of the Boeing 707 and the McDonald Douglas DC-8 aircrafts, the forerunners to yet better designed aircrafts to come to uplift greater capacities of cargo by air. As a result, airlines after the end of the war improve their fleets, enlarge their networks and were soon able to provide fast and economical se...

The Hague-Visby Rules also extended the application of the Hague Rules. Whilst the Hague Rules apply to all Bills of Lading issued in any contracting state, the Hague-Visby Rules apply to every Bill of Lading relating to the carriage of goods between ports in two different states if: The Bill of Lading is issued in a contracting state, or The carriage is from a contracting state, or The contract shown by the Bill of Lading provided that the rules of convention or legislation of any state giving effect to them are to govern the contract (whatever may be the nationality of the ship, the carrier, the shipper, the consignee or any interested parties). The Protocol also seeks to solve the problem caused by the carriage of goods in containers and pallets. When the goods are packed into carrier's container for his own convenience, each package in the container is treated as one unit for limitation purpose. If the container belongs to the shipper and is packed by him, the limitation questi...