When a frequent, informational email matters and my reaction to "What’s Not There?"

Recently, I realized that one of our past ocean carrier partners had taken my name off of their “Notifications” email address listings. This surprised me.

Normally I must unsubscribe to the email “spam” I don’t want (if the filter hasn’t caught them), the sender just doesn’t delete me. I was truly surprised, until I realized why.

The sender of these “Notifications” emails is an ocean carrier that has vessels with an average age of somewhere around 30 years old.

In the shipping industry, that’s old. As vessels age, similar to an automobile, they start developing mechanical issues, and sailing schedules become harder to maintain, due to “mechanical” problems. Schedule delays mean shipping delays and problems.

Because of the delays in their service, and our policy of offering a “Best in Class” service, we at DHX-Dependable Hawaiian Express no longer use them and have switched to a competitor. What’s worse, in my opinion, is that their competitive disadvantage will continue – there is no end to the issue in sight for them; they don’t have the funds to replace the vessels.

Occasionally, in sales calls our sales professionals will say “We use xxxx, because Brand Y has unreliable, older vessels and we promise the best quality of service. Best in Class is a mission for us.” Apparently, this information got back to Brand Y, and their reaction was to remove me from their email listing.

Funny thing is, others in our company forwarded their last message to me, because they were surprised by the message content.

Where in the past “Brand Y” had always given an explanation as to why a vessel is late, now they do not. A lack of information is not good in the shipping business, particularly when you are a Customer trying to ascertain your supply chain weaknesses and risks. The last notification just stated “the vessel will be late” and discussed how it impacted their transfer cargo at destination. We wonder why there's no explanation.

We use the promotion line “Dependable from Start to Finish”, and we at DHX-Dependable Hawaiian Express, DGX and DAX are here to help. Visit us. Call on us. Depend on us. We’re the supply chain partner you can Depend on!

My advice to you: Caveat Emptor.

Want answers to your shipping questions?

• Odd sizes?
• Proper dimensions and weight?
• Pallets
• Shrink wrap?
• Handicapping the freight forwarder; the space is already occupied.

When you are shipping less than containerload ocean or air  cargo to any destination, ensure the Freight Forwarder you are using has the proper dimensions and weight. This is extremely important as your charges will be based on one of those items or a combination of them. It's always good to consider  the following:

1. If your freight is initially shipped on pallets, will it be stripped off of the pallet when loaded into a container or put into an airplane? If your response is yes, then do not include the pallet  weight or dimensions in your totals for ocean or air freight charges purposes.


2. If your freight is shrink wrapped with a sign that states “Do not break shrink wrap” then include the pallet weight and measurements in your calculations.


3. If your ocean freight weighs over a certain amount per cubic foot (Hawaii and Guam cargo) or meter (International freight), then you may get charged with a “density charge” because the freight is disproportionately heavy, and it may mean the freight company cannot completely fill a container because it then would be too heavy to transport legally. Similarly, if the freight is odd sized or longer than a certain length you may be charged an extra charge for the Forwarder having to take extra time to block in the pieces or load around them.


4. Remember that on odd sized pieces that you take the highest, widest and longest point to determine your overall measurement. So, if something in your shipment juts out past the edge of a pallet, even if only in one spot, you will be charged as if the entire shipment juts out over the pallet. The argument for this practice is that that space is lost in the container, because the Forwarder cannot load anything with a flat surface up against it because the space is already occupied.


5. For airfreight, whether Hawaii or Guam or International cargo, there are also dimensional calculations based on the density of the freight. However, the end result is the opposite of the ocean shipment. For airfreight, similar calculations take place, but you are charged for dimensional weight used for the lighter freight, not the heavier freight. The reason for this is that there is limited space in an aircraft, and, unlike ocean freight, where charges are based on cubic feet (Hawaii and Guam ) or cubic meters (International), airfreight charges are based on weight.


6. More information on the whys? With the limited space in an airplane, as well as its ability to put only so much freight weight-wise into the plane, if the plane was only filled with light freight then the total revenue charged by the airline would be less than they theoretically could charge with a mix of light and heavier freight. Thus, the calculation computes a dimensional weight, and you may be charged additional weight for your shipment if too light.

If you need more information, in the FAQ or Conversion chart sections of our websites — DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express, DGX - Dependable Global Express, and DAX - Dependable AirCargo Express — there is a more complete explanation and examples of the computations.