The delays that hurt are rarely the ones caused by the ocean. They come from a handful of predictable problems that begin at origin, travel with the cargo, and surface at destination where they cost demurrage and days. Every one of them is visible in China if someone is looking. This is the list we run before every shipment, with the point at which each item is cheapest to catch.
1. The cargo-ready date slips silently. The factory said the 12th; it means the 19th; nobody asked. Caught by a weekly check-in with each supplier against the sailing, in Chinese, in their hours. Missed, it is a rolled booking and a week.
2. The packing is not export grade. Cartons that will not survive a crossing, no pallets, or pallets without an ISPM 15 mark. Caught by agreeing the packing specification before production ends and checking it at collection. Missed, it is damage or a border remediation at your cost.
3. Shipping marks do not match the packing list. The carton says one thing, the document another, and customs notices. Caught by approving the label artwork before it is printed. Missed, it is an examination.
4. The count differs from the packing list. Four hundred and eighty declared, four hundred and seventy-two loaded. Caught by counting at loading and correcting the list before the doors close. Missed, it is a short-shipment claim and a customs query.
5. The commodity code on the export declaration disagrees with your import classification. Two authorities see two descriptions of the same goods. Caught by classifying once, at quotation, and using the same first six digits at both ends. Missed, it is a valuation or classification query at destination.
6. A certificate was never applied for. Certificate of origin for a preference claim, a test report, a safety data sheet, a battery test summary. Caught by a document checklist issued at booking with a due date per item. Missed, it is duty at the full rate or cargo that cannot be released.
7. The trucking misses the container-yard cut-off. The pickup was booked from the factory's convenience rather than the carrier's deadline. Caught by deriving the collection date backwards from the cut-off. Missed, it is the next sailing.
8. The verified gross mass is missing or wrong. A container without a verified weight does not load. Caught by a weighbridge on the way to the port. Missed, it is a container left on the quay.
9. Dangerous goods were not declared, or were declared wrongly. A product with a battery, an aerosol, a paint. Caught by screening every item for dangerous-goods content at quotation. Missed, it is a rejected booking at best and a fine at worst.
10. The exporter of record is not who you thought. A factory without export rights sells through an agent, whose name appears on the declaration and the invoice. Caught by confirming the exporter of record on the purchase order. Missed, it is a mismatch between the export declaration and your import entry.
A China-side logistics team is, in large part, this list run by people who are in the country, speak the language and can go to the warehouse. Origin problem-solving is one of the six things we do, and the point of it is that each of these takes an hour in Shenzhen and a week in Felixstowe. Send us the details of a shipment that has gone wrong before, and we will tell you which item on this list it was and how it is prevented next time.
