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Logistics & Transport

Logistics decides whether your goods arrive on time, intact and at the cost you priced. This course takes you through the practical side of moving export cargo: choosing the mode and the container, reading a freight quote line by line, insuring, packing and marking the goods, and handling perishables, dangerous goods and delays.

What you will learn

  • Choose between sea, air, road, rail and multimodal transport for each shipment
  • Pick the right container and calculate whether your cargo fits by weight and volume
  • Read a freight quote line by line and spot missing or inflated surcharges
  • Insure your cargo under the right Institute Cargo Clauses for the right value
  • Pack, mark and declare goods so they pass ISPM 15, VGM and dangerous goods checks
  • Track a shipment, anticipate delays and keep demurrage and detention under control

Course contents

  1. Transport Modes in International Trade: Sea, Air, Road, Rail — How to choose between sea, air, road, rail and multimodal transport for exports: cost, transit time, risk, documents and a worked road example to Tunisia.
  2. Shipping Container Sizes, Types and Capacities Explained — Shipping container dimensions and payloads: 20' and 40' dry, 40' high cube, reefer, open top and flat rack, with pallet counts, VGM rules and a loading example.
  3. FCL vs LCL Shipping: Full Container or Groupage? — FCL vs LCL explained: LCL pricing per W/M, origin and destination CFS charges, break-even volume, transit time and risk, with a worked groupage example.
  4. Freight Forwarders: Role, Quotes and Responsibilities — What a freight forwarder does, how it differs from a carrier and an NVOCC, agent vs principal liability, and how to compare forwarder quotes line by line.
  5. Ocean Freight Costs Explained: Base Rate, BAF, THC, Surcharges — Ocean freight costs line by line: base rate, BAF, ETS and other surcharges, THC, ISPS, PSS, GRI, demurrage and detention, with a worked tiles example.
  6. Cargo Insurance: Institute Cargo Clauses A, B and C Explained — Marine cargo insurance explained: Institute Cargo Clauses A, B and C (2009), exclusions, the 110% CIF and CIP rule, general average and how to claim.
  7. Export Packaging, Pallets and Shipping Marks: A Practical Guide — Export packaging done right: cartons, pallets, crates, ISPM 15 wood rules, securing loads, shipping marks and ISO 780 handling symbols, with an example.
  8. Reefer Containers and the Cold Chain: Shipping Perishables — How to ship perishables in reefer containers: set point, ventilation, humidity, pre-cooling, airflow, PTI and data loggers, with a 40' reefer of dates.
  9. Shipping Dangerous Goods: IMDG, IATA DGR and ADR Basics — Dangerous goods for exporters: the 9 hazard classes, UN numbers, packing groups, IMDG, IATA DGR, ADR and the DG declaration, with a worked perfume example.
  10. Transit Times, Shipment Tracking and Handling Delays — How to plan transit times, track containers by B/L or container number, and handle delays, rollovers, free time, demurrage and letter of credit dates.