LOGISTICS

Transport and documents

The transportation is one of the significant factors of the cost of an operation of international trade and it can mean the failure or the success of it. In order to choose the transport modality it is necessary to make a detailed analysis of the costs and the security-level of the delivery. The cost of the transport doesn't rebound in the same way in the price of all the products; for example, in electronic products the repercussion is minimum, the contrary in wooden products, and even more in the transport of salt. In this last one the transport is the most representative cost to fix the final price.

For the transport it is necessary to consider the whole journey of the merchandise, in accordance with the conventional negotiation. In the above mentioned function, some terms that are used are the following ones:

" From the factory to the port or airport exit: Railroad, truck or the combination of these.
" From the port or the airport exit, to the port or arrival airport: Airplane, ship or the combination of these.
" From the port or arrival airport, to the final buyer's warehouse: Truck, piggy back (semirremolques in railroad platform) or multimodal (combination).

It is also important to take in consideration aspects like: punctuality of the delivery, climate, complete journey of the merchandise, relationship value-peso, relationship value-volume etc.

The transport company sends a document confirming that it has received the product. The name of this document depends on the used type of transport:

- Airway Bill- Air transport
- Shipment knowledge (Bill of lading)- marine transports
- Railway Bill- transports in railroad

In this document it is indicated that the merchandise has gone aboard to a certain destination and it confirms the condition in which it is in. Starting from this moment the transport company is responsible for the shipment and the custody of the merchandise until the destination point, in accordance with the conventional conditions.

The document is sent to the importer and should coincide with the other documents like the letter of credit, the purchase-sale contract, bills, packing lists, etc. It should also coincide regarding the description of the merchandise, the characteristics of the packing and the quantities (for example, 20 bundles, 10 boxes, etc.). You should keep a copy of the transport documents as proving material in case of problems.

The container is a means to store merchandise and to transport it; not a packing. They can be of various sizes, the most common has a capacity of load of 20 tons in a maximum space of 23 cubic feet. The lease of the containers is carried out by the transport companies or tariff agents or by the exporter himself.

Normally, the shipments of several exporters, when these are of little weight and / or volume, are consolidated; that is to say, they share a single container where they store the goods of various forwarders, with different receiving addresses. To use this service one has to contact other companies that would want to consolidate loads. This way they can reduce transport costs.

Insurance

The transport includes a series of coverings to compensate the insured for the loss or material damage that the goods might have suffered in transit.

During the transit of the goods the insurance covers the risks for a total or a partial loss and material damages as a consequence of the following incidents: fire, explosion, sinking, collision, fall of airplanes, and derailment. In case the client requests it, the covering can be enlarged to other risks, like robbery by bundle (total or partial), contact with other loads, stains, breaks, spill, oxidation and soaking (either sweet or of sea water).

The validity of the insurance starts at the moment in that the carrier is in charge of the goods and their transport, it lasts during the normal course of its trip and it finishes with the discharge of the goods in its final destination. In this case the protection is for the complete trip. When one only requests an insurance for the journey from the marine port or terrestrial customs of entrance to the country until the point of their final destination, it is considered as intermediate insurance or a partial insurance.

The maximum sum of compensation should correspond to the total of the value of the goods, plus freight, plus import taxes and all the expenses that occur during the commercial transaction.

In case of damage or loss of the goods, you will have to send a reclamation writing within the period of time agreed upon in the insurance policy, together with the following documents:

Certified copy of the protest
Bills of the expenses that have occurred during the transport
Copy of the shipment knowledge
Copy of the reclamation of the carrier

It also exists an insurance that covers commercial risks (insurance about commercial risks) in case of inability of payment by the importer.

The insurance of civil responsibility covers the damages, as well as the damages and the moral damage that the use of the product traded by the insured can cause at another person.