Airlift USA Inc. Blog

INCOTERMS 101 continued...   In the last blog, we tried understanding Incoterms as a concept. Now let's bring you up to speed on what each of the 11 terms mean by categorizing them based on the mode of transport. INCOTERMS FOR ANY MODE/MODES OF TRANSPORT: 1. EXW (Ex-Works): The seller has to only make the goods available at his premises / agreed location. From then on, all risks and costs are borne by the buyer. 2. FCA (Free Carrier): The seller is responsible for loading the goods, cleared for export, onto a buyer-nominated carrier at the seller's premises/specified place.The delivery takes place once the goods are loaded onto the carrier at the seller's premises or when the loaded carrier arrives at the agreed location. Once delivered, all the risks and costs get transferred to the buyer. 3. DDP (Delivered duty paid): This is the exact opposite of EXW. Here, the seller is responsible to deliver the goods from his premises to the buyer's pr

INCOTERMS 101 Are you an international trader struggling to understand when to use which INCOTERM? Are you a new entrant in the shipping world who just learned about the existence of this acronym, but don't know what it means yet? If the answer is yes , then we have some good news for you! Today all those questions and doubts are going to be put to rest. Let's begin with understanding what exactly are INCOTERMS. Incoterms or International Commercial Terms refer to a set of predefined trade terms that explain the roles and responsibilities of the buyer and the seller in an international sale contract. They were first published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in 1936 to reduce the confusion regarding the obligations of both the seller and the buyer in the shipping process. By clearly defining who is responsible for what and up to which point while shipping freight, these definitions provide clarity to traders and help facilitate the s

So in the last blog, we tried making sense of demurrage and detention. But why should an exporter or an importer know about them? Can demurrage and detention really hurt your bottom line? The answer is YES. With rates varying from country to country and charges being calculated per day and per container, these penalties can blow up quickly and leave a dent in your profits. In some cases, the charges run so high that the shippers/importers are forced to abandon the cargo. To help you avoid facing such circumstances, here are 6 tips that you can follow.  1. Plan in advance: Time is money literally in logistics, and it's vital you use it to your advantage. Plan ahead always. By working out a mechanism to execute the loading and unloading of your cargo, arranging for pick-up and return, informing third parties well in advance etc., you can ensure smooth execution of all processes. Pre-planning also wins you the time to focus on unexpected problems that might crop up

Often times, most of us in the shipping industry find ourselves struggling to understand what exactly are demurrage and detention. Given the confusing similarities between these two concepts, it gets difficult to distinguish one from the other. However, there exists a line of difference, the understanding of which is imperative for all those involved with containerized shipping. So what's demurrage? It's a fee charged by the shipping line to the importers when they don't pick up a full container from the port, within the free period fixed by the shipping line. This free period starts from the day the container is unloaded and typically lasts for 3-5 days (varies from carrier to carrier). Demurrage is calculated from the expiry of the last free day, up till the day the container is moved out of the terminal. Also, these charges vary from carrier to carrier and country to country. And detention? It's a fee charged by the shipping line to the im