What are the reasons for delays and delays in international air freight?
Many foreign trade sellers encounter air freight being stranded at airports, with demurrage fees increasing daily, order delivery breaches, and customer claims, but they are not clear about the core causes of demurrage delays. Air freight demurrage can be divided into four categories: human operation, customs compliance, airline capacity, and force majeure. Among them, customs clearance issues account for more than 60% of the total cases of demurrage. This article comprehensively breaks down the various causes and provides pre accident avoidance plans.
1、 Non compliant customs declaration (highest reason for demurrage). When the export and destination port customs verify, if the declared information is inconsistent with the actual goods, the goods will be directly detained: low declared value for tax avoidance, HS code classification errors, vague and vague product names, and brand not declared; Lack of documents can also result in long-term storage delays. Without qualification documents such as certificate of origin, fumigation certificate, MSDS chemical report, brand authorization, and VAT number of the importing country, customs will not release them, resulting in high daily storage fees. In addition, sensitive goods such as electric, powder, and liquid have not been identified in advance and have been detained and inspected by security checks and customs, with a detention period of up to 3-10 days.
2、 The freight forwarder and the cargo owner made operational errors. If the shipper's delivery is delayed, misses the deadline for customs clearance, and the goods cannot be assembled on the current flight, the next voyage will be postponed; Packaging size and weight exceeding the standard, on-site repackaging and rectification delay installation; The freight forwarder entered incorrect information on the manifest and waybill, and the recipient and sender information and shipping marks did not match the actual goods. The airline refused to load the aircraft. In the scenario of a transit airport, if the freight forwarder fails to transfer the bill of lading, fails to submit the transit declaration, and the goods are stuck in the sorting area of the transit port, resulting in long-term demurrage, the demurrage fees caused by such human errors shall be borne by the responsible party.
3、 Airline capacity and airport congestion issues. During the peak stocking season in Europe and America from August to November each year, cross-border cargo volume skyrockets, and the cargo space in the belly compartment of passenger planes is limited. The total cargo space of all cargo planes is scarce, and a large amount of goods are stored in the warehouse, which can only be loaded in batches; The airport cargo terminal system is malfunctioning, there is a shortage of sorting personnel, and containers are piling up, resulting in the inability to load goods onto the machine in a timely manner; The airline temporarily cancelled or rescheduled the flight without notifying the cargo owner in advance, and the goods were detained in the warehouse waiting for further storage. Some large overseas airports have been congested for a long time, and airlines have imposed congestion surcharges, further prolonging the detention time of goods.
4、 Force majeure external factors. Flight cancellation and alternate landing are caused by extreme weather (fog, rainstorm, typhoon, blizzard); Temporary closure of air routes for airspace control, military exercises, and international geopolitical conflicts; Overseas public health and port temporary control, all flights suspended. In such cases, airlines and freight forwarders are exempt from liability, and demurrage fees are mostly borne by the shipper themselves, making it impossible to apply for exemption.
To reduce the risk of demurrage, it is necessary to ensure consistency among the three documents (invoice, packing list, and waybill) before shipment, truthfully declare the value and name of the goods, and prepare a complete set of identification documents for sensitive goods in advance; Book shipping 15 days in advance during peak season and reserve sufficient delivery time; Choose direct flight routes to reduce transit links; Check the size and weight before shipment, and standardize the packaging. Once the goods are detained, contact the freight forwarder as soon as possible to obtain the reason for the detention, complete the rectification materials within 24 hours, and release them quickly to reduce storage losses.