Freight Knowledge Base Centre

The International Air Transport Association is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA is the cartel that sets technical standards for airlines and also organizes tariff conferences that serve as a forum for fixing prices.

FCL or Full Container Load is a standard set by the ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) which refers to one 20 or 40ft container filled with cargo.

LCL or Less than Container Load refers to a shipment that doesn't fill one 20 or 40ft standard container.

In the area of logistics, handing over the process to a logistics management software has its own advantages. With logistics management software, a company or 3PL could avail the following benefits:

1. Refine Transportation: Transportation being a pivotal area of logistics incurs the most charges in the form of fuel, energy, labor, tolls and shipping fees. Relying on logistics software can help manage the various transportation means and leverage the data to automate the process. This allows for easy analysis, which a company can utilize to make relevant decisions for maximizing efficiency and reducing costs.
2. Faster Delivery: Logistics being a linear flow of goods and services come across several issues that affect delivery and cause delays. By incorporating a logistics software, a singular benefit that businesses derive is in the faster delivery of products to the customers. A logistics management software can improve the speeds in delivery by interfering in the production cycle and selecting the right shipping service, which cuts short any delays to a large extent.
3. Minimize Human Errors: The other notable advantage of having a logistics management software is in reducing human error. Analysis of transportation data results in huge quantities of data that is difficult, time-consuming and prone to errors when processed manually. A logistics software can process these data without any errors in less time, which will seamlessly push forward the operations with zero chances of delays.
4. Automates Functions: Automation is another boon to integrating a logistics software to deal with the processes. Certain functions like creating shipment routes, load planning, and tendering of load to carriers are easily automated and managed by using a logistics software. Moreover, it eliminates paperwork, which helps deal with the processes in a more efficient and timely manner.
5. Reduce Costs: Savings is the end result as the logistics software can automatically compare different shipping services, delivery agents and transportation methods to find ones with the least pricing. The other way by which a logistics software reduces costs is by lowering the expedited shipments through improved planning of the shipments.

The procedure is as follows:

• Before filing an Export Shipping Bill, exporters or Customs House Agents (CHA) have to register with the EDI system using IEC code, AD code, and/or CHA license number.
• Under the EDI system, the Shipping Bill has to be submitted in the prescribed format at the Customs service centers. It is accompanied by copies of the invoice and packing list.
• Upon submission, a checklist is generated, which has to be verified by the exporter or the CHA.
• The verified data is then submitted to the EDI system by the service center operator. The system generates a Shipping Bill Number, which is endorsed on the printed copy of the checklist and given back to the exporter or the CHA.
• Generally, the Shipping Bill is processed by the system itself without any human aid or intervention. This is done based on declarations made by the exporter. However, the assessment of Shipping Bills for FOB value of over Rs 10 lakh, free sample of over Rs 20,000, or drawback amount of over Rs 1 lakh is done by the Assistant Commissioner of Exports.
• If any export cess needs to be paid, the requisite challan is made available to the exporter and the amount can be paid at a designated bank. No copy of the Shipping Bill is made available to the exporter at this stage.
• One can check the status of the Shipping Bill at the service center. Besides, any query raised can be seen and replied to in the service center.