Blog
Numbers with their sources, not opinion. Every post carries something no model could have produced — proprietary numbers, a named practitioner's judgement, or a specific HS-code walkthrough.
- What a demurrage spreadsheet cannot hold
Six terminal tariffs make the storage charge a function of six things. A cell holds one. What to check before buying demurrage and detention software.
- Demurrage software counts one clock. The port runs another
Jebel Ali allows 10 free days at the terminal. Nhava Sheva's NSICT allows 3. Neither is your carrier's free time, and most D&D tools only count the carrier's.
- UAE 12-digit HS codes: what a Dubai declaration now needs
Dubai mandates twelve-digit classification for mainland imports from outside the GCC by January 2027. What its own correlation table shows, line by line.
- Landed cost tools for an import desk: three kinds
ERP allocation modules, trade-compliance suites, evidence capture. Three kinds of landed cost tool, and only one of them gets the charge out of the inbox.
- How to choose demurrage and detention software
Six questions that separate the products sold under one name. The sharpest asks whether the tool can produce the lines a carrier's own invoice must carry.
- How to dispute a demurrage invoice, and why most disputes fail
A demurrage invoice is disputed on dates, not on argument. Which rules give you a footing, what evidence a waiver request needs, and the days no rule will cover.
- Landed cost software: per container first, then per SKU
Most landed cost software is an ERP module that allocates a container's charges across SKUs. It needs a complete container total first, and nobody collects it.
- Demurrage and detention software: four kinds, one prevents
Three of the four products sold as demurrage and detention software only act after the clock has started. How to tell which kind a vendor is selling you.
- Food imports clear at 171 points of entry. Book to the 172nd and wait.
FSSAI clears imported food only where it has an authorised officer: 171 points of entry after the April 2026 additions. What that means for the port on your booking.
- Replacing Excel for import tracking: what actually works
The shipment tracker is the best-run file in most import businesses. The exact point it stops working, and why most replacements leave the chasing behind.
- The import document checklist that actually holds
Most import checklists list documents. Documents are not what fails — fields fail. The cross-check that catches a wrong weight before a bank does.
- My exporter is not sending the shipping documents
A supplier who goes quiet is not a relationship problem. It is a follow-up problem with no owner. The escalation ladder, the timings, and what the chase costs.
- Six parties, one container. Who owns the follow-up?
Supplier, broker, bank, forwarder, insurer, trader. Every one owns a task. Not one owns the coordination, which is why it lands on your documentation desk.
- Why am I paying demurrage when the ship arrived on time?
Demurrage is a paperwork failure wearing a shipping costume. Two clocks race every container, and only one of them is the vessel. Where the eight days go.
- How much desk time does one container really take?
About 2.2 hours per container. The full breakdown, line by line, where the hours actually go — and how to measure your own desk inside a week.