You have just loaded a hundred pairs of your shoes onto a truck and watched them drive down the road. You hope that they arrive at their destination safely, but you know that they will not be there overnight.
According to Dedola Ocean Freight Forwarder, it takes plenty of planning to ship a product from one place to another. You are likely to have to use several different modes of transportation.
There are some shipping companies that will allow you to track your shipments. Each mode of transportation may have its own tracking system and the process of finding out where your product is may take up a good amount of your time.
Tracking a Truck
If you use a major trucking company, they are likely to have a tracking system that will give you an idea of where your product is and if it will arrive at its next transfer point on time. If you are using a small independent trucking company, they may not have a tracking system and you will have no way of knowing if the truck made it to the dock, airport, or train station on time.
Tracking an Ocean Freight Container
If your product does make it onto an ocean freight, you will be able to track the container. A GPS tracker will let you know where your shipment is when it is on the water. When it gets to a port, you should be able to track it by using one of several numbers.
The easiest way to track a shipment is to use the Bill of Landing number. Whenever you are shipping anything by sea, you will be given a BOA number for the container. The shipping companies website will generally have a tracking system where you can put in this number.
You can also try tracking your shipment by container number. The number consists of 4 letters and 6 numbers. A courier-issued booking number will also help locate a shipment. There are some websites, that will allow you to track a package by these numbers. You can also go to your shipper’s website.
Tracking an Air Courier
If you want to track a commercial flight, it is no problem to find out where the plane is. You can go on the airline’s website or if you are at the airport, you can simply look at the electric boards when you need the flight number or the departure city.
If you are tracking an air courier, you will need the tracking number for your particular shipment. There are several websites that can track all the different air couriers with just a number.
Use a Freight Forwarder
If you haven’t got all day to sit around tracking your package, you can always use a freight forwarder to manage your shipping for you. They will take care of arranging every element of shipping. Many companies have tracking systems that will allow you to view where your product is every step of the way, whether it is on a plane, train, or automobile.
Making sure your customers get their products in time is an essential part of your business. With good record-keeping and the assistance of a professional freight forwarder, you’ll be able to see your product wherever it may be in the world.
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