Press release

Errors in transport documents and invoices have been the bane of many shippers’ lives for too long. Considerable man-hours are spent checking documents, submitting revised drafts or disputing invoices.

But now a solution has been proposed. Last year, the European Shippers’ Council (ESC) invited representatives of the liner shipping industry and the freight forwarding community to look into the problems with shippers. The European Liner Affairs Association (ELAA) and CLECAT (the association of European freight forwarders) took up the challenge with the ESC. They too recognised the issues and their members also suffered from their consequences. Jointly, the three organisations and members from each body developed a tool to help shippers, freight forwarders (including 3PLs) and liner shipping companies reduce the errors in the production of transport documents and invoices and their consequential effects.

The tool consists of a guide to the key performance indicators that should be measured and monitored along the ‘documentation process chain’, from the time when the tender is made or a spot market quote is sought, through to the issuing of an invoice. Also included are definitions of what should be included in the performance measurements and some suggested best practice to help smooth the way to managing the processes and actions required to achieve error-free documentation.

“We are pleased with the progress that was made last year on this important matter, but wish to move the project forward by making our proposals more widely known and seeking wider feedback”, said ESC’s Secretary General, Nicolette van der Jagt. She added, “The KPIs and best practices are available from today on our web site and that of the Global Shippers’ Forum in order to ensure as wide a dissemination of the work as possible. From these websites anyone can download the documents, study them in more depth, and send us their comments.”

Andrew Traill, ESC’s Policy Director who has facilitated the project meetings between carrier, shipper and freight forwarder representatives and members said, “There are a number of ideas as to how we might develop the work further, and possibly make it easier to implement and use; but first we need feedback on what we have produced thus far. Even in its current, somewhat crude format, we believe it could be used to help identify where a crucial activity did not take place or happened but was below an acceptable and agreed standard, or where certain information was not supplied or was inaccurate. Preventing the same thing from happening again would be achieved by monitoring more closely the actions, the performance standards being achieved and the application of best practices.

“The ability to perform all the actions to the desired standard could be incorporated within a Service Level Agreement with the contracted parties. The standards must be set and agreed by the parties in the chain, not by me or the group that drafted this. But it is important to understand that this tool places responsibilities on shippers, forwarders and carriers in the process chain to comply with the standards for each step in the information chain.”

Comments on the KPIs and best practices should be sent to ESC by July. These will be assessed and taken into consideration when finalising the KPIs. ESC will be happy to discuss, in confidence if necessary, any issues arising with those who contribute their thoughts and comments to this consultation.

For further information contact: Nicolette van der Jagt, Secretary General of the ESC - Brussels 00 322 230 2113