"Free time" is often viewed as a luxury that we as human beings look as a time of relaxation, however in the world of global trade it costs about $35 million dollars in demurrage and detention, which are completely avoidable and preventable fees. These fees result in delayed deliveries and payments, lost sales, and lack of product availability for organizations facing congested ports and poor data analytics to help avoid these fines.

Transporting goods internationally requires a carefully coordinated approach. Multiple hand-offs and responsibilities across borders and trading partners add both cost and complexity. If you don’t have the right processes in place (and the tools to support them), your bottom line will suffer.

Trek Bikes, a major bicycle and cycling product manufacturer and distributor, has shifted its supply chain visibility and product classification into high gear with Amber Road's Trade Automation solution, aiming to lower landed costs and manage global trade.

Every U.S. organization involved with global transportation management is faced with what seems to be an ever-shifting puzzle of regulations, compliance hurdles, and carrier networks that are now stressed to balance capacity, costs and service.

Global transportation isn’t getting any easier to manage, especially for non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs). Faced with uncertainties like surcharges—but needing to remain competitive when bidding against other providers—NVOCCs need the right mix of historical data, data intelligence, and technology support to make quick and effective decisions in the changing global market.

July 1 is the day of reckoning for millions of global supply chain stakeholders as the SOLAS Verified Gross Mass (VGM) rule goes into effect. Are you prepared to comply with the new regulation?

In this era of globalization, it’s no surprise that companies are moving their operations to low cost suppliers. However, many of these organizations are finding that higher than expected transportation expenses end up outweighing the benefits. In fact, according to Aberdeen Group research, international shipments cost twice as much, take five times as long and have five times more variability than domestic shipments.

OHL, a leading global third party logistics provider (3PL), has renewed its license of Amber Road’s International Transportation Management solution (ITM). The enterprise solution enables OHL to effectively manage its international portfolio of service contracts, service agreements, rate sheets and variable carrier accessorials.

According to a Logistics Management panel of top economic and transportation market analysts, freight transportation rates will most certainly see incremental gains across the board in 2015. And to keep even the smallest increases in check, the panel adds that it’s now imperative for the savviest shippers to control total landed costs by using a variety of modes—and to use that mix to its fullest advantage.

Are you prepared with the modal mix that will keep freight increases in check?

The shipping industry has finally started to go digital. Until recently, if you wanted to ship a container from San Francisco to Hong Kong, you had to place an order over the phone. with a person on the receiving side. However, those people taking the ordersmake an error 20% of the time, which costs the shipping industry about $684 million a year, according to Ocean Audit, Inc. 

To cut down on shipping entry errors, many companies have turned to digital platforms offered by software firms like Amber Road, or carriers like A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S.