Peak season

Peak season surprise you again? When, why, and how to handle best. Let’s go!

When it rains, everyone gets wet, but you need to make sure you will not drown. Peak season is here to stay, and it will take place every year in varying intensity.
Peak season is the time in the year that carriers are celebrating, forwarders are stressing, and cargo owners are struggling.
The freight peak season starts a bit before “back to school” and kind of ends a bit after Christmas.
Cargo owners must be prepper with more goods on the shelves than usual as the holiday shopping time is on.
To have products in stock, importers must be prepared in advance as the average lead time is 40 days + ocean/air transit time + release of cargo from customs and delivery to the warehouse.
Even though peak season is well known to the industry, cargo owners forget or be too optimistic regarding the arrivals on time.
Peak season is when freight gets messed up the most, and it’s harder to predict as peak season freight rates are subject to political events (US-CHINA trade war, for example) and other commercial reasons.
Ocean freight increased by an avg of 50%, and air freight rates can be even more dramatic. more demand for freight means higher freight rates with less space available, and you know what that means –
more production delays, more rollovers, less space, longer transit times, and a slower process overall.

So what is for importers to be considered to make it through peak season? Here are some planning tips to consider:

1. Analyze demands based on last year. Remember to collect as much data as possible for next year
2. Create a shipment management protocol with your freight forwarders to enable operational and commercial flexibility
3. Simplify and stabilize workflow and processes
4. Consider adding temporary stuff
5. 3PL as alternative
6. Plan your shipments to be transported by ocean freight to avoid air fright as possible
7. Consider outsourcing additional storage capabilities
8. Ask clients that are likely to order to place orders in advance
9. On top of lead time – transport transit times – custom clearance and delivering, add two weeks to allow tolerated delays that accruing more often during peak season
10. Enjoy the holidays, and remember – peak season will always meet us again next year, so you better be smarter than last year. Every year.

Explore how cargozone can help you better manage freight operations during peak season, contact us, or visit our website and blog.

Happy holidays!!

Visit us on www.cargozone.ai

Cargozone, where freight happens.