Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” Keeping the spirit alive of achieving more by working together, MatchBox Exchange (MB) Singapore hosted an evening for our customers, at Fame Entertainment in Jurong on Saturday, October 8th, 2022. Close to 40 customers attended the event along with the added support from Wan Hai, a key MB Partner. The event was conducted to appreciate all users for adopting and supporting MatchBox Exchange’s platform with reuse and exchange bookings. The evening marked a celebration where customers who often carry out exchanges with one another got an opportunity to network. This greatly contributed to bring the logistics community together through exchanges, a big part of the MatchBox Exchange mission. To honour our top users, a segment of the event included an award ceremony. a) Hock Seng Heng Transport & Trading Pte Ltd and CA Transportation & Warehousing Pte Ltd were recognized for making the Most Re-Use and Exchange bookings so far in 2022. b) Rejoice Container Services Pte Ltd, WYN2000 Transport & Container Services Pte Ltd and Waterfront Services Pte Ltd were awarded the title of MB’s Power Users for consistently booking on the…
How to avoid depots and detentions in peak seasons
A strain on shipping capacity is adversely affecting the availability of containers, leading to longer delays, and an unprecedented rise in ocean freight rates. One of the most detrimental consequences of this squeeze is a potential surge in container detention costs each time containers aren’t returned empty in time under shipping lines’ terms and conditions. Industry analysts expect these challenges to grow in peak seasons and continue through 2021 and 2022. As we approach the peak season, booking needs to return empties are exceeding capacity. Suitable appointments become difficult because depots can only process a certain number of trucks per hour. Despite an increase in demand, transport operators cannot meet the required supply. Congestion and long queues at Empty Container Parks (ECP) force them to hold containers until they are scheduled for another appointment, often resulting in added handling and increased exposure to detention. Most shipping lines include weekends in detention free-days’ calculations, so the pressure on transport companies increases towards the end of theweek as they struggle to return containers by COB Friday knowing if they do not, detention charges will be incurred. Many trucking companies seek two days’ notice from importers to ensure the timely availability of empty containers…