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[Megalosaro]

Protip: don't lie to me saying you want to move "costume jewelry", but are really shipping real jewelry because you are trying dodge tariffs. BTW, that's called "smuggling"

When I have to generate a commercial invoice for you, don't give me attitude when I ask for the value of each item. "I don't know why I need to do this." I don't know why your shit needs to be cleared through customs in france.

Don't try to ship live mice to Phoenix in the middle of summer. Its not going to happen.

You're not going to be able to move surgical trays from ATW to LBB in anything less than 8 hours. 12 if you're lucky.

 

[Brianimaniac]

I'm reminded of this tweet:

https://twitter.com/i_zzzzzz/status/728342877093412864

 

[The Omega Man]

I always have fun trying to find the Harmonized System Code for all the crazy stuff people want to ship

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Yes, yes it does.

 

[grap3fruitman]

I worked six years as a Customs broker. I 100% know what you're talking about. I even had Fish and Wildlife snag a client's shipment cause they were pulling some shady shit with permits.

 

[chicagocubsfan]

Yep its crazy lol. Customers are nuts usually, but thats just the nature of the business

 

[Amagon]

Fuck you, you don't tell me when I can or can't ship out gerbils during the middle of the summer.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Remember, if customs seizes your shipment because you're intentionally misdeclaring your imports, it's the government's (specifically "Obama and the Democrats and their free trade lies") own fault.

That was one of the more interesting emails i had sitting in my inbox after lunch...

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Trying to ship things is frustrating because you guys are so opaque with how this stuff works.

About a year ago I needed to ask a colleague to ship something to me when I was abroad. The package contained dangerous goods in limited excepted quantities, which you don't need special credentials to ship if you do it correctly.

Coordinating everything lost me a lot of time because the shipping company refused to tell me how to do the necessary paper work and labeling. Really stressful experience

 

[Flying Toaster]

Remember, if customs seizes your shipment because you're intentionally misdeclaring your imports, it's the government's (specifically "Obama and the Democrats and their free trade lies") own fault.

Well shit now it all makes sense.

I know two people that work in logistics. One of them for a military contractor. Anytime I want to complain about IT work I am reminded about how bad some other jobs are.

 

[Megalosaro]

I worked six years as a Customs broker. I 100% know what you're talking about. I even had Fish and Wildlife snag a client's shipment cause they were pulling some shady shit with permits.

I was thinking about getting a broker license.. but I dunno man. THE stress is real and that test is no joke.

Trying to ship things is frustrating because you guys are so opaque with how this stuff works.

About a year ago I needed to ask a colleague to ship something to me when I was abroad. The package contained dangerous goods in limited quantities, which you don't need special credentials to ship if you do it correctly.

Coordinating everything lost me a lot of time because the shipping company refused to tell me how to do the necessary paper work and labeling. Really stressful experience

What was it you were shipping? That can change how things can be handled fairly drastically. Furthermore, DG tends to scare people. I've had a ton of botched orders because the airline refused it when they saw the DG sticker, despite it being perfectly safe.

 

[jamieson87]

Trying to ship things is frustrating because you guys are so opaque with how this stuff works.

About a year ago I needed to ask a colleague to ship something to me when I was abroad. The package contained dangerous goods in limited quantities, which you don't need special credentials to ship if you do it correctly.

Coordinating everything lost me a lot of time because the shipping company refused to tell me how to do the necessary paper work and labeling. Really stressful experience

That's your responsibility to correctly package and label. If you can't do that then you shouldn't be shipping.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

What was it you were shipping? That can change how things can be handled fairly drastically. Furthermore, DG tends to scare people. I've had a ton of botched orders because the airline refused it when they saw the DG sticker, despite it being perfectly safe.

A few grams of a nitric acid solution of platinum nitrate

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

"I need this shipment tomorrow!"

"Do you have the customs paperwork ready?"

"Uh no"

"Sorry, I can't get this cleared and into the country without the proper (and complete) paperwork. it's 4 o'clock. Unless this clears by 5 (which it won't because you haven't provided proper documentation) you'll just have to wait."

 

[Megalosaro]

One time we had a shipment of surgical implants on a manifest hold. Took 3 months to clear.

Our client sent an email saying e didn't do enough to get it cleared. My whole office had a good laugh at that one. There isn't jack shit you can do in that situation.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

That's your responsibility to correctly package and label. If you can't do that then you shouldn't be shipping.

This kind of shitty attitude is maybe why some customers lose their patience.

In the end I figured it out, but it cost me several stressful hours and delayed my package by about a week. If they had just told me from the beginning how to do the paperwork, the end result would have been the same, only I wouldn't have lost a bunch of time.

 

[Green Mamba]

That's your responsibility to correctly package and label. If you can't do that then you shouldn't be shipping.

Absolutely. I'm a dangerous goods inspector at a shipping company, and considering how much of my fate is actually in the hands of shippers who may or may not know the rules I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for those who don't know or follow regulations. They aren't just company policy, much of it is international law.

The rules can be arcane but the people who are handling your stuff on its transport are kinda counting on you to know them. Educate yourself.

 

[Duane Cunningham]

I'm reminded of this tweet:

https://twitter.com/i_zzzzzz/status/728342877093412864

 

[Shiloa]

My most frequent complaint it

"when can you deliver this to us?"

"in about 14-16 days"

"WHAAT?! DELIVER it tomorrow! It's really super urgent! You are awful. It's YOUR job to deliver it to me when I ask for it! 2 week?! What are you doing all this time?!"

"it's still floating in the ocean on a gigantic vessel with 10000 other containers"

"can you make it go faster?"

"no"

"oh ok then, thanks have a nice day"

 

[Megalosaro]

My most frequent complaint it

"when can you deliver this to us?"

"in about 14-16 days"

"WHAAT?! DELIVER it tomorrow! It's really super urgent! You are awful. It's YOUR job to deliver it to me when I ask for it! 2 week?! What are you doing all this time?!"

"it's still floating in the ocean on a gigantic vessel with 10000 other containers"

"can you make it go faster?"

"no"

"oh ok then, thanks have a nice day"

Do you work for an NVO? If so, how do you like it?

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Absolutely. I'm a dangerous goods inspector at a shipping company, and considering how much of my fate is actually in the hands of shippers who may or may not know the rules I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for those who don't know or follow regulations. They aren't just company policy, much of it is international law.

The rules can be arcane but the people who are handling your stuff on its transport are kinda counting on you to know them. Educate yourself.

So which is preferable:

a) someone telling me how to do it so I can get it right from the start, saving you the need to deal with a package from someone who doesn't know 100 % every detail of what they're doing

b) Telling me to do figure it out myself without any guidance, which leads to me sending incorrect packages in a trial and error strategy until I finally get it right, costing me precious time and forcing you to deal with potentially dangerous packages?

 

[BannedEpisode]

I'm a free trade analyst.

Try explaining to a corporate executive why he can't ship every single thing he is distributing to Canada for 0 duty when he bought it from China.

"Were an American company! Isn't this why we have free trade?!"

 

[Megalosaro]

I'm a free trade analyst.

Try explaining to a corporate executive why he can't ship every single thing he is distributing to Canada for 0 duty when he bought it from China.

"Were an American company! Isn't this why we have free trade?!"

I feel you are the only person on this boaRd qualified to comment on the tpp. I would love to hear your thoughts on it some time

 

[Gragen]

Logistically speaking, work sucks.

 

[BannedEpisode]

I feel you are the only person on this boaRd qualified to comment on the tpp. I would love to hear your thoughts on it some time

I've tried talking on it in threads. Truthfully my side of things is entirely trade based and deals very little with the "sticky" aspects of free trade like copyright law and international courts. I've been called a biased insider for talking about it, which is pretty crazy if you know how benign and boring my job is. Emotions often get in the way of fact, but there is very little understanding of what these agreements actually do. (By actually, I mean the day to day benefits and outcomes)

I'll say this, the bulk of free trade revolves around the mitigation of duty and equally hurts raw material production domestically as it helps our biggest employers sell product in other countries. It keeps a lot of big employers in a state that allows them to employ a lot of people. TPP would allow for American products to be sold more easily in Japan (and other countries), but would also make it tougher for American producers that would have new competition.

My standard opinion is that free trade has been a net push since NAFTA went into effect 20 years ago.

 

[Herbspiceguy]

hard work, low pay, a lot of stress

never again

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

Trying to ship things is frustrating because you guys are so opaque with how this stuff works.

About a year ago I needed to ask a colleague to ship something to me when I was abroad. The package contained dangerous goods in limited excepted quantities, which you don't need special credentials to ship if you do it correctly.

Coordinating everything lost me a lot of time because the shipping company refused to tell me how to do the necessary paper work and labeling. Really stressful experience

no we're not. we're not mind readers, you need to ask questions.

This kind of shitty attitude is maybe why some customers lose their patience.

In the end I figured it out, but it cost me several stressful hours and delayed my package by about a week. If they had just told me from the beginning how to do the paperwork, the end result would have been the same, only I wouldn't have lost a bunch of time.

shitty customers is what makes the job hard. customers who expect to be baysat are what makes things hard, customers who don't fill out the paperwork are what makes things hard.

So which is preferable:

a) someone telling me how to do it so I can get it right from the start, saving you the need to deal with a package from someone who doesn't know 100 % every detail of what they're doing

b) Telling me to do figure it out myself without any guidance, which leads to me sending incorrect packages in a trial and error strategy until I finally get it right, costing me precious time and forcing you to deal with potentially dangerous packages?

ASK. QUESTIONS.

 

[crimzonflame]

I work very close to the field (buyer) so I can relate.

 

[March of the Crabs]

I'm reminded of this tweet:

https://twitter.com/i_zzzzzz/status/728342877093412864

Thank you for this

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Most Jobs where you are exposed to human beings suck

 

[Hickbilly Deluxe]

"Where's my load at?"

"No clue, what's the PO#?"

"Why don't you know?"

"Sir, I deal with a hundred different destinations every week. I don't have everything memorized."

"Well, isn't that your job? How am I supposed to know it?"

"Is it your load?"

"Yes."

"Going to your warehouse?"

"Yes."

"How do you not know what loads are coming in, isn't that your job?"

"..."

"Thought so. Call back and try again."

I go through this at least once a week. Never fucking fails.

 

[studyguy]

I work in logistics for agriculture here in southern California.
You think customer demands changing on the fly sucks? Try it when those same customers are at the whim of weather and it's perpetually shit weather and drought for years on end.

We had that harbor strike a while back, surprised I didn't die of stress.

 

[Business]

Worked a couple of years at a freight forwarder, ocean export, I can relate.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

This kind of shitty attitude is maybe why some customers lose their patience.

In the end I figured it out, but it cost me several stressful hours and delayed my package by about a week. If they had just told me from the beginning how to do the paperwork, the end result would have been the same, only I wouldn't have lost a bunch of time.

Nah, packaging and labeling is the responsibility of the shipper, not the agent or forwarder. If you didn't know how to ship DG freight, that is a problem with the training at your company and not the fault of the shipping agent. No company should make an employee responsible for shipping or receiving dangerous goods without proper training and certification.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

no we're not. we're not mind readers, you need to ask questions.



shitty customers is what makes the job hard. customers who expect to be baysat are what makes things hard, customers who don't fill out the paperwork are what makes things hard.



ASK. QUESTIONS.

I asked questions. They said "You should know. If you don't you can pay this company to give you a course."

Nah, packaging and labeling is the responsibility of the shipper, not the agent or forwarder. If you didn't know how to ship DG freight, that is a problem with the training at your company and not the fault of the shipping agent. No company should make an employee responsible for shipping or receiving dangerous goods without proper training and certification.

lol like a tiny research group in a university would ever be able to afford doing something like this

This attitude gives you people going trial and error, increasing the risk for yourself. Taking 5 minutes to explain would avoid all that.

 

[Shiloa]

Do you work for an NVO? If so, how do you like it?

Yeah. It's been OK. I can't say it's a difficult job doing operational or customer service stuff. It just gets boring. I've used it to move around though. Worked in multiple offices, in three different countries, on a variety of large clients all with different aspects which kept it a little spicy.

I've moved over to a project role now though, doing anything from system implementation to data analysis. All primarily centered around warehousing and distribution, whereas my main background to date has been ocean freight.

 

[Earthstrike]

I've tried talking on it in threads. Truthfully my side of things is entirely trade based and deals very little with the "sticky" aspects of free trade like copyright law and international courts. I've been called a biased insider for talking about it, which is pretty crazy if you know how benign and boring my job is. Emotions often get in the way of fact, but there is very little understanding of what these agreements actually do. (By actually, I mean the day to day benefits and outcomes)

I'll say this, the bulk of free trade revolves around the mitigation of duty and equally hurts raw material production domestically as it helps our biggest employers sell product in other countries. It keeps a lot of big employers in a state that allows them to employ a lot of people. TPP would allow for American products to be sold more easily in Japan (and other countries), but would also make it tougher for American producers that would have new competition.

My standard opinion is that free trade has been a net push since NAFTA went into effect 20 years ago.

I'm actually glad to hear that.

Let me ask you a follow up question. If you have to evaluate the impact of a FTA that impacts countries x, y, and z what you say the net impact is to the x, y and z region?

 

[Pai Pai Master]

I asked questions. They said "You should know. If you don't you can pay this company to give you a course."

Yeah I don't think they were saying that to absolve themselves of responsibility or to be a dick. If something goes horribly wrong with that DG shipment that's on the shipper, not the agent or forwarder. So it would be in your company's best interest to properly train and certify the employees directly handling that product.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

I've tried talking on it in threads. Truthfully my side of things is entirely trade based and deals very little with the "sticky" aspects of free trade like copyright law and international courts. I've been called a biased insider for talking about it, which is pretty crazy if you know how benign and boring my job is. Emotions often get in the way of fact, but there is very little understanding of what these agreements actually do. (By actually, I mean the day to day benefits and outcomes)

I'll say this, the bulk of free trade revolves around the mitigation of duty and equally hurts raw material production domestically as it helps our biggest employers sell product in other countries. It keeps a lot of big employers in a state that allows them to employ a lot of people. TPP would allow for American products to be sold more easily in Japan (and other countries), but would also make it tougher for American producers that would have new competition.

My standard opinion is that free trade has been a net push since NAFTA went into effect 20 years ago.

What is your opinion on TTIP?

Yeah I don't think they were saying that to absolve themselves of responsibility or to be a dick. If something goes horribly wrong with that DG shipment that's on the shipper, not the agent or forwarder. So it would be in your company's best interest to properly train and certify the employees directly handling that product.

I knew the material in question. The risk was basically zero

 

[Applesauce]

Having worked for a 3rd party logistics company for over 16 years I understand completely.

 

[Megalosaro]

I knew the material in question. The risk was basically zero

I can't even tell you how many times I've heard that on a day to day basis

 

[Jag]

I also feel bad for the logistics guys. Low pay, high pressure. Shitty combination.

My family business was freight forwarding, going back to the first days of air freight at Kennedy (then Idelwild). My dad lost the business, so I was spared having to go into it.

 

[Megalosaro]

I also feel bad for the logistics guys. Low pay, high pressure. Shitty combination.

My family business was freight forwarding, going back to the first days of air freight at Kennedy (then Idelwild). My dad lost the business, so I was spared having to go into it.

I think there are two problems with the industry. Its a black hole of driving down costs and time. Everyone wants their shit moved quickly for cheap, but you cant do that without cutting corners.

On a day to day basis I have to be responsible for 200+ phone calls, 1000+ emails (though to be fair, I share the email inbox 2 with 6 other people) and I have to maintain an accuracy of 99.8%. I also can't let my phone ring more than 3 times, and I can't have anyone on hold for more than 2 minutes. SOMETHING has to give somewhere.

 

[FStop7]

I asked questions. They said "You should know. If you don't you can pay this company to give you a course."



lol like a tiny research group in a university would ever be able to afford doing something like this

This attitude gives you people going trial and error, increasing the risk for yourself. Taking 5 minutes to explain would avoid all that.

Sounds to me like there's a missing middle man.

 

[Megalosaro]

Sounds to me like a defect with the lab. Generally, the labs I've worked with have 1 person who is trained in packaging and handling their inventory. AT the very minimum, know their way around an msds, which generally tells you what is needed.

 

[Stereogatari]

OP. I know that feel. I work in the same industry. In my company we call jewellery "clothing accessories".

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Sounds to me like a defect with the lab. Generally, the labs I've worked with have 1 person who is trained in packaging and handling their inventory. AT the very minimum, know their way around an msds, which generally tells you what is needed.

It's possible someone knew. Like I said though, I was abroad and couldn't talk to people to figure out who that would be. Also, there was a 6 hour time difference complicating matters..

 

[Megalosaro]

OP. I know that feel. I work in the same industry. In my company we call jewellery "clothing accessories".

That's a good one. Can you get a binding ruling on that?


The tip off on the order I mentioned is when the shipper was trying to insure costume jewelry at $40k. Especially when the consignee was a well known fashion designer.

It's possible someone knew. Like I said though, I was abroad and couldn't talk to people to figure out who that would be. Also, there was a 6 hour time difference complicating matters..

That's another problem. We really are an industry of middle men. Even though there are regulations in place, it feels like we are always dealing with moving goal posts as situations arise and different agencies interpret the rules differently. Nitric acid is UN 2031. Class 8. I've had corrosive rejected just because the person currently working the counter didn't want to deal with it at the time and that is their right. All the paperwork and handling on our end was good but it came down to some nervous kid at delta. DG is serious business because you open yourself up to lawsuits if something goes wrong. Lawyers look through this stuff with microscopes to find breakdowns in proceedure

 

[n64coder]

Protip: don't lie to me saying you want to move "costume jewelry", but are really shipping real jewelry because you are trying dodge tariffs. BTW, that's called "smuggling"

So educate me, why is this a problem for you? If customs opens the package and finds real jewelry, isn't the shipper the one at fault and not you? Why would you even care?

Don't try to ship live mice to Phoenix in the middle of summer. Its not going to happen.

What prevents this from happening? I mean, is it that you as a company have rules against shipping animals to really hot areas?

Curious as to how this industry works.

 

[Megalosaro]

So educate me, why is this a problem for you? If customs opens the package and finds real jewelry, isn't the shipper the one at fault and not you? Why would you even care?

Because it will result in a lengthy delay with lots of angry emails that I am caught in middle of and have to deal with since I usually work with the cusToms broker. Inevitaby the shipper will try to offload blame. There is a lot of differed responsibility in this industry. WE like blaming each other.

Protip for people in wanting to get into logistics. Get everything in writting. DOCUMENT in your notes verbal conversations. "DUE diligence" will become a trigger word for you.

What prevents this from happening? I mean, is it that you as a company have rules against shipping animals to really hot areas?

Curious as to how this industry works.

Airlines place embargo on live animal shipments when the temperature is too hot or too cold. Las thing they want is an animal sitting around their warehouse DOA