Even now, two years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread delays persist in maritime transportation. Keeping up with exceptions while maintaining organizational goals is challenging for importers and exporters alike.
During the vessel selection process, shippers often do “the best they can” to pick timely shipments. Yet time and time again, shipments are delayed, allocations go unused, and their carbon footprint is not under control. Many shippers think exceptions are completely out of their hands. And it is true that there isn’t much they can do if their carrier is late.
But what if data intelligence could help shippers predict the future, avoid delays, and meet other organizational goals?
Innovation is making that possible for shippers. It all starts with making data more accurate and more available to shippers during the vessel selection process. Accurate data is essential, and carrier data alone is not enough; carriers’ estimated time of arrival (ETA) data, for example, is often unreliable at the time of booking.
With good data, shippers can select the best vessel based on their organizational goals and predefined criteria, including allocations, ETA reliability, and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions.
In this way, allocation management is also completely simplified because shippers can search and book vessels based on which allocations need to be used. They can also select vessels that are most likely to be on time, taking into consideration the reliability of the carrier’s ETAs for the same line over the past three months. And finally, for the first time ever, shippers can search for vessels with the lowest CO₂ emission to reduce their carbon footprint and create a more sustainable brand.
Today, technology — fueled by accurate data — is playing an important role in improving the vessel selection process, automating the booking process, and providing more control to shippers, so that they can meet their organizational goals, including reducing CO₂ emissions from vendors.