ID 48998888 © Prasit Rodphan | Dreamstime.com
By Mike Wackett
In times gone by container leasing companies boosted their profits with ‘sweep outs’ and DG sticker removals that customers rarely bothered to contest.
But now margins are much tighter and stakeholders in the supply chain can ill-afford to receive a bill for non-budgeted extra container hire costs.
This informative article and insurance pitch from Xchange flags up the risk that “container damage can leave shippers in a financially tough spot”.
Comment on this article
Martyn Benson
November 04, 2019 at 2:00 pmMost importantly: This announcement on The Loadstar should have had a Preface: ADVERTORIAL
There seems to be some confusion in the mind of the author about container leasing and responsibility for container damage.
First off, containers are nearly always leased by and in the name of the shipping line or carrier. Shippers and forwarders rarely lease their own containers and are rarely asked to cough up for damage repair costs by shipping lines. In rare circumstances where cargo or loading has caused 3rd party damage there will have to be a cast-iron case for a shipping line to claim this back from a customer. If that 3rd party damage was caused by inadequate securing of the cargo or poor handling/ dunnaging inside the container, then an insurer will point to the small print and claim that the shipper has loaded negligently.
Yes, cargo insurance is different to container insurance (one could argue that the container is part of the packing, compared to the break-bulk methods of shipping) but the prevalence of container insurance in cargo shipping is shrinkingly minor.
Alex Lennane
November 04, 2019 at 2:07 pmHi Martyn,
Our ‘recommends’ section is for things we’ve read and found interesting. This was not a Loadstar article, and we noted in the preface that it was a “pitch”… nevertheless, we thought it was worth a quick read.
Best,
Alex