The international shipping industry involves a lot of risks. An exporter stakes a huge amount of money by sending his goods to another country through the shipping lines. In most cases, the importers make the payment only after the safe and on-time delivery of the cargo. It implies that the exporter conducts all the proceedings of the shipping at his risk. Traditionally, the traders were left clueless about the whereabouts of the cargo until it reached its predefined destination. Consequently, the chances of loss or theft of goods, especially the expensive items, was also very high. A trader did not have any clue if his goods went missing, and he was left with no one to blame.
Taking all these issues into consideration and using the advancement of technology, the logistics service providers came up with the container tracking facility. Today, almost all the carriers and shippers offer the container tracking service through which it becomes easier to regulate the shipping process. However, the quality of service matters the most. To check out one such container tracking service, click on this link- https://www.cogoport.com/container-tracking-shipping.
How Is Container Tracking Helpful?
If the shippers or logistics service providers, importers, and exporters were divided into two groups, it would explain how the container tracking facility offers two-way services. Let the importers and exporters become the "first party" (the direct associates of the cargo), and the shippers or liners become the "second party" (indirectly associated with the shipment). The safety of every freight shipment is the point of concern for both the parties as a failure in the process will affect them both.
Consideration of The First Party
The container tracking facility benefits the first part largely, as every safe shipment strengthens the business bond between the two. Primarily, the importers and exporters are relieved from all the anticipation that used to build up in the absence of this service. Now there is a transparency between the traders as both can track the whereabouts of the cargo with the help of mobile applications, trackers, or web portals. The chance of incurring loss due to delayed deliveries or loss and theft of cargo has also been eliminated successfully. Freight shipments are comparatively more regulated and organised now than they were earlier.
Consideration of The Second Party
Just like the traders, the second party members are also in the shipping industry to strengthen their business network and earn a sustainable livelihood. So, if things go wrong, it would affect their business reputation too. The reliability of the liners, shippers and logistics service providers is what helps them sustain in the market. Thus, offering a container tracking facility helps them build a sense of trust among the customers. There is no chance of any "blame-game" between the service providers as the container tracking facility gives live updates of the location of the cargo. If the technology is good enough, traders can also get notifications when the cargo is loaded and unloaded at the port terminals.
What Should The Traders Expect?
The advanced technologies of recent times offer a lot of exciting features with the container tracking facility. The time when this service started, the traders could only get the updates of the pickup and delivery location of the cargo. Today, one can easily get a live feed, get updates about any delays caused by inevitable events, loading and unloading of the goods in the vessel and delivery of the shipment to its rightful owner. The traders should expect a user-friendly interface of the application, fast connectivity and strong signals without any technical glitches. Otherwise, the wrong feed will be transmitted to the applications and the first party will not have any clue about the real and exact location of the cargo.
Where To Avail The Service?
Finding a renowned and reliable service provider in the shipping industry is not a difficult task, especially in India. There are only a few companies that have gained good customer reviews and popularity over the last decade. One can just avail the container tracking facility even if the shipping container was booked with some other service provider. From CMA-CGM to OOCL and Safmarine, all types of containers can be tracked with the help of the container tracking facility. One should evaluate the services of all the companies and then make a fair comparison to choose the best one possible. If one is lucky enough to build a strong market relation, trading in the international market will never seem difficult.
The purpose of the container tracking facility is to unfold the possibilities of fair and transparent trading between the exporters and importers. It not only helps in bringing organisational control in the shipping process but also helps the traders to offer better customer service. Every party involved in the business chain can reap the benefits of container tracking. After all, the right use of technology always yields profitable outputs!
