Issue Something or Other Miami, Florida

‘Summer Brew Edition!’

Publishers Note

It’s Issue ‘Something or Other’ of Cargo Care Services News! This is the special

‘Summer Brew Edition! This edition was written for Cargo Care Services by Tom

O’Malley the author of the humorous business book ‘Biznanigans’ sold on Amazon.’

This edition is so named ‘Summer Brew’ because the United States will soon be

officially entering the summer season and it’s time for a cold beer or three.

For a limited time only, you can get a limited ‘Summer Brew Edition!’ This edition’s

theme includes Peter O’Toole the great English actor and legendary drinker. Since

O’Toole was an epic boozer I wanted to honor him in the Summer Brew Edition.

How to honor the great O’Toole? By having Vladimir Putin read the newsletter to

you because he is the biggest ‘tool’ I know of. Just think of the joy you will

experience seeing Vladimir looking all buff in your living room walking around with

no shirt reading this newsletter aloud. Give you shivers. Doesn’t it? You can get your

‘Summer Brew Edition!’ cheesecake Putin version by simply sending me a complete

window seal set for a 1976 VW Bus Transporter.

Cargo care Services News is published on a strict schedule of whenever we stumble

across some interesting information and have time to write about it. Who knows, this

could be the last edition. Feel free to share a copy with a few hundred of your closest

friends.

If you would like to contribute to the effort, contact us by e-mail. As long as your

contribution is related to the transportation industry in some, even loose way, not

offensive, and not obvious advertising (that’s our territory) we can throw it in. Of

course we reserve judgment on what goes in. As the publishers, we get to make or

break rules as we go along, so anything and everything can change without notice. If

for some deranged reason you wish not to receive this newsletter, let us know and we

can remove you from the mailing list.

Enjoy,

Tom O’Malley

On behalf of Cargo Care Services

SOLAS Chicken

If you are an international shipper,

an exporter to be exact, listen up.

SOLAS is an international treaty

(Safety of Life at Sea) and has a

new amendment going into effect

01July2016 requiring shippers to

have a system to VGM (verify

gross mass). Maritime operators

are sick of the safety risk of

handling over weight containers

with misstated weights. After

01July shippers and NVO’s will

have to declare the weight to the

ocean carriers, well in advance of

port entry, in an easy data friendly

way. As the plans stands right

now, no VGM, no load to vessel,

no load to vessel, no entering the

port with the container.

The way the system will, or is

supposed to, work after July 01st

2016 is each shipper will have a

method to weigh and verify the

weight (VGM) of the container and

send that data to the ocean carrier.

The ocean carrier can then use that

information for staging and loading

containers to vessels with less worry

of unknown overweight containers

causing an accident. (Continued Page

Two)

* The ‘Summer Brew

Edition’ President Putin

version may be substituted

with a free pdf ‘Putin-less’

copy of this newsletter at

any time for any reason.

Cargo Care Services News!

Go home boat, your drunk.

Window seal set should

look like this.-

SOLAS Chicken CargoSmart Limited https://www.cargosmart.com/en/default.htm did

a survey. CargoSmart asked shippers and logistics providers if they

were all ready with a system to comply with the new SOLAS weight

container rule going into affect 01July of this year. Stunningly most

of the 820 replies said …"nope". Even scarier 20% of the respondents

said, “What's a SOLAS weight requirement?” Only a whopping 4%

said they were ready to go. Not overwhelming by any means test. As

a matter of fact most of the non vessel operators

Drewryhttp://www.drewry.co.uk/ the maritime consultant questioned

earlier this month had no plans to comply at all.

SOLAS requirement execution turned into the biggest game of

transportation 'chicken' we could ask to see unfold. Lines and

terminals were slow to step in with weighing systems, many

shippers and NVO’s are betting someone else will make their

problem go away, and the SOLAS Convention does not seem to be

saying there is an extension coming. As it stands right now all

members (treaty signers), which are more than 160, would have to

legally enforce the SOLAS requirement starting 01July. China for

the most part issued a ‘5 things you should know about SOLAS'

memo and called it a day. If you thought the west coast ports were

messed up when there were labor disputes, wait until you see all of

our ports globally, and especially ports with mega ships calling,

unable to load containers by law.

I know… I know…you are thinking.. big deal. What is there to

weighing a container and transmitting the data? And you are

right. It’s not a big deal. Not a big deal until you think about

weighing millions of containers in remote locations worldwide

without a global supply chain hiccup, then it becomes quite

complex. The first question in a world of nickels and dimes is who

pays? It won’t be allot per container, but how about 500, 5,000, or

more, containers as part of a contractual deal that did not consider

SOLAS? Hard to see disagreements coming on that front, isn't it?

In some places loading locations can be quite remote with no

facilities to weigh anything not to mention a container. Weigh

on the way to the port? Not likely considering the sheer

numbers of containers and the lack of weighing equipment just

not where it needs to be. Want to hear scary? According to The

JOC,http://www.joc.com/ Shenzhen Port handled 24 million

containers last year. That’s over 65,000 containers a day based

on 365 days. If it only took 10 minutes to weigh each container

and transmit the data, it would create an additional 10,833 labor

hours per day for just the Shenzhen Port traffic alone related to

the SOLAS agreement mandate. Yeah, Boom. (Continued Page

Three)

Will there be a busy season?

Every year the ‘busy season’ for

container shipping runs from July

through October as the USA imports

increase to supply retailers for their

yearend needs. Many transportation

companies and 3PL’s estimate their

yearly projections using the July

through October uptick in business as

an injection of year saving revenue.

This year however the ingredients are

coming together for a disappointing

‘busy season’.

Transportation is flat but warehouse

space is full and at a premium. This

means retailers and suppliers didn’t sell

what they bought last year. Lethargic

consumer spending has not been near

enough to drain down the inventories.

West coast port congestion helped the

inventory buildup last year impeding

inventory from getting to the shelves

early for people to buy. Consumers not

spending kept what did make it early

from flying off the shelves.

There may also be an impact to

shipping habits thanks to the labor

disputes on the west coast as well as the

new SOLAS requirement coming July

1st. The few US importers who are

importing this season saw plenty of

inventory not make it past bogged down

west coast port systems in time to make

the holiday buying season. They also

know SOLAS will be in an effect and

could be impact freight flow. These

importers could choose to have goods

shipped early to ensure the inventory is

here when they need it. That early

buying would spread what imports there

are over a longer time period. The first

and maybe second quarters may appear

a little brighter but at the same time

may make busy season feel and look

even more pathetic. (Continued Page Three)

Your number for shipping piece of mind is 305-726-2074

Cargo Care Services, Miami FL USA E-Mail: info@cargocareservices.com www.cargocareservices.com

Will there be a busy season?

If it happens it’s hard to say if this will be a part of a continuing trend.

It could represent a lengthier overall slowdown for the Asia to USA

trade lane as the face of import and export may be changing. Plenty of

USA importers have found sourcing a little more friendly right here in

the USA since the recession and near sourcing to Mexico and Latin

America is growing in popularity. Ironically a maturing economy and a

growing consumer base in China as the result of heavy exporting is the

very thing that may keep their exports from growing in the future.

China’s success in exporting is sabotaging its ability to keep prices

low.

Although for now it appears a flat economy, some early shipping, and

bulging inventories, are coming together to create more pain for the

last two quarters for the ocean carriers and those of us who get

byproduct business from international ocean shipping. If a shipment

does not move ocean or air I can’t insure it, the local dray truck can’t

haul it, and our line haul truck or rail can’t take it to the distribution

warehouse or end destination. With that in mind, when you see

someone walking through the department store with a loaded up

shopping cart, thank them for helping the shipping industry and the

economy in general. Right about now we could use a little help with

our busy season. – The End

SOLAS Chicken

If something dramatic does not change

there will be a global container traffic

mess and supply chains will stop. If

you are in the USA the good news is

01July falls on the Friday before the 4th

of July Holiday and you should already

have all your beer and burgers in the

fridge. The timing would almost insure

the stock market wouldn't crash until

Tuesday 05July. You see, always a

silver lining when you look for it. In

this game of chicken I am one of the

guys sitting back thinking someone will

blink. Not blinking means container-

geddon in a world economy not all that

healthy to start off with.

Who will blink? The ‘blinker’ will be

the one who understands the true

impact of not blinking and who has the

ability at this late stage. The ocean

carriers may try coming up with a

collective work around. Although

ocean carriers are pretty broke right

now having a hard time making the rent

as it is. I don’t believe enough shippers

will be able to put themselves in a

position of being able to comply by

working together. Controlling shippers

is like trying to coral a crowd of two-

year-olds full of Red Bull screaming

'mine'. The decentralized nature of

two-year-olds makes a collective effort

unlikely. That pretty much leaves the

SOLAS Convention or the terminals to

save the world as we know it. (Continued

Page Four)

From The Author

I don’t typically loan out my writing as a rule. However, in the case of Cargo

Care Services in Miami I happily make an exception. My experience with

Cargo Care Services and its team goes back a number of years. They have

left me nothing but impressed by how they do business. It is my pleasure to

have done, and continue to do, business with them. If I were in the position to

choose a vendor operating in the areas of cargo insurance, warehousing, and

freight inspection, I would indeed choose Cargo Care Services.

In this newsletter you will find two short pieces from my book ‘Biznanigans’

as well as new writing dealing with today’s issues of SOLAS and cargo

tonnage expectations for the rest of the year. It is my sincerest wishes that I

hope you enjoy them all.

Sincerely,

Tom O’Malley

Cargo insurance – Packaging and Crating

Warehousing – Freight Inspection

SOLAS Chicken

There seems to be some action taking place as

everyone is figuring out the end is indeed near. So far

at least six US east coast ports and nineteen container

lines have stepped up and said they were willing to put

some skin in the game. It seems the terminals were the

ones to blink as more and more are stepping up every

day to save the world.

Along with the first skin givers lines like Hamburg

Sud, some lines are also busy scrambling to find

platforms like Inttra http://www.inttra.com to get ready

for SOLAS. To me the most priceless component in

this story is the very people SOLAS was designed to

hold accountable seem to be the least worried, the

shippers who load the containers! Shippers for the

most part thumbed their nose at the SOLAS Treaty,

took the position of ‘it’s not my problem’ and stood

around with their hands in their pockets, and it

worked! The brilliance of the maneuver does not

escape me. (Continued page Five)

The Man Who Saved the World

Where were you on September 26, 1983 shortly past

midnight? It was a Monday. Does that help you

remember? Me? As a young man I was more than

likely trying to convince myself to go home from a

night out because I had work in the morning. I am

guessing I failed if I remember those days correctly,

although I can’t be sure. I can tell you where Stanislay

Petrov was. He was in Russia (Soviet Union back in

those days) at the Serpukhov-15 Control Center very

busy teaching us all how to make hard decisions.

In our world we are faced with making choices every

day. The process is fairly simple. We collect

information needed to make a choice, we measure the

downstream and upstream impacts of our choice, and

then we go through running anticipated results of our

decision brushed up against variable influences. In the

end all of the collective data typically makes the choice

for us if we trust the data. Although analysis paralysis

sometimes sets in due to imperfect data which pushes

the decision maker(s) to fall into a circular thought

pattern that prevents them from making a decision. (Continued Page Five)

Dd

SOLAS CHICKEN

What is even cooler is the shipper’s inactivity is

triggering organizations that typically don’t change

the rules and move fast, to change the rules and

move fast. The ports, carriers and Ocean Carrier

Equipment Association asked the U.S. Maritime

commission for permission to enter an agreement to

be able to trade data relating to container weight.

Most terminals weigh containers on the way in they

are going to at least talk about trying using that

weight to fulfil the SOLAS requirement by quick

trades of data. Even the U.S. Coast Guard who is

responsible for implementing the rule is getting in on

the action by approving two equivalency methods to

make grade. All parties are now looking for ways to

ease the process without taking the teeth out of the

SOLAS Treaty. Stripping down the compliance

process to the point of making it ‘paper rule only'

does not serve the spirit of intent and design.

Because there is some movement towards a solution by terminals does not mean your supply chain is out of the woods just yet for July. Because of the huge numbers of containers involved even well planned changes of process for ports and ocean freight can put the hoodoo on traffic flow and operations. I am getting the feeling whatever the ports and carriers manage to throw together on such short notice will have a flaw or two. Also consider this is a global initiative where some countries will do a better job than others meeting and enforcing the requirements. Is there a possibility the problem will fizzle out? There sure is. But being prepared for freight delays starting in July would be wise even if things might work out.

Who wants to go into business with me? We will

buy up as many portable scales as we can and set up

an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) with every

ocean carrier and terminal. Then set up ready for

business on major interstates leading to ports. Our

scales will be the 25th hour SOLAS solution for

shippers who will absolutely hate us for how much

we charge them to weigh the container and report the

data. Yes, you bet I would.

What you don't know about SOLAS - The End

The Man Who Saved the World

from bad decisions as an opportunity to fire the the

unluckiest person in the decision chain. The company

standard is fire the slowest runner as an action taken

they can show their boss after an incident occurs. The

conversation goes like this “Boss, we lost the Smith

Contract today but it’s okay, I fired Johnson because

she once touched the file and she is on vacation right

now”.

There are also some healthy companies that keep things

in proper scope and first look at mistakes as

opportunities for training and improvement in process.

Although whether you are in a healthy company or an

unhealthy company decisions can be daunting.

Let’s get back to Mr. Petrov and September 26, 1983.

At the time Mr. Petrov was a Soviet military officer

working in the Serpukhov-15 Control Center. He was

one of the people keeping an eye on the Soviet Union’s

nuclear early warning satellite system parked over the

USA. If the United States launched a nuclear attack

Mr. Petrov would have been one of the first to know

when the alarm went off. His job was to alert the

Kremlin so the Kremlin could give orders to launch

nuclear weapon towards the United States in response.

Both countries were armed like it was Black Friday and

they were heading to Walmart, so Mr. Petrov’s job was

an important one. It sounds crazy now but those were

indeed crazy times.

Since you saw it coming a long time ago I will blurt it

out to get it over with. The damn alarm went off

while Petrov was holding the wheel. It was his job,

and only his job, to decide whether the attack was real

or a false alarm. He only had the data of the moment

and there were no decisions by committee this day…

it was all Mr. Petrov and it was then and now. (Continued Page Six)

It’s easy to understand

why analysis paralysis

can happen. Some

unhealthy companies

look at negative

incidents resulting Stanislay Petrov

The Man Who Saved the World

After reviewing what he had in hand Lieutenant Colonel Stanislay did

something many of us cannot do. He made an important decision without

perfect and plentiful data. ‘Important’ isn’t even near strong enough as a

word to describe the gravity of the decision Petrov had to make. Nuclear

Armageddon tipped in the balance of his decision whether it was a real attack

or someone spilled vodka on a control panel somewhere. In Petrov’s eyes

the chances came down to even money. As quoted below from the AP, Mr.

Petrov said,

“I realized that I had to make some kind of decision, and I was only 50/50,”

Petrov told The Associated Press.

Mr. Petrov went with what he knew of the computer system and his gut. Mr.

Petrov reported it as a false alarm. He reasoned even though it would take a

while for missiles to show up on Soviet radars he thought he should be seeing

something ….somewhere... and he didn’t. That’s all the data he had to work

with.

“Sorry, I didn’t have time to think about whether I would be the one who

started World War III,” he said. “I had to decide how reliable the information

sent by the computer was.” Petrov said to the AP.

The fate of the world rest firmly in Petrov’s hands that day. Had he reported

it as an attack the counter launch could have been devastating to the world. If

he reported it as a false alarm and it wasn’t, it would have been devastating to

the world.

What a day at work to tell Mrs. Petrov (if there was one) about when he got

home. Mr. Petrov is known as ‘The Man Who Saved the World’ by many in

the west and for good reason. There was even a movie out about the whole

thing with the same name. The false alarm turned out to be a misread by the

satellite. It mistook the sun reflecting off some high altitude clouds as

missiles.

So the next time you find yourself in an unproductive pattern of thought,

laboring over a decision, think of Mr. Petrov and the day the world almost

ended in 1983. Your decision won’t seem so large anymore. Fear makes the

wolf bigger than it really is. If you have all the data there is to reasonably

have, take a moment to clear your head. It’s time to figure out what you are

trying to accomplish with the circular thought pattern and assess whether you

have reached the goal of the thought pattern or if the goal is out of reach.

Either way, goal achieved or goal out of reach, you will realize the thought

pattern is done and you can then move on. Mistakes? Sure you will make

one occasionally, people who get things done typically do. – The End

What and Why are Incoterms?

Since some of you reading this article may already know the answer, if you wish to move ahead to something

else, I understand. For the rest of us that may not be familiar with Incoterms, read on. To broadly best describe

‘what’ Incoterms are, I am going to start with ‘why’ Incoterms are. If you have read more than just this article of

my writing, you should know better than to expect the short answer. To explain 'why' Incoterms are, I will use

an example of a pretend small town.

O’Malleyville possesses a wealth of cultures and is enriched with a large multinational citizenship. Such a

substantial multinational citizenship it’s difficult to find two families who speak the same language. Impossible

you say? Rubbish, there are roughly 4500 different languages spoken in the world today; the number would

jump to 6500 if you included languages spoken by a 1000 people or less per language.

Our multinational community is obviously such a great place to live it draws people from all over the globe who

want to be a part of O’Malleyville (I still think it’s a catchy name, so much so I have added it to my spell check

dictionary and I think you should too). Along with having the absolute best selection in restaurants, can you

imagine how much the microbreweries would rock? Yes, our little slice of heaven is the place to live.

Our make believe town is a wonderful place to live. It has

great schools, friendly people, plenty of Irish pubs, and a

delightful sense of community. I think a magnificent name

for the town would be ‘O’Malleyville’, don’t you? Don’t

like the name? Write your own book and you can name

your town anything you desire. Until then, O’Malleyville

it is. It has a certain pleasant ring to it.

O’Malleyville

So happy we are in O’Malleyville, at the monthly

neighborhood association meeting that took place in

a local microbrewery, it was decided there was going

to be a great neighborhood block party. All members

of the community would be invited and a good time

would be had by all. There would be music, food,

drinks, games, (after enough drinks, Karaoke!), and

fun contests to participate in. If everyone donated

just a little something, there would be plenty of fun

for all. (Cotinued Next Page)

What and Why are Incoterms?

The idea was a resounding success and the plans began. Flyers were passed out to each household announcing

the party taking place the following month. A large committee was assembled to keep things organized and

delegate tasks and responsibilities. The committee informed each household what they should bring within the

family’s ability. Each were asked to bring things like tables, chairs, paper plates, ‘red Solo cups’, utensils,

specific food items such as potato salad, hotdogs, corn on the cob, as well as one specialty from their home

country if they wished. Some families were asked to bring stereos, volleyballs, soccer balls, and other fun items.

Each family eagerly took their task with pride and anticipation. Everyone looked forward to the party and was

happy to be a part of it.

The entertainment area contained 500 Karaoke CD’s but no Karaoke machine. In the game section sat only a

large bag of 350 golf balls and a beer pong table brought by a local college student, who did remember to bring

the ‘red Solo cups’, but brought no beer. And in the door prize area there was only 90 stretchy head bands that

said ‘Bad Ass Ninja’ on them. The organizers were dismayed. With the huge amount of planning and hard

work how did they fall so short of their goal? Because you are a highly intelligent person proven by your choice

in reading material, I am sure you have long ago guessed the reasoning behind the ‘why’ of Incoterms because

of the story line. Yes oh wise one, you are correct; no one spoke the same language and many things were

communicated incorrectly. Now I will share the boring no frills definition as it is written in Wikipedia

“The Incoterms rules or International Commercial terms are a series of pre-defined commercial terms

published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) widely used in international commercial

transactions. A series of three-letter trade terms related to common sales practices, the Incoterms rules are

intended primarily to clearly communicate the tasks, costs and risks associated with the transportation and

delivery of goods.”

(Continued Nest Page)

The day of the party came. Spirits were high and O’Malleyville was

buzzing with excitement. The party organizers were pleased to see a

large number of cars headed to the designated party area carrying all

the needed supplies. It appeared everyone who had promised to bring

their committed item was indeed in route. Unloading the items and

party set up began. Once all the supplies were unloaded it was plain

there were some deviations from the plan. In the food section on the

ground sat 94 bowls of potato salad, 43 bottles of Italian salad

dressing, 4 dozen plastic tablecloths, and nothing else.

What and Why are Incoterms?

See, wasn’t the party a much more fun way of thinking about Incoterms rather than some dreary definition? We

thought about eating great food, drinking beer, and playing volleyball to get to our thought destination. Keeping

with just the definition thing would have made this a very short and boring article.

Incoterms allow traders worldwide to have a common platform to communicate with, so someone does not end

up with 94 bowls of potato salad with no forks to eat it with. Below is an example of just one example of

Incoterms called EXW. There are plenty of other Incoterms you can look up on the net.

EXW – EX WORKS (… named place) The Seller’s only responsibility is to make the goods available at the

Seller’s premises. The Buyer bears full costs and risks of moving the goods from there to destination.

The lesson to those of us who are not would be international shippers, is K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Stupid). There

is no question it is positive to communicate in a manner to show you have an ample vocabulary and you know

how to use it. Depending on the situation good communication skills can trump technical knowledge as a

desired trait. Although very much like martinis, with impressive vocabulary there is a very fine line between

the right amount and too much to a point no one understands you.

(Continued Next Page)

If you have ever had a misunderstanding with a person

or business based on communication that wasn’t quite

clear, imagine what it would be like to untie the

misunderstanding if everyone spoke a different

language as in O'Malleyville.

In the Incoterms example the attempt to carve out an

international deal complete with working out the

transportation, point of ownership, risk acceptance,

and control of the freight; all with words understood

by no one, would be quite an undertaking.

What and Why are Incoterms?

Whether you are writing or speaking, if you capitulate instead of surrender, accept remuneration

from your employer instead of pay, or practice sesquipedality instead of regularly using long

words, you may be overdoing your ‘Word of the Day’ subscription enjoyment. To be heard and

thought of as intelligent is attractive, to be clearly understood is paramount. No matter what

your English professor told you, it is not our readers or listeners obligation to buy a dictionary. It

is our responsibility to communicate in a manner our audience can understand. There is no

value of having the best idea in the room if no one knows what you are trying to say.

What about the party? The beer truck showed up right on time.

College boy’s ‘red Solo cups’ were put to good use,

there was a huge potato salad wrestling match put together,

Everything turned out well in the end as everything always

does in O’Malleyville… Have a happy and safe summer. – The End

a ‘slip n slide’ for the kids was engineered

from plastic tablecloths and Italian salad

dressing,

and a fantastic skeet shooting event took

place with a little help from 90 stretchy 'Bad

Ass Ninja' headbands, some golf balls, and

500 Karaoke CD’s.....