Logistics stakeholders stepping up to the plate to ease trade complexity

Just as tensions between the U.S. and several of its trading partners has escalated, a handful of supply chain industry leaders are stepping up to the plate with some solutions for shippers. 

Key among them is DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist within Deutsche Post DHL Group.

It recently announced the launch of its new Customs Connection platform in the United States, which replaces the previous DHL platform and acts as a one stop-shop for all customs processes backed by what spokesmen describe as “sophisticated” technological architecture.

“With the changing customs landscape, DHL Global Forwarding now offers a platform that is more dynamic, robust and easy to use, allowing our U.S. customers to obtain their data in a more accessible manner,” said spokesmen.

According to David Goldberg, CEO for DHL Global Forwarding, shippers to obtain their data in a more accessible manner, thereby being more efficient in “a changing customs landscape”

Customs Connection features include enhanced functionalities, such as a dashboard where shippers can view and download their current and historical information and data, filter through commodities/origin and destination categories, generate reports, obtain invoice information and view a breakdown of their total brokerage costs. Prior to the official launch, DHL Global Forwarding held an initial pilot with multiple phases at the beginning of 2018 with select customers. 

The launch coincides with the reliance many shippers are now placing on Foreign Trade Zones to mitigate complications in trade policy. 

Alejandro Palacios,vice president of  DHL’s Customs Brokerage and Domestic Americas & U.S. Southern Border told LM in an interview that the portal will provide shippers with greater FTZ “visibility” next year. 

“It will allow our customers to identify if their transactions obtained zone admission confirmation,” he added. “Shippers will be able to confirm daily and weekly transmissions as per customer plan and when Customs release shipments.  

Furthermore, said Palacios, It will provide confirmation of shipment zone status information. Additionally, the platform will have multiple benefits: enabling better visibility for shippers to determine their Zone Costs and savings, and confirm billing information. 

“It will also provide retrieval of FTZ shipment related documentation; a functionality that is already available for all other Customs Clearances,” he said. 

Cheers to that, and forthcoming enhancements other logistics stakeholders may bring to make FTZs more attractive in these tumultuous times.