Global Cargo Manager

03/17/2016

AES Logistics, Inc. dba AES Worldwide is now a Certified Women-Owned Business by Astra Women's Business Alliance. www.wbenc.org

03/08/2016

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/michigan-state-university-study-found-28-second-risk-making-bob?published=t

After reading MSU's interruption study and looking at this graphic it seems we have a great challenge staying on-task. The survey author, associate professor of psychology, Erik Altmann commented;

03/02/2016

Top 5 ways to stop "no packing slip" chargebacks

A Google for "Packing slip charge back" returns 71,200 results! Most of the results are buyer's listing of vendor chargebacks for not including a packing slip with the order. The penalty amounts range from $25 upwards of $200+. This seems like a lot of money to be charging for a missing packing slip, but in terms of lost efficiency by the receiving company, this seems to be fair compensation.

Having worked for a LTL carrier and running a third-party logistics company for the past 20 years, I can tell you that it isn't always the fault of the shipper that the packing slip did not make it to the receiver. There is a process by which the LTL carriers "cube out" their trailers. The vendor takes the time to include the packing slip taped to a carton then shrink wrap is placed around the box. However, the carrier must minimize the empty space in their trailers, so they cut the shrink wrap and load like you and I would load our U-haul trailer - filling every empty space. At destination the pallet is rebuilt and delivered to the receiver. However the packing slip could have fallen off during this process.

Vendors can ensure their customer receives a packing slip by following these steps:

Place in envelope and SECURELY fasten to a carton under the shrink wrap
Give a copy to the driver along with the bill of lading. Carrier will image the packing slip on their website
Email the buyer a copy of the packing slip
For suppliers who offer e-commerce B2B ordering, include the ability for customers to download packing slip
Store the document in a collaborative cloud service. This allows the buyer access to the packing slip at their time of need.
Unfortunately, once the order leaves your dock, you are at the control of the carrier's handling and it is unfortunate if a chargeback is levied against your invoice due to causes outside of your control. The extra steps above will cost you less to manage than the chargeback, so being proactive is the smart choice.

02/19/2016

Does this sound like what is happening in your company? Love to hear stories of how the inefficiencies were overcome by a new and disruptive process.

Association of Corporate Treasurers released a report where they discussed "Price benefits come from securing better prices from preferred suppliers. Currently, employees frequently buy more expensive goods and services from non-contracted suppliers in an effort to avoid inefficient and bureaucratic procurement processes.

10/30/2015

CSX and UP Streamline are starting to fill up with many lanes showing no capacity. Example, Seattle, WA to Chicago, IL 53' rail, Both show rates (UP @ $1750) (CSX @ $2015), But both show no capacity. AES intermodal department can match the UP rates With Capacity. Yes, we have rail containers. Email [email protected] for more details.

02/27/2015

What have we been up to? Another step in GCM's Intermodal evolution is now live on our website. All customers are able to rate 20', 40', 45' containers being repositioned from the Ocean Lines and also all direct rail carriers on the same page. Check it out!

10/27/2014

Happy to report two new features on GCM's LTL system. We have built in parameters that allows only LTL-sized shipments to be quoted and booked. This helps our customers by ensuring all shipments are in the "LTL size" guidelines.

We also released a program that has the user select from our wide range of Shipping and Receiving locations when getting a rate quote. This is a huge advancement as it automatically selects the carrier additional service. End result is an accurate rate quote.

More updates coming soon

09/09/2014

According to Inbound Logistics, approximately 35% of companies use routing guides for their inbound freight. It seems to me that the reason for this is the lack of technology that allows for dynamic freight terms optimization. Mode shifting, vendor location and delivery point along with consolidation business rules are not used as real-time tools for determining least cost routing, shipment by shipment. As an industry, we need to rid ourselves of the on-size-fits-all pfd routing guide. The innovators need to present software tools that remove the silos between purchasing and logistics by providing visibility for 100% of Inbound Purchase Orders (no matter the freight terms or who pays the freight bill)

What do you think about this?

09/09/2014

Have a minute to complete our survey about your Inbound Freight Shipment Routing procedures? Thank you for your time - Bob https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MOTFSPO

07/16/2013

Inc 5000 informed us today that AES Logistics once again made their list of the top 5000 fastest growing companies in America! This is the third straight year AES has been listed on this prestigious list. More evidence that we have the best team in America

06/27/2013

Our tremendous staff partying at the Seattle's Best Company to work for banquet June 20th. Congrats to everyone of you!

06/26/2013

Utilizing over 75,000 shipments history, GCM released our On-Time Delivery % for each carrier being rated. Knowing which carrier provides a higher On-Time percentage helps you make more informed decisions for your shipping needs. This one-of-a-kind addition is another tool in the Global Cargo Manager arsenal providing users advanced Logistics tools that our competitors do not.