In this exclusive interview, Maggie Wood, the team leader of Kukla’s Deep Sea operations team, shares her expertise on the complexities of deep-sea operations and sheds light on the meticulous process that ensures seamless deliveries for Kukla’s clients. Maggie provides insights into how her team ensures accuracy in shipping documentation and discusses the role of technology in enhancing shipping efficiency, sharing practical examples from her experience. The interview also touches on the average turn-around time for a new world groupage order, from the vessel docking in the UK to their final destinations. (Photo caption: Deep Sea Team Kukla From right to left, Maggie Wood – Manager; Kerry Radford – General Manager; Becky Thompson and Kelly Gillam)
Maggie, thanks very much for taking time out of your day to talk to Kukla News.
Q: You’ve been the team leader of Kukla’s Deep Sea operations team since August this year. With the greater lead times and global time differences, the deep sea operation is, arguably, the most complex area of all our services. Nowhere is this more so than the shipment of LCL (groupage) cargo. Upon receipt of a client order, can you briefly explain the next steps in the process?
A: Once we receive a new order, we process it and send all details to our overseas agents as soon as we can. Our agents will then contact the suppliers requesting ready information, such as a ready date and confirmed pallet count. Based on this information, our agents would then contact the shipping line partner carriers for that specific country for a vessel booking. From that point, we wait for the order to depart, prepare the clearance as early as possible and await the arrival. Once we receive an arrival notice specifying the devan date and location, we will arrange the final delivery.
“Every challenge can be overcome with the correct systems and support in place.“
Q: It’s vital then that we work with agents in the New World, who in turn have robust systems in place in order for our client’s suppliers to trust that any order will make the cut-off point of a vessel. Which are the most challenging regions and why?
A: Obviously, all regions have their challenges, for example if we receive an Australian LCL order because it is such a vast country, sometimes we need to look at additional trucking or exploring co-loader options to suit different ports. Or for some countries, the transit time can be longer than desired, for example for Lebanese orders, there tends to be transhipment involved, which is difficult to avoid for some regions/shipping lines. But we try to solve these additional challenges with our overseas agents and sometimes call on our European Teams for their assistance within Kukla. For instance, if there is a transhipment in Rotterdam, then we can devan the shipment and our European Team can take over. Various areas, suppliers and orders in general can pose challenges, but that is why we know we can count on our overseas experts. Every challenge can be overcome with the correct systems and support in place.
Q: How do you and your team ensure accuracy in the shipping documentation?
A: Initial checks by our local partner will confirm case/pallet counts, weight, ready date and loading address. This information is cross-checked with the formal purchase order by our clients. Any deviation can be addressed prior to loading. Once shipped and the packing list, commercial invoice, etc., are made available, a thorough, detailed check is undertaken. After ensuring that everything is present and correct, we will pass the documents to KCD to prepare the import clearance declaration.
Q: Can you give us an example of where technology has improved shipping efficiency for deep sea shipment?
A: Tracking websites have been a great help in making sure we can monitor our orders from start to finish. We can monitor them through the shipping lines and port tracking websites, which allows us to plan delivery as efficiently as possible.
“We have our overseas agents closely monitoring the stacks and cut-off dates for the vessels and communicating with the suppliers/trucking companies to ensure these dates are met.”
Q: The ability for any order to meet a departure date relies not on being at the port by the date of sailing but by the ship’s “cut-off” date, usually 5-7 days before the vessel leaves port. In your experience, how flexible is this and how important is it to have an agent partner “on the ground” to make it happen?
A: Shipping lines are not known to be flexible with their cut-off dates in the sense that they are very unlikely to make an exception if a cut-off is missed. But the stacks and cut-off dates for the vessels can change very suddenly so it is essential that we have our agents closely monitoring these dates and communicating with the suppliers/trucking companies to ensure these dates are met. It is vital that we have our overseas agents in these kinds of scenarios, especially with the time difference.
Q: Can you briefly describe managing shipping documentation upon import to the UK and ensure compliance with regulations on Deep Sea imports?
A: Once the order has shipped and either our agents or the customers themselves are emailed requesting the clearance paperwork, our team will then thoroughly check each document to make sure we have all the relevant information that is required for clearance. Once we have all the required paperwork, we then send it to our Customs Team, who then complete another thorough check and let us know if anything needs to be adjusted. They will then prep the clearance within the CNS system and await the order’s arrival.
Q: What is the average turn-around time, landed to delivered, for a new world groupage order once a vessel has docked in the UK?
A: For an LCL, we have to allow time for our UK inland haulage partner carrier to collect the container and devan. Meanwhile, we must make sure that as soon as the container devans, our part of the shipment is customs cleared. From landing to devanning, this can take approximately 3-5 days. From there, we have a period whereby we can collect the cargo and deliver it. We aim to have the goods delivered to our clients’ final destination within 7 days of the container landing.
“Kukla offers various forms of reporting to ensure that our customers are kept informed. On our website, we have ‘Headlines’ for all regions we cover.”
Q: What system of reporting do you adopt for conveying regular information and reports of any issues which might delay the expected delivery time of orders into final destinations
A: Kukla offers various forms of reporting to ensure that our customers are kept informed. For example, on our website, we have ‘Headlines’ (https://kbl.kukla-spedition.com/information-update-2023) for all regions we cover, stating if there are any issues within that region, e.g., port strikes, which might delay a shipment. These headlines are also sent to our customers with their status reports, which are sent as per the customer’s request and can be found on our Kukla portal. The Kukla portal is a relatively new tool which customers can use to track their orders. The status reports will also reflect any order-specific delays and information, in addition to an email notifying customers of any delays or issues.
Maggie, thank you again for your time and your professional insight to this area of our business. It’s greatly appreciated.
