by W.E. Reinka, an international shipping consultant

If you’re supporting a 200,000 square foot warehouse with a barcode system, you may hereby stop reading because these tips are aimed at shippers who are operating a more or less manual operation, probably in smaller quarters. A manual operation doesn’t mean that there’s no computer inventory tracking but it does mean that freight is probably manually checked in and counted by warehouse workers and moved via forklifts or hand trucks. The process is repeated in reverse upon warehouse release.

When I walk in a warehouse and see big piles of freight sporadically spaced here and there while stretches of the warehouse sit empty, I know there’s trouble afoot. Typically these piles sit under origin/destination or customer signs such as “Hong Kong” or “Taylor’s Furniture.” When a worker must pull a 10 carton order for Taylor’s Furniture, it means digging through the Taylor’s pile and hopefully matching the proper order numbers from what are probably look-alike cartons. While it may seem efficient to keep the Taylor’s freight together, it’s actually more difficult and time-consuming to pull an order with greater chance of error.

Instead I recommend a simple Alpha/Numeric Grid System. A company that typically receives or ships large orders would establish larger grid squares than one which ships 10 or 20 cartons at a time. However, even in a smaller operation grid squares should be able to accommodate about 8 pallets. Note: several different orders can occupy one grid square so you don’t waste 8 pallets worth of floor space with a 5 carton lot.

When an incoming shipment arrives, regardless of where it’s going to be redistributed to, it is put on the floor in a conveniently available space rather than in the pre-assigned “Hong Kong” or “Taylor’s” lot. The warehouse worker fills out a warehouse receipt that is designed with your specifications in mind. If Taylor’s inventory is tracked by the order number on the cartons, then obviously you want the warehouse receipt to show order numbers. Total packages and types of packages (cartons, barrels, skids, etc.) are noted. Weight, cube, date in/ date out, whatever you decide you need should be added. Leave room for special comments which will help identify freight when it’s shipped out. That might read “cartons say Westinghouse” or “2 loose ctns and 4 shrink wrapped” or “partial order 10 ctns to follow.” Prominent in one corner of the warehouse receipt is the grid location “G-3.”

On the warehouse walls above normal freight level, letters will stretch alphabetically along one wall and numerically along the perpendicular wall. The warehouse becomes a giant Bingo card with freight in A-4, B-10, E-7, etc. Once you’re comfortable that you have the proper size grid, cells, and have left sufficient aisle space, you can tape or paint floor outlines.

The grid system is also more flexible than pre-assigned locations. Let’s say you have a large lot that is going to be stored for a longer term (lawn chairs that arrive in November). Instead of working around the pre-assigned “Hong Kong” or “Taylor’” location, you can stack the stored lot along the wall and out of the way of traffic—probably right under the old “Taylor’s” sign.

When operating a racked warehouse, a similar grid system applies only with 3 locations (row, level and bin). The warehouse receipt may say Row 7 Level 2 Bin 4.

–W.E. Reinka, an international shipping consultant, may be reached by clicking here.

by W.E. Reinka, an international shipping consultant

Gross Weight

A basic tenet of shipping is that freight is rated on its gross weight. Gross weight is simply the weight of the product and its packaging. For example, the glass vase, packing peanuts, carton, sealing tape and label combine to make the gross weight.

Even when you attach your freight to skids or pallets for ease of handling, pallet weight (which can be considerable as anyone who has tossed them around a dock will testify) must be included in the gross weight.

Net Weight

The weight of the product itself without packaging. (The vase by itself.) Net weight is rarely a factor in shipping unless a carton is overpacked and splits open. (Check the seal on the bottom of a standard shipping carton for the maximum weight the carton will hold safely.)

Tare Weight

Tare weight is the weight of an empty vehicle or container. Normally not something that a shipper is concerned with but it’s a term everyone should know.

Volumetric Weight – Air freight

International airfreight shipments are usually rated per pound or per kilogram. However, what the airlines are really selling is space aboard the aircraft. Therefore, they have a volumetric equivalent for shippers of lightweight articles. Consider how much space 100 kgs of ping pong balls would consume vs. 100 kgs of anvils. International air shipments are figured on both the actual gross weight and volumetric weight and rated at the higher of the two. To determine volumetric weight for air:

Multiply length x width x height in inches and divide by 366. The result is the volumetric in kilograms.

Example: 20” x 20” x40” = 16,000 cu. inches

Divided by 366 = 43.7 (round up to 44 kilograms)

If the gross weight of the shipment is 35 kilograms, it would be rated on the volumetric 44 kilograms. If the actual gross weight is 50 kilograms, it would be rated at 50 kgs.

Weight/Measure – Sea Freight

Many sea freight shipments are rated on a Full Containerload (FCL) basis. However, Less-than-Containerload (LCL) and the occasional FCL shipment are rated on a metric “Weight/Measure” in most trades. This formula is based on 1 cubic meter (35.3147 cubic feet) versus 1,000 kilograms (2,204.6 pounds), whichever yields the greater revenue to the carrier. Let me save you some time. Unless your shipment is extremely dense, it’s going to go on Measure. I’ve shipped tractor parts that went on Measure. Weight basis shipments are rare.

Trucking Density Rates

Motor carriers also sell space on their trailer, even though the rates are on a weight basis. Domestic LTL (less-than-truckload) rates are usually charged per one hundred pounds (“cwt”). However, think of those ping pong balls again. Many trucking rates factor in density. Plastic items and commodities of a similar nature have tiered rates that are based upon the density of the product. The tariff may read something along the lines of:

Plastic Items NOIBN (not otherwise indexed by number) Density under 10 pounds per cubic foot

Rate $10.00/ cwt.

Plastic Items NOIBN Density 10 to 20 pounds per cubic foot, Rate $8.50/ cwt

The difference between motor carrier density rates versus air or sea volumetric rates is that the motor carrier density rates apply only to select commodities. They’re universal in air and sea shipments.

GROSS MEASUREMENT

For air and sea freight, the LxWxH measurements are stretched to the farthest point. For example, an automobile length would stretch bumper tip to bumper tip. Therefore it’s advisable, whenever possible, to “square off” the package. Say you’re shipping a stove with a chimney attachment. Remove the chimney before shipping and lay it flat alongside or inside the stove. If you are shipping an automobile, remove the radio antenna.

–W.E. Reinka, an international shipping consultant, may be reached by clicking here.

by W.E. Reinka, international shipping consultant

Look at your luggage tag or air waybill and you’ll see airport codes instead of origin and destination city names spelled out. IATA (International Air Transport Association) assigns a three-letter identifier code to every commercial airport in the world. (By the way, pronounce it “Eye-ah-ta,”) It’s no mystery how IATA came up with BOS for Boston or STL for St. Louis. But why the heck did it assign MCI to Kansas City, IAD to Washington Dulles or EWR to Newark?

Turns out there was method to the madness. When they started assigning IATA codes, certain prefixes were set aside. The Navy grabbed the “N” prefixes. Navy pilots train at NPA (Navy Pensacola), for instance. Take away the “N” from Newark and EWR makes sense. Nacogdoches, TX? OCH.

With few exceptions, prefixes beginning with “W” or “K” are generally not used for USA airports lest they be confused with radio station call letters. So before Washington Dulles opened they were leaning toward DIA (Dulles International Airport) but then realized that it might be too easily confused with nearby Reagan (DCA—District of Columbia Airport), especially when harried freight clerks were scribbling chalk letters on baggage carts. Stick the D at the end and International Airport Dulles doesn’t seem so crazy.

Long before the Wright Brothers, the National Weather Service dotted stations around the country with two letter city codes. Later, IATA adopted some of those by simply adding an X. That’s why we might ship from Portland, OR (PDX) to Los Angeles (LAX).

JFK Airport is a rarity in that it changed IATA code from IDL when it changed its name from Idlewild. Usually once a code is assigned, it stays assigned. So if you hop on board a flight to Indianola, MS and have a really old pilot, you might want to make sure he doesn’t head for New York seeing how Indianola took over Idlewild’s discarded IDL.

An IATA code that starts with Y probably means your freight is probably headed for Canada. Literally hundreds of Canadian airport codes begin with Y.

Who wants to be FAT? Fresno Air Terminal doesn’t mind. How do they get CMH out of Columbus? From Columbus Municipal Hangar. Puzzled on CVG being Cincinnati? Cincinnati’s airport actually sits across the Ohio River in Covington, KY.

File MCI for Kansas City under “too late now.” Because of the initial letter K restrictions, the original Kansas City airport was MKC (Missouri Kansas City). When they started planning a big new airport someone decided that Mid-Continent International sounded pretty darned fancy and got the MCI designation. Before the airport opened, local politicians decided to change the name to Kansas City International so that travelers would recognize their fair city. Meantime, it was too late to change the MCI code.

Okay, I’ve kept you in suspense long enough. You’re wondering about ORD for Chicago O’Hare, aren’t you? Midway (MDW), its cross town rival, was bursting at the seams as the world’s busiest airport in the early days of commercial jets. Officials decided to build a huge new airport northwest of town where a tiny airstrip that had been renamed for heroic Navy pilot, Lt. Cmdr. Butch O’Hare. As MCI will vouch, once you get an IATA code it’s almost impossible to change it.

What was the name of the little strip before they changed it to O’Hare? Orchard Field—ORD.

–W.E. Reinka, an international shipping consultant, may be reached by
clicking here.

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