AF1u—Introduction to Cargo Transportation for Air Forwarders (U.S.)

Subscriber price: $180.00, Non-subscriber price: $215.00
Estimated total study time: 13 hours 13 minutes

This is the initial foundation course in GISTnet's career development sequence in U.S. air forwarding. It addresses fundamentals of cargo transportation applicable to all modes (e.g., role of the forwarder, cargo transportation imperatives, operational characteristics of each mode, types of shipper-carrier relationships, government regulation, tariffs, types of freight rates).

It is designed for use as:

• "Jump-start" training for entry-level staff
• In service (fill-in-the-gaps) training for personnel already engaged in air forwarding whose initial training was limited to immediate operational tasks

Introduction to Freight Forwarding and Cargo Transportation

This first lesson sets up our topic by focusing on the responsibilities and multi-modal knowledge a freight forwarder (also known as a transportation intermediary) should have to properly serve his/her customer, the shipper.

(Estimated study time: 1 hour 5 minutes)

• Introduction
• Our Professional Mandate
  • Our Focus: Customer Need Determines Transportation Solution
  • Competitive Advantage
  • Performance vs. Cost
• Our Work and Learning Challenges
• Basic Freight Forwarder Functions and Opportunities
  • Traditional Single Mode Expertise
  • Delivery Terms (Trade Terms) Determine Extent of Through Transportation

Freight Forwarder Functions and Opportunities (U.S.)

(Estimated study time: 1 hour 6 minutes)

• Introduction
• Freight Forwarder Functions and Opportunities
  • Traditional Single Mode Expertise
  • Through Intermodal Surface Transportation
    • (U.S.) Through Intermodal Surface Transportation
      • Government Regulation—Current Trends
    • U.S. Regulations
  • Through Airfreight Transportation
  • Delivery Terms (Trade Terms) Determine Extent of Through Transportation
  • Multimodal Expertise Now an Imperative

Basic Cargo Transportation Concepts

(Estimated study time: 44 minutes)

• Introduction
• Cargo Transportation—Basic Concepts and Issues
  • Physical Movement—Visualize What Will Happen
  • Cargo Security/Safety
  • Predictable Destination (Delivery Point)
  • Predictable Departure and Arrival Times
  • Predictable Cost or Alternative Cost
  • Making it Happen: Transportation Modes, Carriers and Expertise
• What is a Cargo Transportation Carrier?

Modes of Cargo Transportation: Vessel

(Estimated study time: 57 minutes)

• Inland Waterway and Intra-Coastal (Short-Sea) Transportation
  • History
  • Advantages of Inland Waterway and Inter-Coastal (Short Sea) Transportation
  • Disadvantages/Limitations of Inland Waterway Transportation
• Deep Sea (Ocean) Transportation and Shipping
  • History
  • Advantages of Deep Sea Transportation
  • Disadvantages/Limitations of Deep Sea Transportation
  • New Options in Ocean Cargo Transportation

Modes of Cargo Transportation: Rail and Truck

(Estimated study time: 43 minutes)

• Rail Transportation
  • History
  • Advantages of Rail Transportation
  • Disadvantages/Limitations of Rail Transportation
• Truck Transportation (Motor Carriers)
  • History
  • Advantages of Truck Transportation
  • Disadvantages/Limitations of Truck Transportation

Modes of Cargo Transportation: Air; Cost Comparisons Between Modes

(Estimated study time: 32 minutes)

• Air Cargo Transportation
  • History
  • Advantages of Airfreight
  • Disadvantages/Limitations of Airfreight
• Other Mode Carriers
• Cost Comparison of Cargo Transportation Modes

Cargo Transportation Trends

(Estimated study time: 46 minutes)

• Introduction
• Cargo Transportation Trends as Part of Broader Logistics Services
  • History of Multimodal Indirect Carriers (Consolidators & Door-to-Door)
  • The Single Source "Door-to-Door" Logistics
    • Recent Industry Trends—Forwarders Extending Scope of Services
    • Current Logistics Services in Response to Shipper (Customer) Preferences
    • Seamless Logistics and Information Systems

Carrier-to-Shipper Relationship

(Estimated study time: 1 hour 5 minutes)

• Introduction
• Shipper-to-Carrier Relationship
  • Common Carriage
    • General
    • Tariffs and Common Carriage
    • Carrier Liability Terms/Limits
  • Contract Carriage
    • General
    • Common Carriage Masquerading as Contract Carriage
  • Private Carriage
  • Services In Addition to Carriage

Direct vs. Indirect Carriage; Carrier-to-Carrier Contracting

(Estimated study time: 57 minutes)

• Introduction
• Direct vs. Indirect Carriage
  • General
  • Direct Carriage
  • Indirect Carriage
  • Indirect Carrier Terms and Conditions; Carrier Liability
    • Minimum Standards for Carrier Financial Responsibility
      • FMC Financial Requirement for Ocean Forwarders and NVOs
      • Requirements for Truck Carriers and Property Brokers
  • Direct and Indirect Carriage Combinations
• Carrier-to-Carrier Arrangements
  • Co-Loading
  • Substituted Service
  • Cargo Pooling/Joint Services
  • Sub-Contracting of Conveyances/Conveyance Operators

Transportation Carrier Regulation

(Estimated study time: 45 minutes)

• Introduction
• Commercial Cargo Transportation Regulation—General
• Types of Regulation
  • General
  • Purpose/Impact of Commercial Regulation
    • Benefit to Small Shippers
    • Benefit to Carriers
    • Carrier Subsidy
    • Effectiveness, Compliance, and Alternatives
• Cargo Transportation Carrier Regulation in the U.S.
  • General
  • Safety Regulation
  • FMC Regulation of Ocean Common Carriage (U.S.)

Transportation Carrier Regulation, cont.

(Estimated study time: 38 minutes)

• Introduction
• Surface Transportation Board
• U.S. Transportation Security Regulation
• State/Local Transportation Regulation
• U.S. Regulation of Cargo Carriers' Commercial Practices
  • General
  • U.S. Treaty Participations
• Industry Self-Regulation
  • Ocean Carrier Shipping Conference and Multi-Carrier Agreements
    • U.S. Regulation of Shipping Conferences
  • Industry Trade Associations

Cargo Transportation Tariffs

(Estimated study time: 55 minutes)

• Introduction
• Carrier Tariffs—General
  • Tariffs & Common Carriage
  • Tariff Format—General
  • Table of Contents
  • Rules Section
  • Commodity/Class Index
  • Rate Section(s)
• Shared Tariff Arrangements
  • Joint Tariff Filing
  • Participation in the Tariff of Another Carrier
  • Adoption by Reference
  • Limitations of Shared Tariff Arrangements

How Freight Charges ("Freight Rates") are Determined; Factors that Influence Rates

(Estimated study time: 1 hour 4 minutes)

• Introduction
• Cargo Metrics and Conversion Factors
  • General—Weight and Cube
  • Measuring Cargo
  • Conversion Factors between Metric and English
• Transportation Mode
  • Water Mode
  • Rail Mode
  • Truck Mode
  • Air Mode
• Geographical Routes/Routing Options
• Commodity

Factors that Influence Rates, cont.

(Estimated study time: 37 minutes)

• Introduction
• Total Shipment Size and/or Weight
• Cargo Density
• Cargo Packaging/Configuration
• Shipper Circumstances and Volume of Cargo Shipped
• Carrier and Carrier Combinations

Types of Rates Used in Air Cargo Transportation

(Estimated study time: 1 hour 21 minutes)

• Types of Rates/Charges used in Air Cargo Transportation
  • History of Air Cargo Rate Structure
  • Types of Air Cargo Rates & Precedence of Rates
  • Air Cargo Chargeable Weight (International); Actual vs. Volume Weight
  • Add-on or Component Rates
  • Container Rates
  • Other/Special Purpose Rates
  • Surcharges
  • Accessorial Charges