AIison Cook of the Club's Sydney office helpfully draws readers' attention to a problem faced by the local transport operators relating to recovery of container detention charges:
A lien means the right to detain possession of somebody else's property as security for a debt. It is an aggressive but difficult tool. Transport operators must understand how to exercise a right of lien properly, or they may face claims for unlawful detention of the goods. The Club would like to offer the following advice.
Many Members and operators are constantly plagued by uncollected / unclaimed cargoes, which may bring about considerable bills on warehousing, container "demurrage" (i.e. late-return charges), and disposal costs. In the worse situations, it may get the transport operator involved in customs problems. Also on the overall account is the hidden time cost incurred in getting rid of the uncollected shipments.
Cargo, like computer parts, mobile phones, electronic equipment, and spirits in road transit are a target for criminals. A member of the Club recently experienced two expensive thefts involving electronic equipment within the space of two months. One of the incidents happened in the Northampton industrial area of the UK, and in this case, the driver was subjected to some sort of gas being sprayed through the cab's ventilation system to ensure that he stayed asleep during the course of the theft.
The words "without prejudice", which are sometimes marked on business correspondence, are not new to those of you who have worked with insurance and claims cases.
On 15 November 2006, Vlad Cioarec, the International Trade Consultant to the ForwarderLaw website for Romania, posted a most informative article on that site entitled
