Proactive Container Management for the Australian Logistics Community.

A key component to the efficient movement of containerised sea freight is up to date, reliable and detailed movement information at both vessel and container level.

Availability of this information ensures that customers are informed correctly of the container and vessel status and instils confidence when complying with legislative requirements. It also offers the chance to become more proactive with the container management process, providing greater efficiencies and lower costs.

Whilst it is known what the availability of this information can do, up until recently it has been difficult to gather it from a single source. Instead, the Australian logistics community has to deal with several parties and often in a very manual and time consuming way.

1-Stop Connections Pty Ltd (1-S top) in association with key industry software providers is working to rectify this information gap. Together we are providing all the required information electronically and integrating it directly into the software packages used to manage the container movement process.

Known as ComTrac, the available information provides two information channels.

Firstly, an electronic vessel schedule that is updated every two hours to ensure reliability. It includes:

1. vessel names, voyage and Lloyds numbers;
2. estimated and actual arrival and departure times;
3. terminal operator and ports of call and discharge;
4. export receival start and cut off dates; and
5. import availability and storage start dates.

And secondly, container movement information for both import and export containers.

For Import containers ComTrac provides automated Alerts for:

1. On board vessel - know what vessel the imported container is on before arrival in Australia, an essential tool in the management of transhipment containers;
2. Discharge from vessel - the date and time the container was off loaded from the vessel available within minutes of it occurring ; and
3. Import Availability - know immediately when your container becomes available.
4. Gate out - the date and time the container left the terminal either by road or rail

For Export containers ComTrac provides automated Alerts for:

1. PRA Accepted - container has been approved for receipt at the gate;
2. Gate In - the date and time the container arrived at the gate either by road or rail; and
3. Load on Vessel - the date and time the container was loaded onto the vessel available within minutes of it occurring.

ComTrac is a small investment that will provide huge benefits and significant cost savings to your business. You can manage transhipped containers proactively, have confidence in answering customer enquiries, enjoy easier PRA reporting as the information provided is the same used by the terminals and remove the need for data entry and its associated risks.

How Much does it cost ?

Annual 12 month subscription fees:

Com-Trac (Standard)
A$960 plus GST per annum (for up to 60,000 alerts per annum)

Com-Trac (Premium)
A$1825 plus GST per annum (for 60,001 to 120,000 alerts per annum)

Com-Trac (Platinum)
A$2450 plus GST per annum (for greater than 120,000 plus alerts per annum)

To find out more about ComTrac please contact the 1-Stop Customer Service Centre on 1300 881 055 or email sales@1-stop.biz