What does exactly “SHIPPER” mean?
We mean as “Shipper” the Company owner of the goods, that supports the cost of the transport. It can be the Client (f.e. with incoterms FOB) or the Seller (f.e. with incoterms CIF, CFR, DAP etc)
What does TEU mean?
TEU is a measurement unit of FCL loads, and stands for Twenty (feet) Equivalent Unit.
A container of 20 feet is 1 TEU
A container of 40 feet is 2 TEUS
A containers of 45 feet is also 2 TEUS
What does FCL mean?
FCL stands for Full Container Load. The SHIPPER occupies
What does SHIPPING COMPANY mean?
It is the Company executing the maritime transport, owner or operator of the vessel
Which are the examples of existing Shipper’s Association and where do they operate?
In USA there many Shipper’s Association, grouping Companies of the same Industry (f.e. Beverage Importers) or same territory (f.e. Midwest) with the goal of (also) optimising the maritime transport purchasing process.
Example of USA Shipper’s Association are:
www.aisaship.com
www.wssa.com
www.midwestshippers.com
In Europe the only similar examples are Association of Shippers with the mission of exchanging business information about Transport Industry, lobbying in order to make prices more affordable, influencing political decisions on transport regulation matters, but NOT effectively executing aggregated purchasing.
For example in Italy www.freightleaders.org, in France www.autf.fr, in Europe www.europeanshippers.com.
Can any Company participate?
The actual condition to participate is to have a structural traffic of FCL. By “structural” we mean a traffic which can be planned, in order to allow the creation of annual contracts with commitment on volumes. Shippers without a predictable traffic cannot easily match AURORA working conditions.
On which lanes AURORA is active?
Any type of lane is managed, since Shipping Companies are very often global operators.
We classify 3 kinds of lanes
- Import (to Italy)
- Export (from Italy)
- Cross trades (Italy not involved)
On which specific maritime freight services AURORA is active?
Only on FCL. AURORA takes care of port/ port services, or intermodal (door/door, door/port or port/door).
AURORA is not managing LCL, which in our opinion should stay in the competence area of Forwarders.
On which products/ industries AURORA is active?
There are no limitations on type of products and/ or type of equipment (container) involved.
What happens to the role of my current Forwarders?
Forwarders will take care of all other activities (LCL, customs, bookings, documentation, inland transports etc) but not the maritime FCL freight purchasing.
What are the guarantees of results?
Shipper’s Association management is executed by experts who are operating in the Industry since decades, with the role of both Buyers and Sellers. Furthermore, a constant benchmarking through www.xeneta.com is available.
What are the purchasing tools available?
The most advanced e-sourcing and e-procurement tools are available, to ensure the highest competition level, while respecting the qualitative constraints of each Shipper (ex.
www.ticontract.com).
How the economics of AURORA are working?
Shippers own a contribution fee to AURORA, depending on the annual number of containers shipped with the Contracts procured by the Shipper’s Association.
The bigger is the volume assigned to AURORA, the smaller is the contribution (in percentage with total transport costs).
AURORA is sharing the annual P&L with Shippers, there will be no profit no loss. Contribution fees are decided every year based on actual functioning costs of AURORA.
AURORA tools - SQS, Tracking, Benchmark - are actually included in the yearly association fee.
Consultancies are evaluated one by one
What is a “Social Quoting System (SQS)"?
It is a tool to optimize the request for spot quotation towards the Carriers. Received quotation will be shared within the Aurora community, keeping the Shippes anonymous for privacy reasons, allowing a constantly updated benchmark.
Quotations are maintained available for any future reference
What is a container tracking system?
It is a tool which allows the Shippers to track the exact position of their shipped containers and to constantly update the container E.T.A. Tracking system needs to be feeded with the container number and the Shipping Line on which the container has been shipped
How a container tracking system works?
Tracking system interrogates 90% of the worldwide Shipping Lines and provide container position information on real time. In addition, the system make use of an advanced algorithm which keep into consideration all the variables of the navigation, granting an accurate calculation of the Estimated Time of Arrival of the vessel at the discharging port
How the ocean rates benchmark dashboard works?
Aurora buys ocean rate data from Xeneta.com, worldwide leader in freight benchmarking. Whit these data, Aurora create a dashboard showing all Aurora Associates lanes benchmarked and updated daily.
The dashboard shows market low / average / high freight levels, both spot and long term contracts based