Archive
Every post, in one list
105 posts across five topics. Use this if you would rather scan than scroll.
Tracking know-how 29
- How long ocean freight actually takes
- Port codes: reading UN/LOCODE at a glance
- Your container was rolled. What now?
- Seal numbers: small detail, large consequences
- When the carrier data is wrong, who checks it?
- You have a container number and no idea which carrier. Now what?
- Container number not found: what that message actually means
- Tracking by bill of lading: when it works better than the container number
- Bill of lading, booking, container: which number to use and when
- Container prefixes: reading the owner code on any container
- What the eleven characters on a container actually mean
- Your tracking has not updated in four days. Is something wrong?
- Why two sites show two different ETAs for the same container
- Seven milestones worth an alert, and the rest you can ignore
- Tracking for importers: what to watch when you are not the one booking
- Gate out, gate in: two words that decide who pays
- The empty is back at the depot. So why does the system still charge detention?
- Tracking says delivered, but the container is still at the terminal
- Five things container tracking will never tell you
- Transshipment is where tracking goes quiet, and where delays hide
- AIS shows the ship. It does not show your container.
- How often does tracking data actually update?
- 45G1, 22G1, 42R1: reading the size and type code
- Tracking a reefer: the events that are not on the standard timeline
- Stop tracking containers one by one
- Every party calls it something different: a short guide to shipment references
- The vessel name on your tracking changed. Should you worry?
- Port, terminal, berth: why the location on your tracking is vaguer than it looks
- A plain language glossary of container tracking terms
Shipping lines 14
- Arkas Line tracking: strong in the Mediterranean
- PIL, Wan Hai and X-Press Feeders: the second tier that moves real volume
- Sealand and Matson: regional brands with different publishing habits
- Carrier alliances and why your box sails on someone else’s ship
- How to read Maersk tracking statuses
- Reading MSC tracking without second guessing it
- Hapag-Lloyd event codes, decoded
- CMA CGM tracking: what to expect and where to look
- COSCO tracking: strong at the ports, thinner in between
- Ocean Network Express tracking: consistent and quietly good
- Evergreen tracking: what the timeline shows and what it leaves out
- ZIM, HMM and Yang Ming: three mid sized carriers, three tracking habits
- Why your NVOCC shipment does not track like a carrier one
- Which carriers publish empty return, and why it matters more than you think
Trade and customs 26
- What a bill of lading actually is
- Container sizes: what actually fits
- What a freight forwarder actually does
- Customs clearance, step by step
- Container types beyond the standard box
- FOB or CIF: which one should be on your contract
- The packing list is not paperwork, it is your evidence
- Switch bills of lading: legitimate, useful, and easy to misuse
- Read the booking confirmation properly, it takes two minutes
- Shipping marks: the labels that keep consolidated cargo apart
- Letters of credit: why documents get rejected
- Demurrage vs detention: the difference that costs money
- Telex release, express B/L, seaway bill: which one is on your desk
- Negotiate free time before the container moves, not after the invoice
- Incoterms without the diagram: who pays and where risk changes hands
- Customs release: what it is and why it is not the same as cargo release
- Straight, order, bearer: bill of lading types and what each one lets you do
- Calculating detention and demurrage yourself before the invoice arrives
- Congestion surcharges and the other line items nobody quoted you
- Carrier liability is not insurance, and the difference is large
- HS codes: six digits everyone shares, and the ones that vary by country
- Certificates of origin: the document that decides your duty rate
- Advance filings: ISF, ENS, and the deadlines that carry real penalties
- VGM: the weight declaration that can stop your container being loaded
- Dangerous goods: the paperwork that has to be right before anything moves
- LCL or FCL: the break even is lower than most people think
Logistics tech 16
- Terminal appointment systems and why your truck cannot just turn up
- Putting a tracking box on your own website
- What a container tracking API actually gives you
- Migrating from one tracking provider to another without losing history
- Webhooks or polling: choosing how your system hears about changes
- Give customers a tracking page and watch your inbox get quieter
- Container tracking in Excel: how far a spreadsheet actually gets you
- Getting tracking data into the system your team already uses
- Four numbers that tell you whether your visibility is actually working
- Nine questions to ask a tracking vendor before you sign
- How container tracking is priced, and the units that catch people out
- Measuring whether your tracking data is any good
- Automated status emails that customers actually want
- Bulk tracking without an integration: what a CSV upload gets you
- When your ops team and your customer see different answers
- What machine learning can and cannot do for shipment visibility
Compare & alternatives 20
- Looking for a SeaRates alternative? Read this first
- ShipsGo alternative: what to check before you switch
- Terminal49 alternative: strong on US terminals, less so elsewhere
- Vizion API alternative: for teams who want the data without the build
- Choosing container tracking software: a buyer’s guide that names names
- project44 alternative: when enterprise visibility is more than you need
- FourKites alternative: strong in road, ocean is not its centre of gravity
- GoComet alternative: procurement platform first, tracking second
- MarineTraffic shows ships. You need to track a container.
- Track-Trace and the old free lookup sites: what you give up
- Shippeo alternative: European road strength, ocean as a second act
- Portcast alternative: prediction is useful, verification is different
- Tive and IoT trackers: hardware answers a different question
- Flexport alternative for tracking: you have to be their customer
- CargoSmart alternative: carrier owned platforms and what that means
- Why tracking on carrier websites stops working past twenty containers
- Switching tracking providers: a checklist for the week you move
- Free container tracking: what you actually get and where it ends
- SeaVantage alternative: AI forecasting versus operational certainty
- 17TRACK is for parcels. Containers are a different system entirely.