You’ve selected your online or in-store purchases, and clicked the “Order Now” button, or signed off on the purchase order.
Now, you wait.
And through the modern miracle of today’s normally quick and efficient shipping infrastructure, your comfy new duvet or large shipment of electronic goods should arrive at your doorstep or loading bay shortly.
That’s the way it should work in the “regular world,” one free from the disruption of a global pandemic, or international incidents that bring with it great uncertainty, or sharply rising transportation costs that can cause a ripple effect in the global supply chain.
One company that has worked hard to keep goods moving smoothly and protected from soaring costs is Richmond-based Sandhar Trucking Ltd.
The family-owned transportation and warehousing company has more than 30 years of experience that has helped its customers deal with the pressures on moving goods—from inflated fuel prices, to jarring shifts in demand for goods.
“Because of the pandemic and other events, shipping lines increased their rates by as much as 300%, which was a lot for importers and exporters,” says Aaron Sandhar, manager with Sandhar Trucking Ltd.
“We saw our customers paying that and did our best to help by making sure we, and our customers, were up to date on when their shipments arrived in the port.”
That proactive stance helped save customers money by avoiding additional port fees for loads sitting longer than necessary, waiting for pick-up or return.
Sandhar Trucking also helps expedite shipments by using its secure, 100,000-square-foot, bonded warehouse, a facility few other companies possess.
“We are one of the few carriers allowed to pick up a container, take it from the port to our bonded warehouse, unload it, and have a customs (Canada Border Service Agency) officer come here to inspect the goods,” Sandhar says.
The bonded facility also helps expedite re-manifested shipments bound for the U.S. that do not require clearance by CBSA.
“In this case, a (container) shipment comes into the port in Vancouver, but remains secure on its journey to the U.S.,” Sandhar says. “We bring it to our bonded warehouse, transload it into another trailer and send it on to its final destination in the U.S.”
The cost savings for customers that require deliveries to the U.S. make this a popular way to conduct cross-border trucking.
“Many customers prefer to work with a single company that can handle the complete job from picking up a container in-bond at the port and deliver to the final destination throughout Canada or the U.S.” Sandhar says.
“In this industry, it’s very important to ensure we are proactive and not reactive, especially when business picks up and congestion occurs at the port,” Sandhar says.
For more information about Sandhar Trucking Ltd. and how they keep goods moving in a timely fashion, visit their website at sandhartrucking.com.
