Container held: what to do in the first 24 hours
Every day stuck at the port has a cost. What to check first when cargo is held, and how to stop it happening again.
When a container is held, the clock starts. Demurrage, storage and rebooked transport pile up before anyone even knows why it was stopped.
First: find the reason
Holds usually fall into one of these groups: a mismatched document, wrong tariff classification, physical inspection, a missing licence, or a question about declared value.
Second: answer with one voice
When every party talks to customs separately, answers contradict each other and the process stalls further.
Third: record the cause
Every hold becomes a checklist item for the next shipment.