TT Club Sponsor The Loadstar Podcast: VGM

Peregrine Storrs-Fox, Risk Management Director at TT Club, discusses the risks faced by licenced customs brokers and mitigation steps to take:

With the effective date of the container weighing regulation, known as Verified Gross Mass (VGM), at hand, the freight insurance specialist TT Club is accentuating the positive and assures the industry that help remains available. The mutual insurer, which sees VGM as one of the key safety measures for container operations worldwide, has published a pithy, user-friendly summary for all those involved.

Safety aspects of the way in which cargo is packed and transported in unit loads across the global supply chain continue to be the focus of opportunities for improvement. During a session of the Intermodal Europe Conference in Amsterdam today, four industry organisations representing different sectors of the supply chain have been drawing attention, in particular, to the responsibilities of container owners and operators in providing equipment that is fit for purpose and properly packed with cargo as set out in the CTU Code.

As part of its on-going campaign to improve standards of the safe packing of unit loads, including shipping containers, specialist freight transport insurer, TT Club has issued specific guidelines on packing and securing coiled materials in containers. In general, investigations into incidents along the international supply chain - whether on roads, rail, inland waterway or at sea - can often be attributed to poor practices in the packing of cargo transport units (CTUs) and coiled materials are a particular hazard.