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PONDUS weigh-in checks are resulting in a number of fines being issued from stevedore facilities. Weight amendment Fees are set by each independent stevedore and generally fall around AUD 350.00 per import unit/container.

Pondus is an innovative weighing solution that helps drive safety across the container handling sector. Mis-declared containers create potential safety risks throughout the supply chain from transport companies to terminal operators and shipping lines. This new weighing solution, introduced in 2021, helps identify mis-declared weights by statistically sampling containers for weighing and then automatically notifying customers of weight discrepancies (+/- 1t) allowing parties to better meet their Chain of Responsibility obligations.

It is the shipper’s responsibility to ensure that the correct weight of a container is documented prior to it being received at the origin terminal. Both import and export containers will be statistically sampled for weighing on the Pondus stand. Any mis-declared container found to be outside of the 1-tonne tolerance will be charged a Weight Amendment Fee. For import containers, the transport carrier will be charged.

To minimise your risk of incurring the “Weight Amendment Fee”, please ensure suppliers/shippers at origin correctly declare the weight of all containers (INCLUDE CARGO WEIGHT, DUNNAGE AND CONTAINER TARE WEIGHT).

 

Pondus has been successfully proven to be effective in detecting mis-declared containers in regard to their verified gross mass (VGM).

 

 

Please share this bulletin with your shippers and encourage them to exercise diligence when declaring the weight of the containers for VGM. If they believe there is an issue between their weight and the VGM weight recorded in the origin systems – they must address it prior to shipping. With these new systems in place there is no room for error and there is no room for adjudication after the loading of the container to the vessel.

 

Any weight amendment fees received will be advised to the importer at time of receipt and invoiced accordingly.

 

Should you have any queries on the above subject matter please contact our office directly.

 

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