UPS Trade Direct Ocean service expands

UPS Trade Direct Ocean service expands    UPS Trade Direct Ocean will now serve more than 70 ports in Asia, Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, in addition to opening Miami as a third U.S. inbound port.
   UPS introduced its Trade Direct Ocean service less than two years ago between four ports in China and Brazil and New York and Los Angeles. The company expanded to 40 ports in 2003 and has recently added another 30 origin ports.
   The new origin ports are located in Japan, Indonesia, India, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela. Miami joins New York and Los Angeles as U.S. receiving ports.
   According to UPS, manufacturers in Asia, Europe and Latin America say the service has reduced their cargo transit times by as much as 20 days.
   Michael Horn, president and chief executive officer for Maryland-based Palisades Toys, said in a statement that his employees “no longer have to track shipments en route from Hong Kong to our customers because they already have all the tracking information they need from UPS.”
   This is how the UPS Trade Direct Ocean service works:
   * U.S.-bound goods are individually packaged, gathered at the origin port and labeled for U.S. delivery by UPS — either before being placed into ocean containers or soon after entering the United States.
   * The packages are shipped in ocean vessel space booked by UPS and after arrival, UPS clears them through customs quickly as one consolidated unit.
   * The shipments are then separated and delivered using UPS’s small package or freight network.
   “Use of this service has grown because companies increasingly realize the advantages of a streamlined supply chain,” said Bob Stoffel, senior vice president of the UPS Supply Chain Group.