PIERS blames human error for incorrect container data

PIERS blames human error for incorrect container data PIERS Global Intelligence Solutions said Thursday that human error was to blame for mistakes in its container trade data that were brought to its attention by shipping lines.
   The erroneous data was published in the Sept. 17 issue of PIERS's sister company The Journal of Commerce.
   The head of both companies' parent said that after a thorough audit of its AMS data the trade database has been corrected by adding the records of 146,000 TEUs that were missing from its May 2007 import data. The error increased the second quarter 2007 container import volume by 3 percent, and first half 2007 TEU volume by 1.5 percent.
   PIERS has also deleted about 38,000 TEUs that were either duplicated or the result of miscalculations in the second quarter of 2006.
   “We have concluded that the mistakes made were the result of human error in failing to load records received from Customs and in failing to identify and eliminate duplicate records,” said Alan Glass, president and chief executive officer of Commonwealth Business Media, parent company of PIERS and The Journal of Commerce.
   “We can also report that the number of affected records was far less than we initially had estimated,” he said.
   “I want to assure the industry that PIERS has diligently researched the data for this time period, both internally and back to the source with Customs. We are satisfied that the data as adjusted provides a reliable reflection of the actual trade flow during this period.
   “Our confidence in our corrected data is bolstered by the fact that the imports growth rate it indicates — 6.95 percent for the January-June 2007 reporting period compared to January-June 2006 — closely tracks that of the Trade Stabilization Agreement, which reports 6.5 percent,” Glass adds.
   He added that public release of its trade data or projections based on its trade data will not be released for public consumption without additional checks and balances.
   “Those of us within the maritime community are familiar with the difficulties entailed in gathering and recording accurate information about cargo movements. We are knowledgeable enough to identify anomalies and work together to explain or correct them. The general public, however, is not as sophisticated and relies on PIERS to get it right the first time. We are resolved to do just that going forward ' and we are sincerely grateful to the industry and to our clients for their support in helping us achieve that goal.”