Be sure that your forwarding agent is reliable, for the law allows him many charging privileges if you are careless in providing for contingencies.
Contract, if you can, for through transportation and get from the transportation companies the requisite export manifests to accompany shipment.
Make triplicate invoices, one to accompany the goods and two to be mailed to the consignee. One of these will be turned over to the custom officials, so in case the invoice sent with the goods fails to come through, and that often happens, the triplicate can be accepted. Without an invoice your goods cannot leave the ship, and I know of cases where cargoes have been held awaiting invoices for eight weeks.
And, in conclusion, remember that sentiment is not the foundation for foreign trade. If we sell abroad we must do so on merit and by foreign systems—not our own.
FREIGHT CLAIMS
Freight claims are an ever present source of annoyance. Every shipper, and practically every receiver, of freight finds it necessary to make claims against the railroads for freight overcharges, shortages, and damages to goods in transit. Some houses find occasion to make but one or two claims a year; others constantly have several claims on file, aggregating a large number each year, but no matter what the number, they must be given proper attention.
Handling freight claims is not one of the usual duties of the shipping clerk, nevertheless, it is a proper topic for discussion in connection with the subject of shipping. The traffic manager, when one is employed, handles the freight claims; otherwise the details are handled by some other minor official—as the cashier or the purchasing agent.
The adjustment of claims involves, usually, a large volume of correspondence, and requires a man of tact. He must possess patience and persistence to a marked degree. Diplomacy of a high order is necessary in his correspondence, and promptness is an important factor. Threats have little effect, other than to delay adjustment of the claim.
Before a claim is presented, all information pertaining to the case in possession of the claimant must be assembled, and all facts should be incorporated in the papers filed. A bill should be made against the railroad for the amount of the claim, and to this should be attached the freight receipt or other voucher. These papers should be accompanied by a letter giving a plain statement of the basis of the claim; if for an overcharge, the number of the tariff and the classification on which it is based should be cited. The claim papers should be as complete as it is possible to make them, presenting all facts having a possible bearing, otherwise they will be returned by the claim agent of the railroad for further information. Some of the questions asked by the claim agent may seem trivial to the claimant, but the answers are necessary to him in completing the files of his office. When claim papers are returned through the local freight office, the information asked should be given and the papers returned at once.