In order to save both time and money, the U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) implemented a new a new process to allow shippers to submit original vehicle export documentation electronically in lieu of delivering physical copies to their local CBP trade office.
The electronic validation program, which is the first of its kind anywhere in the country, is currently being offered in Port Everglades to exporters needing to ship used vehicles from South Florida to destinations throughout the Caribbean, Central America and beyond.
A global powerhouse for international trade, Broward County's Port Everglades handles more than one million TEUs annually (20-foot equivalent units, the industry standard measurement for container volumes) and serves as a gateway to Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia.
In fiscal year 2017, 42,553 TEUs of vehicle cargo were exported at Port Everglades.
Long-time Port Everglades cargo shipping customers, Crowley Maritime Corp., AFL International Logistics Group and King Ocean were critical players in developing this new process, which has been extended to all ocean carriers serviced by Port Everglades.
The electronic process offers several key advantages. First, it offers exporters the ability to skip in-person visits to CBP's trade office to deliver original vehicle export documentation - a time-saving efficiency that ensures faster document processing and reduces shipment times by around a day. Now shippers can submit digital copies online any time of the day or night for faster review, processing and approval.
Digital copies also mean that exporters are no longer required to make multiple copies of documentation per vehicle being shipped, since the files can be provided electronically.
