Release Agent Sent By Air Freight To Middle East, Small Freight Forwarder Got Inspected, DL Still Cleared Smoothly
Maj sent his release agent by air freight to Middle East. But when it arrived, customs held it for inspection. Their reason was that the release agent might contain restricted liquid materials. They said either return it or destroy it, or provide solid documents as soon as possible.
It took five or six days. Not only did Maj have to pay high port storage fees, his client was furious.
Turns out this freight forwarder was a new one he found. A small forwarder with almost no resources at the destination, only good at advertising. Maj made a bad choice.
Actually there are many small forwarders like this in air freight to Middle East. They shout loud on social media, grab orders first, then figure out the rest. The trucking and air parts are similar for everyone. But the real test is customs clearance and delivery at the destination.
Small forwarders have no real power. They just cross their fingers and hope for the best. A strong, big forwarder does more than just move cargo. They promise delivery time, and more importantly, they know how to fix things when something unexpected happens. The real difference between a big forwarder and a tiny one in a cheap building is destination clearance and delivery. That's a certainty service. Meaning through resource control and technical know-how, they take the transport risk away from the client and onto themselves. That makes the whole process predictable.
Take our company DL International Logistics as an example. We have block space agreements with two major airlines — 20 pallet positions per week. That means 50 tons of cargo fly to UAE air port every week. We declare everything honestly. All documents are complete. Our operations are smooth. The local customs officers handle our cargo every day. They don't say much, but deep down they know DL's shipments are clean. If someone else's cargo looks suspicious, it will likely be checked. But DL's cargo has passed inspection 100 times without issues. So even when it looks borderline, they usually let it go.
Maj slowly realized what went wrong. When you need air freight to Middle East, you pick the forwarder first, not the price first. After a good talk with me, he decided to let us handle this shipment.
We have a lot of experience moving goods that are borderline sensitive. Our operations team prepared very complete documents for this release agent. We know what customs wants to see. Same product, same formula, nothing changed. When this shipment landed at Dubai airport again, customs simply reviewed the papers, saw it was DL's cargo, and released it. Maj was shocked. He couldn't believe his ears. He gave me a big thumbs up.
DL Logistics, one of the top five in air freight to Middle East. We buy 20 pallet positions per week from two major airlines. We have priority lane for customs clearance at UAE air port. We jump the line at the warehouse for pickup. Our local trucking partner answers the phone at 2am. Morning delivery arrives by noon, noon delivery arrives by afternoon. Truly one of the top five.
DL air freight to Middle East — everyone who uses it says it's smooth.