The vessel is two days out and the pre-alert is not here
An import shipment from your agent in Ho Chi Minh City is due at Southampton on Friday. On Wednesday the operator opens the job to prepare for arrival and realises there is no pre-alert. A quick search of the shared inbox finds it: it came in ten days ago, filed under a different reference, with the house bill but without the packing list, and with the container number mistyped in the email body.
Other pre-alerts are missing altogether because the agent assumed someone else would send them. Nobody knew until the vessel was nearly in.
Why pre-alerts slip
A pre-alert is a simple thing: the documents and details you need for an inbound shipment, sent by the origin agent after departure. The trouble is that there is no system expecting them. They arrive into a busy inbox, and whether they are complete is only checked when someone needs them.
- Agents each send pre-alerts in their own format and at their own pace.
- Emails reference the agent's shipment number, not yours.
- Nobody knows a pre-alert is late, because nothing expects it.
- Missing documents are discovered when the operator starts preparing the arrival.
- Chasing agents across time zones adds days.
What late pre-alerts cost
Everything downstream depends on the pre-alert: customs preparation, arrival notices to the importer, delivery booking. When it is late or incomplete, all of that is squeezed into the last few days, and the risk of a container sitting at port while documents are chased goes up. Operators spend time searching and chasing, and importers get their arrival information late. Their own teams then have less time to arrange warehouse space and labour, which is the part of the service they notice most.
The pre-alert tracking we build
- Every inbound job creates an expected pre-alert, with a due date calculated from departure and the list of documents and details you require for that mode and agent.
- Emails arriving from agents are read, matched to the job by bill of lading, container, booking or agent reference, and their attachments classified: house bill, master bill, commercial invoice, packing list, certificates.
- Key details are extracted and compared with the job: container numbers, weights, packages, vessel and dates. Mismatches are flagged.
- Missing documents or details trigger an automatic, polite request to the agent, in the agent's working hours, with a reminder if nothing arrives.
- Pre-alerts that are overdue are listed for operators, before arrival pressure starts.
- Agents' performance on timeliness and completeness is reported, which helps in network reviews.
| Step | Inbox | Pre-alert tracking |
|---|---|---|
| Knowing one is due | Nobody expects it | Expected from departure date |
| Filing it to the job | Operator searches and saves | Matched by reference automatically |
| Checking completeness | When the operator needs it | On arrival of the email |
| Chasing the agent | Late, by hand | Automatic, in their hours |
After
Operators open an inbound job and find the documents already there, checked. Gaps are chased while the ship is still at sea. Arrival preparation starts on time, and importers get their notices earlier. And you have facts, not impressions, about which agents send good pre-alerts and which do not.
The tracking works with your forwarding system. Documents are attached to the job there, not stored in a separate place operators have to remember to check.
Is this happening on your import desk?
- Pre-alerts are found in the inbox when the vessel is almost in.
- Documents are missing from pre-alerts regularly.
- Agents reference their own numbers, not yours.
- Chasing agents takes days because of time zones.
- You cannot say which agents send pre-alerts on time.