QUBE International Terminal Fee (NNF 2017/194)

Members have recently advised us of correspondence from QUBE Logistics (QL) of a new charge to be levied effective October 9, 2017.

As we are all aware any increases put increasing pressure on industry to manage the administration of same as well as increasing costs to the importer.

Following emails from members seeking clarity and expressing their concern our CEO, Paul Damkjaer, wrote to QUBE Logistics seeking further details and their responses are noted below.

QUBE have also extended an invitation to meet face to face with Paul and this will happen in the coming weeks – if available further information will be provided at that time.

 Questions and Responses from QUBE are shown below : (a copy of the initial letter from QUBE can be found HERE. )

Q. Is this charge for import cargo only?
A. Yes this is for import only

Q. Is the charge per House bill of lading (HBL) per container, or per container only?
A. The charge is per lowest house bill, for clarity it will be charged out at the time of delivery against the house bill lodge for clearance purposes

Q. Why is the charge the same per port, when costs per state are known to be different ?
A. As you correctly identify each state has different operating costs, but they all have the same commercial pressure, the rate we have elected to apply nationally is the lowest rate that we felt is required, we are more than willing to charge a tiered rate but the east coast rate would then be more like $50 to offset the imbalance in the more expensive ports and we felt that we would implement the lower rate across the board and hope that you are appreciative of the fact.

Q. This charge is partly due to “the volume fluctuations of inbound containers” could you please explain this effect?
A. Depots have significant fixed costs, these are incurred throughout the year irrespective of volumes and the ITF is partially offsetting the impost of the fluctuations

Q. QL’s requirement to continue to invest in its facilities is great to hear, can you advise these major investments to ensure your high standard of service?
A. Qube has made investments in systems for regulatory compliance and safety, both of which are essential for our daily operations and something that the wider industry gets the benefit of, additionally we have had to invest in the physical aspects of our facilities to comply with border force criteria both physical and in reporting.

Q. Payment to be completed on line prior to entering terminal?
A.Industry can apply for an account and can set up for the direct billing of the charge to alleviate the requirement for transport companies to make payments at the time of collection.    

I trust this answers your queries adequately as QUBE looks forward to continuing to provide a high level of service to your constituency.

Jack Moore | National Business Development Manager
QUBE Logistics