News & Tips

 Ten simple Do’s and Don’ts for CARM users

1.      DO use a GC Key to log in. It seems quicker than using your financial institution.

2.      DON’T sweat it if you didn’t make your first payment (ironically, on Halloween today). There is a 90-day interest-free period.

3.      DO pay in late November, as the portal will catch up with old B3 entries.

4.      DON’T necessarily enroll in the PAD…yet.  I would manually test out and double-check the statements for at least 3 months.

5.      DO review the CBSA’s amount for posting financial security. This is listed in your Notifications section (in the top right-hand corner). If the amount is higher than anticipated, you may wish to contact the CBSA.

6.      DON’T wait too long to post financial security. The 180-day grace period ends on April 20, 2025, so there will likely be a surge in Bond applications.

7.      DO verify which staff members can access CARM and check their portal privileges (BAM, PAM, edit, read/view only).

8.      DON’T overlook your company’s Import compliance. The next few months would be an excellent time to review your Tariff Code Classifications, values, descriptions, parts tables, Country of Origin paperwork, etc. You want to be proactive on this!

9.      DON’T assume you can pay all your CADs with a Credit Card. The limit is $4999.99, so you may need to make several CC transactions for one payment.

10. DO relax. Yesterday’s outage was system-wide, including the CRA site. However, it is advised to log in early in the day.

Feel free to email me with any questions. If I don’t have an answer immediately, I will get you one.

savings@sospartners.ca

 

 

CARM update for October 28,2024

Week one is over, and there were a few hiccups but mostly, the site worked as promised. Some reported login issues. There is an open API ticket. And the first SOA for Importers was available on Friday. The amount is going to be different than what users previously have seen. This is due to the change in Accounting Dates from the old B3 system. CARM users are advised to pay the amount as it will self-correct in November. If you dont’ like this advice, you should contact your Broker. Remember, there is a 90 day interest free period however I wouldn’t advise getting too far behind in payments.

Courier Rate Increases for 2024 – now that the Invoices are out…OUCH!

Now that New Year’s is in the rear view, your courier shipping invoices have arrived and you can see the actual impact of the General Rate Increases.

First of all, can we just say this, what other industry can get away with this? While some categories like gasoline, grocery and streaming services have been raising prices, Big Courier has been doing this for decades. The main answer as to WHY is simply- because they can! Publicly-traded behemoths FedEx and UPS continue to dominate the carrier-only ( non Amazon) market. And they both have Board of Directors who must report to their investors who in turn are really only interested in growth and profit. It’s as simple as that.

As for the rates themselves, both UPS and FedEx have magically communicated a similar Rate Hike again, this time, “only” 5.9%*** What are the odds that they can land on the basically the same increase every year. Somehow, they skirt the monopoly allegations. Perhaps covering ( donating to) both sides of the House of Representatives and Senate in Washington might explain it…

The language that the rate is “only” 5.9% in quotes is because it is a) comical that they can sell that it’s less than last years increase, while still being one of the largest-ever and b) that its basically not true***. The rates are weighted to more popular zones and weights. Low increases in packages that are over 100 lbs. ( who ships these?) and much higher in the more popular 1-10 lbs. range. And the Fuel Surcharges are another story. What was initially offered in the early 2000’s fell into the 0.25 to 0.75 range. ” Shippers will FREAK OUT if the fuel charge goes over ONE PERCENT” was the cry of courier reps during that period. Fast forward to the past few years and customers are happy to be paying 60 times that!

So what. As in, so what are you going to do about it. Most people don’t read this far because they are afraid. Afraid of reprisals from their carrier. Afraid of losing what discounts they have. Afraid of change.

It doesn’t need to be this way. Quite the opposite in the USA where parcel negotiation and invoice auditing is a significant sub-industry. And in Canada, Purolator/Canada Post continues to move the most volume. Which means in theory, that there is more competition.

A frog tossed into a pot boiling water will jump out immediately. A frog placed into a pot of cool water where the heat is gradually raised to boiling will stay in and let themselves get cooked to death.

Too many of us are the letting the water boil. Contact us to day for a no-charge assessment. You pay nothing and a reasonable and fair percentage of your savings is gain-shared, so there is 0 risk. Let an industry professional handle the negotiations for you. In most case, the same primary carrier is retained.

ed documents reveal the company’s strategy – The Logic

Good resource on courier shipping from SaddleCreek. I especially like #3 and #4.

Parcel Solutions Guide – Saddle Creek Logistics Services (sclogistics.com)