It is very important to us what our customers think of our products and services. This is why we regularly collect feedback from them. Recently, we spoke with Mr.Sanjay Berry, Managing Director of Reliance Freight Systems LLC in UAE, who shared how our Additional Freetime service is helping his company in working more agile.

The current environment causes a lot of challenges to many businesses worldwide. Container shortages, limited shipping slots, increased demand, as well as reduced detention and demurrage free time are currently making global shipping services very complex. Mr. Sanjay Berry knows very well that this means not only stress but also additional costs in the worst-case scenario. He is the Managing Director at Reliance Freight Systems LLC, a freight forwarding company headquartered in Dubai that provides integrated logistics solutions and caters to the regions’ supply chain needs. This is what he says about the problem: "Different carriers have different tariffs and slabs. The detention waiver process is time-consuming, not always successful, and results in delays in clearance.”

Only a few clicks to get additional detention free time

To solve exactly these problems, Hapag-Lloyd launched its Additional Freetime online solution in April 2020 for all customers worldwide. Since then, this service allows our customers to extend their tariff or individual free time agreement on short notice and book up to 10 days of additional detention free time by paying a discounted fee upfront. Additional Freetime is a cost-effective and cost-transparent online service that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Detention free time can be conveniently purchased until shortly before the shipment arrives at its destination port. Using Additional Freetime can help our customers to plan their shipments better in advance.

“We initially thought it will delay the procedure to obtain free time from the system”, Berry said about his initial skepticism before testing the tool. “However, I am happy to experience that with the Additional Freetime web solution, it is very easy to purchase more free time that is instantly updated in the system and on the Bill of Lading. It is an effective tool and has improved our turnaround time for a free time confirmation along with providing a quote to the customer.”

Additional Freetime is directly linked to other Hapag-Lloyd’s digital solutions: it can easily be purchased via the Web Booking functionality for new bookings. For existing bookings, extra detention free time can be added in the Hapag-Lloyd Navigator.

Berry explained how the web solution is helping in his daily business activities: “By using the Additional Freetime service, I can directly advise costs for purchasing the free time to my customer. As soon as the confirmation is obtained, it is shown in the Hapag-Lloyd’s system after the shipment gets on board.”

Continuing optimizing and improving Additional Freetime for our customers

We are very pleased that Additional Freetime was received so well by our customers and is improving their business after less than a year of being in the market. Nevertheless, Berry has a suggestion for improving our web solution even more: “By extending the maximum booking time, for example, we could make the usage of Additional Freetime more effective.” We highly appreciate this feedback, as we naturally want to optimize our digital services as much as we can. Further features and functions will thus enhance our Additional Freetime tool even more in the future.

Thanks a lot to Mr. Berry for sharing his insights.

Have you tested Additional Freetime yet? You can find more information about our Additional Freetime.