Logistics - What does it mean?

This is a bit of a peak behind the curtain, and hopefully an educational one, it has definitely been one for us here at ADV-TIM.

We often get asked "when will X be back in stock?". The fact of the matter is, most times, we simply don't know, and can't respond.

This used to be somewhat predictable, as the carriers did their jobs and provided somewhat reasonable shipping estimates and tracking information. 

However, in the current tariff-filled U.S. economy, it's hard to say. The U.S. Customs & Border Services have simply been overwhelmed with the constant changes and increased scrutiny they must perform as goods enter the country.

For those unfamiliar with the importing process, it looks a little something like this (based on our experience):

1. Order your goods from somewhere outside the USA.
   
   
2. Vendor packages up your items, prepares a declaration form which identifies the goods, and assigns an HTS Code (Harmonized Tariff Schedule)
   Those not familiar with the HTS Codes, it's an international code system that identifies products based on their purpose, material it's made of, and manufactured origin. There's hundreds of thousands of codes.
   
   
3. The items enter into the US Customs Port of Entry.
   
   
4. The items are then evaluated, based on their declaration form, contents, invoices, etc to:
   
   1. Determine what was declared is what was packaged
      
   2. Validate the HTS code matches the items shipped
      
   3. Calculate any tariffs or fees
      
      
5. a) If everything checks out, they work with the shipping company (UPS, FedEx, DHL), who usually act as a broker, to collect any additional fees, etc (tariffs or other taxes).
   
   1. Sometimes, depending on the carrier, your items may then be cleared and delivered, and we now have a bill to pay.
      
   2. Other times, the items are held until all fees are paid.
      
      
5. b). If there are any discrepancies, or you get an Agent who simply doesn't know what their doing, then the delay begins.
   
   1. They'll now begin the process of reaching out to the receiver of the goods to try and get updated information, this can be simply a description of the items, purpose, etc - in most cases either the HTS code was left off, or doesn't match what they suspect the item to be.
      
   2. Sometimes they skip the receiver and go to the sender for this information, we've had this happen a few times, or even when we did provide the details they asked for.
      
   3. THIS is the stage we continue to fight with. There doesn't seem to be any consistency in this. We can order the exact same batch of products one week, and it comes through just fine. The next week we order it again, and it's held up and delayed for 3 weeks.
      
      
5. c) (The expensive one) In some cases, they process everything, but somehow change the HTS Code to something it's not, and then calculate tariffs / fees on that code, which is incorrect. Leading to very expensive tariff bills. At this point your goods are how being held hostage. You can either pay, and fight the invoice with billing in order to have your goods to be able to sell (in my case), or not pay, and have the goods returned to the shipper. They will not hold them for more than a week once they have determined things are "right" on their end, but will hold it for as long as they need if they're still trying to figure something out (5b). We currently have multiple invoices of thousands of dollars we're disputing. This is money out of our pocket, simply to get the goods into our hands to sell to you, all because someone didn't read a line item or just guessed.

So a process that used to take 5-10 days tops, that's from the time of order, to restocking our shelves, now extends into the 3-4 week window if we're lucky. We've tried to predict surges and stock up as best we can, only the be left dry with products sitting in customs for weeks on end. 

All of this is to simply say, we're sorry for delays, we're doing the best we can.