Maersk Line improves clarity of surcharges

Maersk Line surcharges have not always been the easiest to decipher. Over the last six months, the organisation has been working hard to change that. 

As of 27 February, a single list of all surcharges is published on MaerskLine.com. Each surcharge is accompanied by a clear explanation of its purpose. » Click here to see the list.
It is not just a new list of surcharges, Maersk Line went further. To make life easier for all their customers, they have:

• Streamlined surcharge definitions to make them clearer to understand

• Published one comprehensive list of surcharges on MaerskLine.com

• Included surcharge code and name to improve understanding on our surcharge acronyms

• Made charge names more intuitive to help provide clarity on the purpose of the charges

• Same charge names everywhere. What you see on our webpage and your quotation are what you will see in your contract and on your invoice

• Added hyperlinks to surcharge definitions in quotes and by May, on invoices

• Added a feedback link on our list of surcharges web page for you to provide suggestions for further improvement on the clarity of our surcharges

In a panel survey sent to 1,350 of Maersk Line customers in October of 2011, only 50 % of the respondents were satisfied with the clarity of our surcharges in sources of information, general understanding, communication output presentation, and structure and application.

“I would just like to be able to have a glossary of some kind that tells us exactly what the surcharge is for,” one Maersk Line customer said.

This was seconded by another customer: “Just make the surcharges simple.”

However, the improvements do not stop here.

“Show clearly what is collect, what is prepaid. Surcharges section on your homepage with explanations on how they are calculated and what their purpose is,” another customer demanded.

In response to this clamour, Maersk Line added default Terms of Payment to provide an indication if the charge is to be paid at origin, destination or the same as the freight. 

A default Terms of Payment is a suggestion of where the service is provided and if it is a charge paid at origin destination, or paid along with the freight. This is an indication only.

Customers have demanded for better explanation of surcharges imposed by Maersk Line