U.S. Rail Operation Hours - Thanksgiving Holiday

Thanksgiving Day is a major US Holiday and all MSC-USA offices and Amoy International will be closed.

Train service will continue to operate throughout the long Holiday weekend; however, delays of 24-48 hours are anticipated as the railroads will attempt to minimize and curtail network operations so that the railroad crews may observe Thanksgiving with their families.

CSX and BNSF railroads consider both Thursday and Friday as Holidays–these two days will count as additional free days at the destination ramps (only if they fall within the scheduled free time period). Normal storage charges will apply if the free time expires prior to or on Wednesday, November 25th.

Export rail Cut-offs should be reviewed and adjusted based on the anticipated 48 hour delays and ramp closures.

Truck capacity may be somewhat limited due to the short work week and 48 hours notice may be required prior to dispatch!

Please see below for the listing of the US rail ramps along with the hours of operation for the Thanksgiving Holiday.
Please note that some ramps are open throughout, while others may be closed entirely during this period. It is important that our clients are informed to retrieve their cargo within the normal free time period or they risk paying storage charges even though the ramps may be closed.

If you have any questions regarding the above information or holiday freight release schedules,
please contact our office at (626) 855-3077. We appreciate your time and attention.

Thank you & Happy Thanksgiving!

US rail ramps Listings: /Thanksgiving%20Rail%20Operations%202009.pdf

Amoy Line 2009 Holiday Schedule

It's that time of the year again! Here's our Holiday Schedule for 2009!



Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 26th: Closed
Friday, November 27th: 8:00am to 1:00pm





Christmas
Thursday, December 24th: 8:00am to 1:00pm
Friday, December 25th: Closed




New Year's
Thursday, December 31st: 8:00am to 1:00pm
Friday, January 1st 2010: Closed



Our Holiday Shipment Release Schedule is as follow:

1) Thanksgiving
PAYMENT/OBL/RELEASE ORDER RECEIVED BY 2:00PM (PST) CUTOFF ON:
WEDNESDAY, NOV 25^TH

SHIPMENT RELEASE DATE:
FRIDAY, NOV 27^TH

a. All payment/documents received after 2:00PM on 11-25-2009 will be released on 11-30-2009.

b. All payment/documents received ON OR BEFORE 11-24-2009, will be released on time as scheduled.

2) Christmas
PAYMENT/OBL/RELEASE ORDER RECEIVED BY 12:30PM (PST) CUTOFF ON:
THURSDAY, DEC 24^TH

SHIPMENT RELEASE DATE:
MONDAY, DEC 28^TH

a. All payment/documents received after 12:30PM on 12-24-2009 will be released on 12-29-2009.

b. All payment/documents received ON OR BEFORE 12-23-2009, will be released on time as scheduled.

3) New Year's
PAYMENT/OBL/RELEASE ORDER RECEIVED BY 12:30PM (PST) CUTOFF ON:
THURSDAY, DEC 31^ST

SHIPMENT RELEASE DATE:
MONDAY, JAN 4^TH

a. All payment/documents received after 12:30PM on 12-31-2009 will be released on 1-5-2010.

b. All payment/documents received ON OR BEFORE 12-30-2009 will be released on time as scheduled.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Amoy!

Export: SSN Elimination Update

Per the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR) Social Security Numbers (SSN) will not be accepted as a valid USPPI (exporter) ID as of December 3, 2009. Any Authorized Agent that files on behalf of customers using an SSN as the USPPI ID need to notify their customers that they need to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN). USPPIs can obtain an EIN by visiting
www.irs.gov/businesses/small and selecting "Employer ID Numbers (EIN)".

Once USPPIs obtain their EIN, they must provide the ID to their Authorized Agent.

FAQ about USPPI:
Q: Who is the U.S. Principal Party in Interest (USPPI)?

A: The person in the United States that receives the primary benefit monetary or otherwise of the export transaction.

Q: Who can be the USPPI?

A: Generally, the USPPI can be:

* U.S. Seller (wholesaler/distributor) of the merchandise for export.
* U.S. Manufacturer if selling the merchandise for export.
* U.S. Order Party - Party who directly negotiated between the U.S. seller and foreign buyer and received the order for the export of the merchandise.
* Foreign Entity if in the U.S. when items are purchased or obtained for export.

Q: Who cannot be the USPPI?

A: The forwarding agent or the consolidator cannot be listed as the U.S. Principal Party in Interest on the AES record.

Source: AESDirect

Late Penalties for CBP’s ISF

CBP’s Importer Security Filing “10+2” rule was implemented on January 26, 2009, and has been in effect over the three months. Many businesses have been getting firsthand experience with the new tasks and procedures associated with the new ruling.

This week, CBP defined details about the penalties that are associated with filing your ISFs incomplete or failing to file on time. It has been established that there will be a $5,000 fine per violation. However what was not clear is that penalties can occur per transmission; not simply per the final ISF. This revelation shows that the fines and penalties are capable of going well beyond $5,000, depending on the circumstances.

There is no time to wait! Filing is underway, and if you haven’t started, you are in serious jeopardy of falling behind, and may wind up paying thousands in fines to CBP before you catch up!

For those businesses that have yet to begin, or are having an excruciating time trying to file and comply with the rule, Vilden Associates has the answer.

Accessible from anywhere in the world via the Internet, Vilden’s e-ISF is fast, reliable, user friendly, and unquestionably the best direct filing service available at any price. Importer filings can be easily uploaded from your system to Vilden’s data centers and to CBP electronically, eliminating the need to re-enter data.

Source: Vilden Associates, Inc.