1. Unit Ten Transportation
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2. To describe methods of transportation To grasp clauses of shipment
Learning objectives
To describe methods of transportation
To grasp clauses of shipment
To identify shipping instructing and shipping advice
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3. General View 1 2 3 4 5 Modes of Transport Terms of shipment
Shipping documents
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Shipping instruction 5
Shipping advice

4. General View Modes of Transport
The delivery of goods is to be made possible by
road, railway, inland waterway, sea or air.
When goods are transported by road, rail or air,
the contract carriage takes the form of a
consignment Note or Airway Bill. In sea transport,
chartering of ships or booking shipping space is
involved. And the contract entered into between
the ship-owner and shipper may take the form of
either a Charter Party or a Bill of Lading.
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5. General View
In practice，shipment involves a lot of complicated procedures. Before the goods are to be dispatched, the following must be seen to:
send the Shipping Instructions to the seller by the buyer informing in writing of the packing and marks，mode of transportation，etc;
book shipping space or chartering and sign the contract of carriage;
register the cargo on shipping note and send the shipping note to a shipping company;
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6. General View
register details on customs entry forms and send them to Customs;
arrange adequate packing, including shipping marks;
receive the bill of lading from the shipping company;
send the Shipping documents and Shipping Advice to the buyers immediately after the goods are loaded on board the ship.
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7. General View 2. Terms of shipment
Terms of shipment generally contain time of
shipment，ports of shipment and destination，
transshipment and partial shipment，shipping
documents and so on．
Time of Shipment
In the contract，several ways are used to state the
time of delivery：
the shipment with a fixed date, e. g. Shipment on or before June 25．
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8. General View Ports of shipment and destination
(2) the shipment with an indefinite date, usually when the payment is made by L/C e.g. shipment should be made within 30 days after receipt of L/C.
(3) the shipment with a date in the near future.. When the shipment can be made soon after the conclusion of the contract，the parties can adopt such terms：
immediate shipment，prompt shipment.
Ports of shipment and destination
The port of shipment is the port of departure;
the port of destination is the destination
that the goods are finally designated to.
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9. General View Means of conveyance transshipment and partial shipment.
Means of conveyance covers direct shipment,
transshipment and partial shipment.
In case of an export covering a large quantity of
goods，it is necessary to make shipment in several lots
by several carriers sailing on different dates. And this is
allowable only if the clause “Partial shipment to be
allowed’’ is agreed upon in the sales contract. In cases
where direct sailing from one port to the other is
unavailable, transshipment is necessary. In order to
avoid dispute that might arise in future, the stipulation
“transshipment is allowed” should be laid down in the
L/C as well as in the contract.
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10. General View 3. Shipping documents Bill of lading (shortened as B/L)
Shipping documents usually include bill of
lading (shortened as B/L), commercial invoice,
insurance policy, etc.
Bill of lading (shortened as B/L)
There are three parties involved in most
movements of goods:
the consignor---who sends the goods;
the carrier—who carries them
the consignee --- who receives them at the
destination.
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11. General View In sea transport, chartering of ships or booking
shipping space is involved. And the contract
entered into between the ship-owner and shipper
may take the form of either a charter party or a bill
of lading (B/L).
A charter party is the documents which state the
terms and conditions of the contract signed by the
ship-owner who provides the ship and the side who
charters it. Ship chartering is usually arranged
through shipbroker.
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12. General View companies to testify that the goods have been
B/L is issued by the captain or the shipping
companies to testify that the goods have been
received or shipped on board for delivery to a
certain place of destination．
The seller must inform the buyer as soon as
shipment is effected so as to get the buyer
prepared for taking delivery of the goods. Under
FOB and CFR term, it is for the buyer to arrange
for insurance upon receipt of shipping advice. If the
buyer fails to receive the shipping advice, any
damage to or loss of the goods thus sustained will
be for the seller’s account.
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13. General View 4. Shipping instruction
Before Shipment, the buyers generally send their shipping requirements to the seller, informing them in writing of the packing and mark, mode of transportation, etc., known as the Shipping Instruction.
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14. General View 5. Shipping advice
The seller usually send by fax a notice to the
buyers immediately after the goods are loaded on
board the ship, advising them of the shipment,
especially under Fob or CFR terms so that the
buyer will effect insurance to the shipment upon
receipt of the notice. Such a notice is known as the
Shipping Advice.
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15. General View The shipping advice include the following:
Contract and or L/C number, name of
commodity, number of packages, total
quantity shipped, name of vessel and its
sailing date and sometimes even the total
value of the goods, as the requirements may
be.
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16. Guidelines for Writing
In letters concerning shipment, writers are
advised to comply with the following principles:
（1）Always remember to specify the shipment such as the name of goods, the quantity and value, the packing conditions, the date and number of B/L, the name of the ship used to dispatch the goods, etc.
（2）When delay in shipment, partial shipment or transshipment is asked for, it is necessary to make adequate explanations so that the buyer
may accept these requests with pleasure.
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17. Guidelines for Writing
（3）The exporter needs to notify the importer immediately when shipment is effected, especially when the transaction is on FOB basis and the buyer must cover insurance within 48 hours after shipment.
（4）When the exporter receives a request for shipment, he must give a prompt reply no matter whether he is in a position to make the shipment immediately. If he is not able to ship the goods right away, he ought to give valid and sufficient
reasons to justify his position.
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18. Guidelines for Writing
（5）Shipping documents, especially the B/L, plays
a very important role in international business, so
in letters notifying shipment or urging shipment,
it’s better to mention the transfer of the shipping
documents and the number of copies needed.
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19. Guidelines for Writing
Some common language features
(A) Modes generally used
Showing politeness:
We shall be pleased to inform you that…etc.
Showing instructions:
We hope to have the pleasure of dealing with your shipment.
Expressing insistence:
These goods were wanted urgently and it is very
disappointing to us.
Using imperative sentences:
Please make explanation to us upon this matter.
Guidelines for Writing

20. Guidelines for Writing
(B) Typical tenses
Using Present Perfect Tense:
The goods have been dispatched as expected.
We have shipped the following goods to you by s.s~.
Using Present & Future Tense:
…and is due to arrive at…on (date).
The goods will arrive to you by…
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21. Guidelines for Writing
Here we take steps in shipping advice as an
example:
Inform the buyer that the goods under XX
contract have been shipped via S.S.XX on（date）:　　　　　　　　　　　
We are glad to inform you that we have completed
shipment…
The goods under Contract No. XX have been
shipped via…
(2) Advise the buyer what shipping documents have
been sent.
We are sending you one set of…
Shipping documents have been sent to you.
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22. Guidelines for Writing
(3) Wish the goods to arrive in good condition.　　　
We trust the goods will reach you in sound condition.
We hope you can take delivery of the goods…　　　　　
We are sure you will find our goods satisfactory.
(4) Thank the buyer for his order and wish to receive his repeat orders.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
We appreciate the business you have been able to secure for us.
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23. Asia Pacific Trading Company, Ltd.
Specimen letter -1 (Shipping Instruction)
Asia Pacific Trading Company, Ltd.
Suite 302, Perison Plaza, Nelson Street, VancouverV5B7A3, Canada
Tel:
August 22, 2012
Universal Engineering Co., Ltd.
333 Yueliang Street, Changchun,
Jilin, China
Dear Sirs,
We have received your letter dated August 20th in connection with
the above subject.
In reply, we have the pleasure of informing you that the confirmed,
irrevocable letter of credit No.7634, amounting toUSD3, has
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24. been opened this morning through RBC Royal Bank. Upon receipt of
the same, please arrange shipment of the goods booked by us with
the least possible delay, we are informed by the local shipping
company that S/S “Browick” is due to sail form your city to our port
on or about the 10th September and, if possible, please try your best
to ship by that steamer.
Should this trial order proves satisfactory to our customer, we can
assure you that repeat orders in increased quantities will be placed.
Your close co-operation in this respect will be highly appreciated. In
the meantime, we await your shipping advice by fax.
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Yours faithfully,
J. Edward

25. Specimen letter 2 (Shipping Instruction concerning packing)
June 12, 2012
Dear Sirs，
S/C No．B428
We received your letter dated June 6 covering the above sales
contract in duplicate but wish to state that after going through the
contract we find that the packing clause in it isnot clear enough. The
relative clause reads as follows：
Packing: Seaworthy export packing，suitable for long distance
ocean transportation.
In order to eliminate possible future trouble，we would like to make
clear before hand our packing requirements as follows：
The sugar under the captioned contract should be packed in
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26. international standard sugar boxes 24 boxes on a pallet，10 pallets
in an FCL container. On the outer packing please mark our initials
CNIEC in a diamond，under which the port of destination and our
order number should be stenciled．In addition，warning marks like
KEEP DRY，HANDLE WITH CARE should also be indicated．
We have made a footnote on the contract to that effect and are
returning herein one copy of the contract after duly countersigning
it．we hope you will find it in order and pay special attention to the
packing．
We look forward to receiving your shipping advice and thank you in
advance.
Yours faithfully,
Denel Ding
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27. Please send half of the 500 units of captioned order by air freight
Specimen letter 3（Buyer Asking for Half of the Order by Air Freight）
June 26, 2012
Dear Sirs,
Our Order 2233
Please send half of the 500 units of captioned order by air freight
as they are urgently required by our customers.
You will no doubt proceed with your arrangements for transport by
sea for the rest of the 1,000 units of the consignment.
We would ask you to be careful to seal the case into a watertight
bag.
Yours faithfully,
Niles Parnell
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28. Specimen letter 4 (Booking Shipping containers) April 29, 2012
Dear Sirs,
We have ten cases of art goods at the above address ready for
dispatch to any European Main Port (EMP), and shall be glad if
you will arrange for your shipping container to collect them. Each
case weighs 60kgs.
As our client requires us to ship the goods no later than June 12，
please quote us for a shipping container from Karachi to the above
mentioned port before that deadline.
Your early quotation will be appreciated.
Yours faithfully,
Abdul Aqis
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29. Specimen letter-5 （Reply to Booking Shipping containers）
Jumbo Shipping Company S.A.
4 Rue Petitot Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: Fax:
May 8, 2012
Vernon Gregory & Co., Ltd.
818 Nile Street, Alexandria, Egypt
Dear Sirs,
Thank you for your enquiry of April 29，asking us to quote for
shipping container to any EMP for ten cases of art goods.
The shipping containers we provide are of two sizes，namely 20 ft.
and 40 ft. long and built to take loads up to 4 to 8 tons respectively.
They can be opened at both ends，thus making it possible to load
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30. and unload at the same time. They are both watertight and
airtight and can be loaded and locked at the factory，if
necessary.
There is also a saving in freight charges when separate
consignments intended for the same port of destination are
carried in one container and an additional saving on
insurance because of the lower premiums charged for
container shipped goods.
We enclosed a copy of our tariff and look forward to
receiving your instructions.
Yours faithfully，
Ned Muller
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31. Shanghai Tianmao Trading Co.,Ltd.
Specimen letter 6 (Asking for Transshipment and Partial Shipment)
Shanghai Tianmao Trading Co.,Ltd.
578 Quyang Road, Shanghai China
Tel:
August 6, 2012
China Products Trading Inc.
100 Main Street, New Rochelle,
N.Y10801，U.S.A.
Dear Sirs，
Order No. 668 for 500 Cases Tea
Reference is made to your letter dated August 5th．We regret being
unable to ship the captioned goods as requested.
Since the selling season is approaching，we are heavily committed
at present. We can hardly get the whole lot ready within half a month.
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32. Also，the shipping space has been fully booked up to the end of
next month. So we would suggest that you allow us to transship half
of the goods via Hong Kong, which will not result in any delay in your
receiving the goods if you confirm at your earliest convenience.
Thank you in advance for your kind cooperation.
Yours faithfully，
Ali Abdullah
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33. (Reply to Asking for Transshipment and Partial Shipment) March 6, 2012
Specimen letter-7
(Reply to Asking for Transshipment and Partial Shipment)
March 6, 2012
Dear Sirs，
We have received your request for transshipment and partial
shipment today.
Your request will put us to too much trouble. But it seems I have no
other choice but to accept it. As far as I know，the Royal Shipping
Agent Ltd. has a liner sailing from Hong Kong to America around Mid
August，then you can transship the goods to America. If you could
manage to catch this vessel, everything will be all right.
Await your early reply.
Yours faithfully，
Ann White
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34. We wonder what has happened to our above order for 2,500
Specimen Letter 8－Buyer Urging Early Shipment
March 1, 2013
Dear Sirs,
Our Order No.633
We wonder what has happened to our above order for 2,500
Butterfly brand sewing machines which should be delivered
before March 18 as contracted.
Now the shipment date is approaching rapidly, but so far we
have not received any information from you concerning this
lot. When we placed the order we explicitly pointed out that
punctual shipment was of great importance because our
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35. customers were in urgent need of the goods and we had
given them assurance of an early delivery.　
We have been put to great inconvenience by the delay in
delivery. In case you should fail to effect delivery in
November，we will have to lodge a claim against you for
the losses and reserve the right to cancel the contract.
We look forward to your early reply.
Yours Sincerely,
Joey Bruise
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36. Specimen letter- 9（Shipping Advice）
September 11, 2012
Dear Sirs,
We are pleased to inform you that the following goods under
our Contract No. SC303 have now been shipped by S. S.
“Nanhai” sailing tomorrow from Nanjing to Kuwait.
Order No．C Bales Grey Cotton Cloth
Order NO．C Bales White Cotton Cloth
Copies of the relative shipping documents are enclosed to
facilitate your taking delivery of the goods when they arrive.
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37. We hope this shipment will reach you in due course and turn
out to your entire satisfaction.
Yours faithfully,
Zhen Xiao
Enclose: Commercial Invoice NO.5566 in duplicate
Packing List No in duplicate
Non-negotiable Bill of Lading No．5566
Certificate of Quality
Certificate of Quantity
Insurance Policy NO. 4572
Survey Report NO. FT1234
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38. Further Refinement
Called the “Seven Cs” , the principles for business communication put forward by professor Emeritus Herta A. Murphy, University of Washington, and her two colleagues in University of Michigan are completeness, correctness, clarity, conciseness, concreteness, courtesy, consideration. “Seven Cs” refer to the evaluation of foreign letters in the word choice, sentence structure, content, tone, attitudes and other aspects of business letter writing. Effective application of the “Seven Cs” principles can create a miracle in business communication.
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39. Further Refinement
As Chinese saying goes, “Courtesy costs nothing”, one won’t be blamed for being extra-polite. Still, to ensure a natural-sounding writing style for more smooth communication, the business letter writer is recommended being more direct, for instance, unnecessary to say sorry twice, and too exaggerate and impractical by saying “make utmost efforts to avoid such trouble”.
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40. The original mail Dear Sirs:
We are sorry that we did not realize you’ve experienced such problems with customs clearance in Australia owing to the way of our documentation.
I referred your suggestion to our shipping department and they agreed to improve the shipping procedures, as you asked.
We are sorry for an inconvenience to you, and will make utmost efforts to avoid such trouble.
Yours sincerely, …

41. The refined mail Dear Sirs:
Thank you for your message of March 7 and advice about the shipping of advertising materials.
We did not realize you were experiencing customs problems due to our method of documentation and will correct the procedure according to your instructions.
Our apologies for the inconvenience.
Yours sincerely, …

42. KEY TO UNIT TEN

43. KEY TO UNIT TEN I. Translate the following sentences into English.
1. You will please do your very best to hasten shipment. We hope that by the time you receive the letter, you will have the goods ready for shipment.
2. We have been put to considerable inconvenience by the long delay in delivery, we must insist on immediate delivery; otherwise we shall be compelled to cancel the orders in accordance with the stipulation of the contract.
3. We shall appreciate it if you will manage to ship the goods by S/S East Wind sailing from August 5th.
4. It is stipulated that shipment should be made before…and, if possible, we should appreciate your arranging to ship the goods at an earlier date.
5. The above-mentioned order is prepared especially for the National Day (1st October). Please see to it that you effect shipment on time and advise us of the name of the vessel, the time of departure and the approximate time of arrival so as to enable us to arrange for talking delivery and selling of goods.
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44. 6. We would ship the goods by direct steamers if possible
6. We would ship the goods by direct steamers if possible. It is our duty to try every possible means to satisfy the need of our customers.
7. We are sorry that we are unable to advance shipment due to our heavy commitment. Please cooperate to extend the dates of the shipment and validity of the L/C to June 30th and July 15th respectively, with transshipment and partial shipment allowed.
8. We learn from the shipping agent that steamers for London due to sail before the end of March have been fully booked up. The best we can do is 10th April.
9. Please note that this is the first transaction we have concluded, and any delay in shipment will hinder our future cooperation.
10. Much to our regret, your amendment to the L/C hasn’t reached us yet though the goods are already ready for shipment. Please expedite it so that we can book shipping space and arrange for shipment. If not, you are responsible for any loss thus arising.

45. II. Correct the mistake in each of the following sentences.
we advise you of the name of the steamer
Upon receipt of your L/C
with the least possible delay.
if you will arrange to ship the goods at an earlier date.
Your failure to deliver the goods

46. III. Refine the following business mail to achieve better effect.　
Dear Mr. Ashley,
Subject 1: Delivery Inquiry of P.O. WS-75
According to your November 15 backlog report, your current delivery date is December 10. However, our customer urgently needs 89 pcs of auto part WS57C48 and 166 pcs of auto part WS57C64. Would you please let us know by if you can deliver by mid-November?
Subject 2: Status of P.O. WS-78
Did you receive my message of November 18 concerning this order? If not, please let us know. I will resend it right away.
Sincerely,
Jones Cai

47. IV. Letter writing.
Omitted.