subject: The Importance Of Accurate Customs Paperwork [print this page] Preparing customs paperwork can either be a nightmare, or can just be an everyday part of shipping that you deal with in the course of business. Proper preparation will determine which of the two it is for you. Your first few times shipping product across international borders, finding the correct documents and getting them filled out correctly can seem overwhelming. Start early, so that you aren't dealing with a last minute nightmare scenario. Your Trucking Service will usually be able to help you to some degree. Some services will provide you with all of the proper documentation, leaving you to just fill in the blanks. Others will, at the very least, be able to point you in the direction of an online resource that you can reference to help with the task.
Most of the larger Trucking Services will have years of experience shipping goods across international borders, and this will be a simple, daily part of business for them. Where this is the case, your account representative will be able to teach you about Bills of Lading, cross-border invoices, NAFTA and CAFTA certificates, and Import/Export licenses as necessary. Oftentimes, they will have copies of these forms themselves that they can provide you with. If you will be shipping across the border with any frequency, they may just provide you with a stack of each document that you need. If you have questions throughout the process, don't hesitate to call our trucking service and ask! They would rather have you ask a question for the 10th time as opposed to having paperwork filled out improperly and be turned back at the border, costing both them and you time, money and frustration.
Any reputable trucking service that you work with will explain how critical filling out these forms accurately is. If you try to "guesstimate" on these forms when it comes to item count, weight, etc., there will end up being a discrepancy between the paperwork and the actual shipment, and your shipment WILL be held up at the border at the very least, and you risk having the truck outright refused entry to the country. This can be problematic on may levels. If this happens more than once, there is every chance that your courier will refuse to transport shipments for you in the future. Anytime paperwork requests values, weights, or any kind of measures, check and double-check that your answers are accurate!
