Service Contract Management

Every Carrier is mandated by the Federal Maritime Commission to maintain records for up to 5 years of all Service Contract issued by the carrier. In fact under Sec 530.15 of the code of Federal regulations, it clearly requires defines what the carrier's responsibility is and penalties for non-compliance.  Here is a quick list of those requirements;

  • Record Retention for 5 years
  • Maintained in the United States unless authorized by the FMC
  • Production of records within 30 days of request
  • Maintenance of Contracts by individual carriers even if Service Contract is filed as an agreement Contract

To meet these requirements Maritime Industry Services has set up Service Contract Management Services which exceed these requirements. Procedure as follows;

Initial Set Up

  • Copies of all active service contracts would be provided to Maritime
  • Service Contract folders would be set up in Office365 for each contract holder by shipper name
  • Individual completely secure Office365 site would be created for contract management with complete access by Carrier
  • Accounting sheet would be included in each folder

Filing And Bookeeping Process

  • Individual bills of lading would be provided to Maritime either by electronic access or submittal of hard copies by Carrier
  • Each Bill of Lading will be scanned and filed under the contract party name in the corresponding folder
  • Accountability of minimum quantity requirement would be updated regularly in the accounting sheet which will include actual bill of lading number

Reporting And Record Keeping

  • An email would be sent to Carrier upon meeting the minimum requirement of each and every contract
  • Email would be sent no later than one business day of the completion date
  • Record keeping will be organized and readily accessible for a period of five (5) years as mandated by the Federal Maritime Commission
  • Weekly or Monthly (upon request)  summary of completed contracts would be sent in addition to advisory email

Additional services available under Service Contract management

  • For an additional fee , each Bill of Lading will be audited under the terms, conditions and charges as presented in the Service Contract
  • Any omissions, overcharges or undercharges would be submitted weekly under a standard or customized external audit report for carrier's use for issuing correction notices
  • Compliance letter showing all terms, rates and conditions have been met will be issued by Maritime on each contract and filed for future use if needed