Elite Lighting is the elite source for architectural lighting. They have their own in-house logistic trucking company, called Elite Lighting Corp.Elite Lighting is now the lighting company of choice for high-visibility projects for everything from corporations to celebrity homes. Founded on trust, quality, and accountability, Elite Lighting has earned a reputation as the go-to supplier for high-performance lighting design products and as the manufacturer that continuously surpasses expectations.
Elit Lighting Corporation is part of the Port of Los Angeles’ clean truck program concessionaires. They are located in Commerce, California, and count 4 drivers to their 8 power units. Since 2021, the after-covid situation at the port was fairly challenging for them. They had about 70 containers dwelling at that time and needed an immediate solution to fight and mitigate their Per Diem bills, so they adopted BlueCargo. The other big challenge they faced was that the steamship lines were constantly rejecting their disputes.
BlueCargo’s UIIA-compliant documentation provides Elite Lighting Corporation and its customers with accurate and comprehensive information to respond proactively to unfair detention invoices. If a container, for example, was supposed to be returned to port on June 10 but it is now returned on June 20, because of the lack of appointments, or because of the restrictions imposed on the carriers, Elite Lighting Corp. is now able to rely on current and accurate data that is captured in real-time. This data is fed into the proprietary Fight Per Diem feature, the most popular feature on BlueCargo.
Customers use the same environment that the dispatchers use operationally – so, transparently, all users at Elite Lighting Corp have access to this bank archive. In many cases, dispatchers, equipment, and CS teams share also that information directly with their customers, to make their lives easier.
The use of BlueCargo’s enhanced real-time container tracking and appointment data has therefore already resulted in Per Diem disputes from 10-20 percent to higher than 80 percent. With the addition of new data in the Track and Trace feature, BlueCargo maps any holds - including closed areas-, LFD, and appointment availabilities at ports, in real-time. That data from BlueCargo is a comprehensive and unique visual tracking system for customers. The technology roadmap involves key data and is visual, so customers can see an icon next to each container’s status as well as the amount of demurrage due. This provides an added layer of comfort for customers enabling them to make better operational decisions more easily for their unique circumstances.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that without BlueCargo, I would not have been able to dispute all the Per Diem invoices we had, including the $25K invoice. The daily help I get through BlueCargo makes it possible for me to have something to build on. - RICHARD G. - LOGISTICS SPECIALIST
While Elite Lighting Corp is still combatting tens of thousands of dollars in per diem charges dating far back as last year, they continue to dispute them with BlueCargo and they continue to get them waived, at least 80% of them.
Elite Lighting corp subscribed in October 2021, after they were finally able to put together a $3,150 waiver for a single container. Until then, all disputes and screenshots they gathered were ultimately rejected.”It wasn’t until we obtained your services that I was finally able to put together this $3,150 waiver for a single container....”.The BlueCargo archive of terminal screenshots led to their success!
