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North Atlantic Ocean Shipping and Car Transport ships hundreds of cars and vehicles purchased by its customers at online auctions each week. Shipments are managed by the company's five offices in the United States and received at one of its five offices in Central America. All this information is efficiently managed by its Magaya Cargo System.
“We don’t want to be the biggest company exporting cars from the United States, but we do want to be the best.”— Alex Garcia, owner
Wholesale car dealers around the world buy vehicles daily through online auctions. When a car is in the United States and needs to be exported to another country, there are many steps involved:
At each stage of the process, the customer who purchased the vehicle wants to know the status of their purchase:
Having the information is important, but acting on it is even more important. For example, many auction sites impose penalties if a car is not picked up within a certain timeframe.
When a vehicle exported from the United States arrives at its destination port, it must undergo mandatory procedures in the receiving country, which also carry penalties for late pickup. In some cases, the vehicle may even be seized, causing the buyer to lose it.
The logistics provider North Atlantic Ocean Shipping and Car Transport handles all these processes daily for its clients. Most of its clients are resellers located in Central America, who purchase between 10 and over 100 cars per month. This volume generates a large number of transactions that must be tracked every day and every hour.
To help manage all these vehicles and associated information, North Atlantic uses the Magaya Cargo System to track which vehicles need to be picked up and when to do so, helping its customers avoid penalties.
North Atlantic staff may also know:
The main office of North Atlantic Ocean Shipping and Car Transport (North Atlantic) is located in New Castle, Delaware, a few miles from Wilmington and the Port of Wilmington.
Other offices in the United States are located at:
In Central America, the offices are located in:
Alex Garcia, originally from Puerto Cortés, gained logistics experience working for the British transport and logistics company P & O Nedlloyd in New Jersey during the 1990s, where he handled shipments of military equipment. He bought North Atlantic from his brother-in-law in 2006.
“Many people ask me why we keep our main office in Delaware. The port has a long history of receiving shipments of bananas and fruit from Central America for Dole and Chiquita. The maritime connections already existed, and I saw an opportunity to export automobiles to Honduras.”
The Port of Wilmington has an automobile storage area and is the number one terminal in North America for imports of juice concentrate and fresh fruit. Other facilities include:
North Atlantic primarily transports passenger cars and pickup trucks. They also export:
They sometimes transport vintage and classic cars, and they have the necessary permits to ship antique vehicles as required by some countries. They are also familiar with the regulations for importing cars to Central American countries.
“We offer a comprehensive service,” García stated.
This includes:
They export approximately 125 containers per week.
“We don’t want to be the biggest company exporting cars from the United States, but we want to be the best. That’s our goal.”
Mr. Garcia spends most of his time in the Miami office, leaving the Delaware office in the hands of the Operations Manager, Beatriz Rodriguez.
Ms. Rodriguez has worked at the company since its opening and has risen to her current position, acquiring knowledge in all aspects of the business.
She explained that they use the pickup order list in the software to manage pickups and ensure they are completed on time. They review the list daily to identify which vehicles were purchased and need to be picked up.
Once Customs approves the titles, the vehicles are loaded into containers. They then use the software's AES function to electronically transmit the documentation.
They also add charges related to:
Then they generate invoices and accounts in the system, and settle all shipping charges.
North Atlantic gives its customers access to Magaya LiveTrack, where the shipment status can be checked at any time.
Before using Magaya LiveTrack, they had to call or email each customer to provide updates. Now, real-time updates have significantly improved customer satisfaction and represent a powerful selling point for new prospects.
When the vehicles arrive in Central America, the staff at the destination office print from the software:
They also verify whether the payment was made in the U.S. or if it must be paid at the destination.
The Honduran offices in San Pedro Sula and Puerto Cortés receive the largest number of vehicles.
The shipment status is updated in the system and can be viewed by Ms. Rodriguez in Delaware and by staff at the other branches, since they all use Magaya software.
When cars are delivered to the North Atlantic warehouse and stored in the yard, Mr. Garcia and his team use reports to find out how many vehicles they have available.
“We don’t even need to go outside. We know exactly what we have.”
They have configured event definitions in the system to track information such as:
Customers can also view this information online via LiveTrack.
“This is a great advantage for us,” García stated.
“It’s easy for our wholesale customers to know what’s in our yard, what’s already been shipped, and what’s about to arrive.”
Before implementing Magaya software, North Atlantic used multiple programs:
“It was terrible,” García commented.
“We used to write the same information three or four times. Then we had to send that information to other offices. When we switched to Magaya, everything changed. It was like it was made for us. It was perfect from day one.”
“I used to travel a lot, but now it’s easier to work from a single office and see what’s happening in all the others thanks to the software.”
Mr. Garcia was the one who initially evaluated and installed the software. They currently have more than 20 users connected to the same database, running on a Windows 2008 server via remote connection.
“We have a secure connection. Our database is large, but we don't see any decrease in performance. Clients who use LiveTrack are also satisfied with the system. We've never had any complaints, even in Central American cities where high-speed internet isn't available.”
“I find the system easy to maintain,” García said.
“I automated the data backup every night.”
North Atlantic uses the PayCargo online payment option, a secure web-based system designed specifically for the shipping industry and electronic check processing.
The company sends an email from the Magaya system to the customer, who clicks on the link and pays the bill online.
They are also implementing the PaySimple feature to allow credit card payments directly from Magaya LiveTrack.
They currently accept credit cards, but customers must send authorization by fax or email. The payment is then processed manually and confirmed by the bank approximately two days later.
“With the new payment option, payments will be processed directly through our bank. It’s an obvious solution.”
They also offer cargo insurance to their customers. There is an integrated link in the Magaya Explorer interface that connects to an insurance portal.
North Atlantic was one of the first users of this option when Magaya Corporation launched it.
“It gives customers peace of mind to know their car is insured. It also gives us more credibility.”
