Pre-notification via Portbase simplifies visits to UWT

As of today, at 10 AM, hauliers are able to use the Portbase service HCN Road to pre-notify containers at the UWT locations Bunschotenweg and Waalhaven Westzijde. Following the pre-notification, the required status information is automatically sent. From Wednesday the 15th of February, it will be mandatory to pre-notify visits and make use of the TAR code and Cargo Card.

 

Advantages 

UWT will connect two depots to the Portbase service HCN Road. This brings the following benefits: 

  • One single window for a growing number of terminals and depots 
  • Advance insight into container status through status requests and pre-notifications 
  • Easy access to the UWT depots via TAR code (Truck Appointment Reference) 
  • No longer necessary to call at the service desk 
  • Pre-notifying a container: during the day, at night and at the weekend 
  • Your drivers are in and out of the terminal faster 


Practical information 

As of today, you can immediately start pre-notifying. If you make use of HCN Road through a system interface, you will find the required codes below. We have also communicated these codes to your software supplier.

Depot   Address  Zipcode  EAN-code   Edifact   SMDG  
UWT   Bunschotenweg 160   3089KC   8713755903541   NLRTM + UWT   NLRTMUWT  
WHT  Waalhaven Westzijde 60   3089KR   8713755047085   NLRTM + WHT   NLRTMWHT  

Click here to see the overview of the terminal-specific message codes. 

 

Glad to be of assistance 

Should you have any questions, then Portbase Customer Service will be happy to assist you. They can be reached via customerservice@portbase.com and/or at +31 88 625 25 25. 

 

‘API interface more than worth it’

“More transparent, faster and better!” COO Patrick Rijgersberg of neska Container Line is extremely pleased with the current digital exchange of data regarding train handling in the port of Rotterdam. The basis for this is a planning board developed by Yellowstar, which is connected in real time to the Portbase service Hinterland Container Notification Rail (HCN Rail) via an API interface. Yellowstar’s COO Marinus Meinster: “With an API, submitting information means instantaneously and continuously receiving information to work with.”

Thirteen trains run to Rotterdam from Düsseldorf and Cologne every week for neska Container Line. The Hutchison Ports ECT Delta terminal serves as one of the hubs. A fixed timetable makes it clear when the neska trains are welcome at the terminal one year in advance. The rail operator always pre-notifies the visiting trains via HCN Rail. The same applies to the containers that are to be loaded onto and unloaded from the trains. Rijgersberg: “A week in advance, we enter a trip – including the cargo – in our system and submit it to the terminal through Portbase. We receive status information almost immediately. This allows us to take action for any containers that are not yet in order.”

API interface makes a big difference
This smooth exchange of data is mainly attributable to the API interface with HCN Rail that Yellowstar has realised for neska Container Line. Meinster: “As a result, all information from the terminal is immediately available in the neska system. Status updates about containers are automatically processed. The planners do not have to do a single thing. Through the planning board, neska has real-time insight at all times and can consequently offer a reliable service provision.”

Rijgersberg confirms the advantages: “Working with real-time information saves so much time. Especially with the cargo opening and cargo closing times constantly changing at the terminal nowadays. You are able to immediately anticipate changes. The final unloading/loading list is almost always 100% in order. The pre-notification of trains that was recently made mandatory also runs effortlessly. Our investment in an API interface is definitely more than worth it.”

API vs EDI
Yellowstar is a big proponent of APIs. Meinster: “Compared to EDI, API is a new technology. It makes the exchange of data much easier. EDI is actually one message, with one response. If you want an update, you have to send a new message. With an API, the data is constantly flowing. Submitting information means instantaneously and continuously receiving information to work with. That offers a great degree of convenience. Also, EDI has many types of messages. API is much more of a standard and therefore easier to maintain.”

Well-oiled collaboration
Neska Container Line and Yellowstar have been working together for about ten years now. Meinster continues: “As a result, we are familiar with the business of neska Container Line. Every week, we coordinate neska’s requirements in a stand-up meeting. At Yellowstar, we can test what we build for them at Portbase. If it works, we will then transfer the work to neska.”

Not as easy as it may seem
All this almost makes the implementation of APIs and the continued development of applications seem easy for companies. Rijgersberg offers an important critical note: “This is not something you can simply do on the side. At neska Container Line, we have allocated a dedicated planner for this.” He calls the short lines of communication with both Yellowstar and Portbase an important addition. “This enables us to always switch quickly.”

Efficiency boost!
Meinster concludes: “Every company is able to achieve efficiency gains via an API interface. But in addition to budget, a primary condition is that you must indeed free up people to optimally organise the process. Without such a process for correctly processing and using the information, an API interface is of little value!”

Digital frontrunners speed up container trains

The port of Rotterdam aims to substantially expand container transport by rail. To this end, ambitious programmes are being implemented through Data Fuel and Rail Connected. The Portbase service Hinterland Container Notification Rail (HCN Rail) plays a crucial role in accelerating and improving the rail chain. Neska Container Line together with their software supplier Yellowstar and Trimodal together with Pharox make optimal use of the new digital possibilities through an API interface.

API interface foundation for new rail concept

Rail operator Trimodal has launched a new concept for daily point-to-point transport within the port of Rotterdam. Based around an API interface with the Portbase service Hinterland Container Notification Rail (HCN Rail), customers are able to easily book containers aboard the Maasvlakte Shuttle online and next manage these bookings themselves.

The Maasvlakte Shuttle connects the Rail Service Center (RSC) in Eemhaven with the deep-sea terminals on the west side of the port according to a fixed schedule. With eight roundtrips a week, the Maasvlakte Shuttle can take 50,000 trucks off the road in the port every year. “The train boasts an on-time performance of 99.7%,” says Don van Riel of Trimodal, who devised the concept. He was assisted in this by Joris Tenhagen from Pharox. For Trimodal, the software supplier has realised an online booking platform that uses an API interface to communicate with HCN Rail in real time. “Booking on the train is just as easy as booking a hotel room,” compares Tenhagen.

Real-time visibility and adjustability
Van Riel: “Thanks to the API interface with Portbase, the customer has immediate insight into the status of a container for every booking. Is this correct for the relevant terminal or is further action required? The customer is responsible for the timely delivery of the correct data, it is their information. That is the strength of the concept. If something is not in order, then the container is not taken aboard. You can still cancel or rebook up to six hours prior to departure, adjustments can be made up to two hours before departure. You can see online how much space is available on each train. We use fixed departure times and standard rates apply for a 20-foot and 40-foot container.”

Even more interfaces
Thanks to the API interface with Portbase, Trimodal is also able to display real-time information about such things as the cargo opening times and cargo closing times of the various deep-sea terminals in the booking platform. Tenhagen: “Furthermore, we have created separate interfaces with the RSC (which is not connected to Portbase) and the carrier LTE, which operates the trains for Trimodal.”

Room for everyone
Van Riel is convinced of the success of the Maasvlakte Shuttle. After registering as a customer, any party can use it: intermodal operators, freight forwarders, shipping lines, road hauliers, etc. “Take rail operators, for example; after having first called at the RSC, their train may only be carrying a limited number of containers and, in view of the risk of delays this entails, it may prove beneficial for them to not continue on to the Maasvlakte. The turnaround time of their train will increase. Furthermore, with the scheduled work on the A15 motorway, the construction of the new A24 motorway and more and more activity in the western port area, traffic on the roads is also set to only further grow.”

Interaction with Portbase
The realisation of an API connection requires energy and attention, concludes Tenhagen. “Because HCN Rail was relatively new, this took more time than originally anticipated. However, thanks to collaborative thinking on the part of Portbase, it now also works in this new concept of the Maasvlakte Shuttle.”

Portbase celebrates 20th anniversary

November 21, 2022 marked the 20th anniversary of Portbase’s Port Community System (including its legal predecessors). Once established to digitize the paper and communication flows that support core port processes, it has become a critical asset in port logistics.

Portbase’s Port Community System now has the largest connected community of companies and governments in Europe and is considered one of the most modern and progressive Port Community Systems worldwide.

Paper away from the port

20 years ago, Portbase, together with the port community, started digitising the core processes and associated paper and communication flows in the Dutch ports. This is to increase efficiency in the port.

Portbase was founded by the port companies of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the Dutch government and the port business community, operates on a non-profit basis and has a neutral position in relation to its founders. Through Portbase, it became possible to provide automated data for various reports and declarations between companies and with governments. Because of the different types of reports and the increase in the amount of data and applications, re-use of data became part of the automated process soon after. The term paperless ports was born and organisations could work faster, smarter and more efficiently with the use of Portbase services.

CEO of Portbase Iwan der van Wolf: “To this day, Portbase ensures that all core processes in all Dutch ports are in order. The digitization of these core processes achieves almost 100 percent coverage and has an annual added value of over 400 million euros. Through Portbase, more than 5,000 companies conduct paperless business in the logistics chain, through all Dutch ports.”

Changing needs

Having created a solid foundation together with its community, Portbase has entered a new phase in which chain-wide solutions and more integrated services are possible.

CIO of Portbase Peter de Graaf: “The amount of data in the Port Community System is fuel for the further development of our services and new innovations, together with the community. We also see our platform being used more and more by third parties for (their own) customized solutions.”

In addition, Portbase sees that its community, from large to small, is increasingly recognising the importance of security. Portbase is also responding to this by offering Identity & Access solutions. Finally, the organisation is also being asked to do more and more in the area of sustainability.

De Graaf: “Because we have invested 20 years together in building a trusted digital environment, we can play a role in facilitating these developments. With this, we enrich the Port Community System’s services for the community.”

Co-operation beyond national borders

Portbase already has within its community many foreign parties working together because of the well-organized logistics chains, running through the Netherlands. This development is also possible because of the foundation laid 20 years ago.

Van der Wolf: “International players are looking for strong corridors in Europe where the physical, but certainly also the digital infrastructure is in order. They want to link to systems where local legislation is in place and existing networks have good geographical coverage for fast and efficient transport to and from the hinterland.”

Portbase, together with its community, has this in order. Its neutral position enables it to enter into this co-operation for the benefit of all.

Keeping things moving

The 20th anniversary, the broadening of services and the changed role require a critical look at one’s own identity. After all, the community views Portbase differently than it did 20 years ago. It expects Portbase to take the lead in the rapidly changing digitalization in logistics in order to stay ahead as a community. To respond well to this demand, Portbase started a repositioning process at the beginning of this year.

Van der Wolf: “The ‘be smart get connected’ proposition from 2016 has done its job well. Our community has grown and is still growing. But the needs of our customers, with all the disruptions and other logistics challenges in the chain, lie much more in keeping goods, logistics chains and trade moving. So a new pay-off was chosen: ‘Keeping things moving’. It emphasizes what we have been doing for 20 years.”

He continues: “It is the basis of our existence, a basis that we continuously strengthen together with our community. With new techniques, improved services and integral co-operation throughout the chain. Whether it’s keeping goods, data, chains, people or companies moving, we make sure it happens seamlessly, secure and sustainably.”

On the special website https://keepingthingsmoving.portbase.com/ there is much more to read about Portbase’s 20th anniversary, including a new corporate video and several videos in which clients talk about their experience with Portbase’s services.

ECT - Remote Check-In

Remote Check-In via Portbase available at ECT from 22 November

On Tuesday the 22nd of November, Hutchison Ports ECT Rotterdam (ECT) will make Remote Check-In (RCI) available for all road hauliers via the Portbase service Hinterland Container Notification Road (HCN Road). ECT has reported on this on their website and in their app. Read the news item from ECT here.

This means that, if properly prepared, drivers with an RCI number (the TAR number in HCN Road) can directly proceed to the gate without first needing to stop at the Do-it-Yourself Desk (DIYD) in building 5 at the ECT Delta Terminal. On average, your driver will save 10 – 15 minutes per visit. Furthermore, feedback related to the container statuses is provided faster, making long response times a thing of the past.

More secure process at the gate
The introduction of RCI makes the gate process more secure. The trip can only be performed by a driver with a cargo card from the organisation that has made the pre-notification or, in the case of a delegated carrier (executing charter), if this party has been designated as such in the pre-notification. The validation between pre-notification and cargo card is done on the basis of the EAN number; consequently, this number is becoming increasingly more important in the process. 

Are you pre-notifying in HCN? Check your EAN number
As the haulier performing the pre-notification, it is important that you ensure that Portbase knows your most recent EAN number at all times. If this is not the case, you cannot use Remote Check-In and your driver will still be referred to building 5. 

You can check your EAN number in Portbase (organisational management/account management). If the EAN number is no longer correct, you can fill in the amendment form. 

Heading out well prepared
This means; all pre-notifications in the relevant visit are “green” before your driver arrives at the terminal and you have specified any Remain-on-Truck containers via HCN. ECT requires that you use HCN to specify containers that remain on the truck during the visit to ECT (Remain-On-Truck containers) in advance.

Read here how RCI works. Frequently asked questions and answers about RCI are available in our Support environment. 

 API System interface
All the functionalities that are available in the HCN web screen (such as Executing Charter and Remain-on-Truck containers) can be automated with HCN via an API system interface (latest version). For Executing Charter: add EAN number of charter to voyageData. For Remain-on-Truck, there is an additional API endpoint /road:handling:create-nonpcs. Details are available at our Developer Portal. 

 Questions or assistance
For questions about the EAN number, please contact sales@portbase.com. For questions about RCI, please contact customerservice@portbase.com.

Portbase launches Secure Chain: now it’s up to the market

With the launch of Secure Chain, Portbase offers the opportunity to make port logistics more secure. The required solution is now available. It is now up to the market to actually start using it.

Secure Chain: what is it?

Secure Chain has three levels: bronze, silver and gold. Bronze means implementing IAMconnected. Specifically, it involves among others applying Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and periodically validating identities. Silver and gold are about designating the subsequent link(s) in the port logistics chain. Silver relates to the part of the chain between the shipper/forwarder and the carrier, gold to the entire port logistics chain (see also the note at the bottom of this message).

With silver, the shipper/forwarder can nominate the carrier to pick up the container at the terminal. With gold, it is the shipping company/shipbroker who, through the commercial release, designates the so-called ‘first release party’. This is done on the basis of a clearance/release. The next link in the chain, often the shipper, is then designated by means of an authorisation. This continues all the way down to the final link in the chain: the carrier. As with silver, the carrier is nominated to pick up the container at the terminal.

Secure Chain: what does Portbase do?

Portbase has already taken the first step regarding bronze: MFA has been mandatory for all Portbase services since 1 July of this year. Portbase is taking care of the technical realisation for both silver and gold. Silver is available via the Portbase services Cargo Controller and Hinterland Container Notification. So is gold, with the addition of the Portbase service Cargo Declaration Import. Silver is now live, gold is scheduled for 2023.

Secure Chain: are you in?

Now that the technical realisation of silver is complete, Portbase is ready to facilitate port logistics parties in its implementation and adoption. It is up to the market itself to actually start using silver. Portbase is not in a position to ‘enforce’ its use, as it was with MFA, for example.

Secure Chain: why now?

The momentum is there. The necessity of increasing security at the port is widely accepted. Gone are the days when security was primarily regarded as the responsibility of others. It is clear that this is everyone’s responsibility.

Moreover, Secure Chain means that logistics information becomes available earlier, through the Portbase services Cargo Declaration Import, Cargo Controller and Hinterland Container Notification. This increases the transparency of the port logistics chain and takes efficiency in port logistics to the next level.

Background to Secure Chain

The introduction of Secure Chain will create a closed chain, with access to the logistics chain process being obtained not with a PIN code as is currently the case but by means of a nomination, exemption or authorisation. This renders the PIN code unnecessary and the port logistics chain more secure. After all, with Secure Chain, only designated (known) parties can gain access to the port logistics process.

Clearly, gold intervenes more in the supply chain process than silver. For this reason, it has been decided to introduce silver in the port first and only then gold – silver can thus be seen as the stepping stone to gold. Incidentally, this order is separate from various pilots already underway in the port of Rotterdam to test gold in practice.

Secure Chain is part of the Securely Sharing Data Together programme. This programme has three tracks: secure identities, secure chains and a secure platform. Secure Chaimn is the concrete implementation of the second track (secure chains). Want to know more? Take a look at this page.

Monthly payments from 2023 and indexation

Monthly billing based on usage
As of January 2023, the billing method will change. From then on, Portbase will start billing monthly in arrears, based on actual usage. Portbase will send out monthly invoices based on transactions per month from 1 January 2023. The reason for the change is to provide transparency on usage and avoid unexpected additional charges.

Amendments to general terms and conditions
In view of the above change, a number of amendments have been made to article 9 (reimbursement) and article 10 (payment and billing) of the general terms and conditions. In these articles, the provisions on advance and final invoices have been changed to monthly billing based on actual usage. Click here for the amended articles.

Indexation in 2023
We would also like to inform you about the indexation of prices in 2023. Because of high inflation, Portbase is facing additional price increases. To cover these costs, Portbase will be indexing subscription rates* only by 8.1% (in accordance with the CPI) from January 2023. Portbase will be applying indexation in order to break even and indexing subscription rates will be sufficient to achieve that in 2023. Transaction rates will not be indexed.

We trust to have informed you sufficiently. If you have any questions, please contact Sales on +31 88 6252534 or your direct contact person.

Elk treinbezoek vooraf aanmelden

Mandatory slot requests for visits to rail terminals of ECT Delta, Euromax and RWG

From the 1st of November 2022, for all train visits to the ECT Delta terminal, the ECT Euromax terminal and RWG slot requests will be mandatory for rail operators. This can be done through the Portbase service Hinterland Container Notification (HCN).

The mandatory slot requests in the port of Rotterdam mark the completion of the first step of the ‘Rail Connected’ development programme. Rail operators request a terminal slot via the service HCN and the terminals accept or reject generated visits. As long as a visit has not been accepted by a terminal, the pre-notifications will not be processed by the terminal operating system.

Benefits

  • Centralised requesting of terminal slots through Hinterland Container Notification
  • Pre-created rotation templates allow for easy processing of rotations every week
  • Terminal capacity can be optimised
  • Traction suppliers can get up to date insights in container handlings at the terminals

Hans Nagtegaal, Director Containers at the Port of Rotterdam Authority:

“The pre-notification of trains via Hinterland Container Notification marks a wonderful step in digitising the exchange of data between chain parties. This step constitutes the first in a series of identified improvements that are being addressed within the Rail Connected programme. It is good to see that through collaboration in the sector, the rail product is further improving.”

Practical information
Through the web services of HCN, you can now use the rotation templates to create templates for your scheduled visits to the ECT Delta terminal, the ECT Euromax terminal and RWG.

Click here for more information about the rotation templates
Click here for the instructions and process agreements for the pre-notification of train visits

Have you not yet made any agreements with Portbase about getting started with the pre-notification of trains? Then please contact hinterland@portbase.com.

Groundbreaking digitisation!

In response to customers’ desire to be able to exchange more data at the front and back ends of logistics chains, Portbase is rolling out an international strategy. After all, logistics chains do not end at the Dutch border. With customer-focused moves in Germany, the start of cooperation with RheinPorts and various global initiatives, the strategy is currently taking concrete shape.

“Within our community, we see a growing need among companies for greater insight into their logistics chains”, observes Donald Baan, Manager of Business Development, Marketing & Sales. “Covid and other disruptions have significantly reinforced that process.” By means of an international strategy, Portbase therefore wants to help unlock data further down the logistics chains. This applies both on the sea side and towards the hinterland. The new approach was approved by the Supervisory Board and the Strategic Advisory Board in 2021. The rollout is now underway. Portbase did not have to start from scratch. Some 700 parties have been using the Port Community System (PCS) for some time now, most of them based in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. An initial form of cooperation also exists with the global data exchange platform TradeLens.

Customer needs at the heart of everything

The international strategy ranges from approaching potential new customers for Portbase services in the hinterland to exploring prospects for digitally connecting Northwestern Europe with the rest of the world. Manager Business Development, Charlotte Goos: “Our customers’ needs are at the heart of everything we do. Our thinking is based on the value to our community. But of course, data sharing always goes both ways. More insight here in the Dutch ports also means more insight for parties elsewhere.”

Into the hinterland, one region at a time

Portbase is tackling the digitisation of hinterland connections step by step. Goos: “We are first focusing concretely on the Duisburg region and on the waterways in the Rhine-Alps corridor. We have presented our services to German industry bodies and also surveyed their needs. This has generated a lot of positive feedback. The first new customers are now connected to the PCS.” Portbase wants to extend this approach, region by region, to the rest of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. “In doing so, we are explicitly looking at the entire chain. Besides shippers, for example, we are also including their inland terminals, carriers and other partners such as shipping companies and sea terminals. If the entire chain participates, connecting to the PCS becomes even more valuable.”

Partnership with RheinPorts

Another important step towards the hinterland is the cooperation agreement signed on 31 August with RheinPorts to expand the digital infrastructure along the Rhine-Alps corridor. RheinPorts is the joint multimodal information system of the Port of Duisburg, the Port of Mulhouse and the Swiss Rhine ports. In the future, the partnership should lead to a better digital connection with the port communities involved. Baan: “At Portbase and RheinPorts, we are combining our innovative capabilities to this end. By enabling more data exchange, the companies in the Dutch ports get a better picture of containers arriving from the hinterland, for example. Conversely, the same is true for parties in the hinterland with respect to containers heading in their direction. By 2023, we hope to be sharing data in an initial pilot with RheinPorts and companies in the community.”

Connecting to global platforms

On the sea side, Portbase wants to help increase transparency in logistics chains, for example through further cooperation with the global platforms of shipping companies such as TradeLens and GSBN. Goos: “At their request, we have been providing TradeLens participants with data on the release of their containers in the Dutch ports for some time now. Conversely, we can get data from TradeLens, for instance on when containers leave Asia. All kinds of data sharing along these lines are conceivable.” Goos envisions a future in which Portbase becomes a regional hub for global platforms in Northwestern Europe. “Everyone in our port community will then be able to connect to that very easily. We act as a kind of plug.”

Netherlands – Singapore

Also on the sea side, but at a different level, is the data sharing that Portbase is aiming to facilitate between customs authorities in the Netherlands and Singapore. Baan: “This is about exchanging data for even smoother handling of customs processes. These kinds of global pathways require a longer timeframe. Through pilots, we can demonstrate their value.”

Time must be ripe

In this way, Portbase is always proactively looking at where it can add value for the international port community. Sometimes, that may lead it to the conclusion that the time is not yet ripe. Goos: “For the shortsea sector, we saw potential added value in timely data sharing on the loading and discharge of shortsea containers with parties in other European ports. In practice, there is currently insufficient interest in this within the community.”

“With our existing broad community and services that extend deep into the logistics process, we are well positioned to play a bigger role internationally as well”, Baan concludes. “Based on our neutral, facilitating and overarching role, we are keen to ensure that we involve our community in all the steps that need to be taken. Data owners always remain in control and data sharing takes place only with their consent, in a completely secure environment.”