Cordstrap’s Australian partner delivering local and global expertise

Across the world, Cordstrap partners with businesses to provide expert advice, support, products and services that protect products on the move, the people handling them, and the industrial environments they pass through. Our partnerships include many of the world’s biggest steel and metal, chemical, machinery and equipment, food and beverage manufacturers as well as logistics companies. We also partner with an extensive range of businesses who provide our products and services to their customers.

In Australia we’re proud to partner with Cargo Restraint Systems. The team exclusively supply Cordstrap products and services to manufacturers and shippers for both national and international shipments.

We caught up with the team at Cargo Restraint Systems to talk about the expert-led services they supply in Australia, the challenges shippers face and the importance of local and international expertise.

A shared history of cargo protection expertise

We may be thousands of miles from Cordstrap’s HQ in the Netherlands, but we have a strong partnership with the teams there. In fact, our founder, Andre van Hoornaar, started his career at Cordstrap in the Netherlands 25 years ago!  Having worked in multiple global locations with Cordstrap, Andre set up Cargo Restraint systems in 2015.

Andre’s extensive expertise in cargo protection combined with our experienced team of Application Specialists means our Australian customer base are fully supported with expert advice, market-leading products and applications, training and on-going guidance across their supply chains ensuring their national and international shipments are safe, compliant and protected throughout transit.

Key challenges for shippers

We see that many of the key challenges manufacturers and shippers in Australia face are similar to that of other markets – economic uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, demand peaks and capacity issues. The unpredictability of the last few years means that resilience combined with agility and flexibility are key. Like Cordstrap, two of the key things we’ve brought to our customers are consistency and continuity. So, where they have had to adapt, change or pivot in direction we are able to support them – whether it’s ensuring safety and compliance on new routes, providing alternative methods to protect new cargo or finding more cost-effective ways to protect their existing loads, and the people handling it, without ever compromising on safety. That is core to what Cordstrap does and that’s what we do at Cargo Restrain Systems.

Local and global expertise

Our experts have extensive knowledge of national and international regulations, compliance and certification. Whether that’s transporting goods from one side of Australia to the other or shipping to the other side of the world, we ensure that shipments are CTU Code and CSS Code Compliant, Germanischer Lloyd, the IMO, Mariterm AB accredited and AAR Approved (essential for shipments to the USA that will ship on the US rail freight network).

Local expertise is essential. For example, the Chain of Responsibility (CoR) in Australia.  The CoR laws form part of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) in Australia, are designed to improve road safety and aim to ensure all parties in the supply chain share responsibility. For example, if a container roll-over accident happens due to an improper or unsecured load, everyone in the chain aware of this cargo being transported on Australian roads can be prosecuted under the national law. This includes individuals working in purchasing, warehousing, logistics, etc. Penalties include a maximum of five years imprisonment, a $300,000 fine for individuals or a $3 million fine for corporations. Many shippers are not aware of the CoR or the liability they face and so it’s essential that manufacturers and shippers partner with experts such as Cargo Restraint Systems to ensure that not only their products are protected but also their liability. You can read more about the CoR, here.