Westvaco Corp. Looking for good schedules, variety Paying close attention to vessel sailing schedules is a hallmark of Westvaco Corp. 's approach to selecting an ocean carrier. That's not going to help our customer at the other end. We look at the sailing schedules of the various lines, whether they have fixed-day sailing schedules and whether they are consistent with their vessel sailings. A ship line can say it has a vessel sailing every Tuesday for Hong Kong with the ship to arrive in Hong Kong four weeks later to the day, Mr. Bulman said. Well, we need to check to see if that ship always sails on Tuesday and if it always arrives in the foreign port as advertised.
Carriers look upon that kind of long-term relationship very favorably.
We do not put our cargoes out for bid. Westvaco relies heavily on service contracts. Other factors in its selection of a carrier include the line's equipment availability and the condition of that equipment, Mr. Bulman said. Westvaco also considers the line's ability to handle documentation electronically with the company's freight forwarders, customer service and response time.