[April 8, 2020]


Dear Friends,


I hope this finds you well and healthy, and I sincerely appreciate the abundance of support we have had during this difficult time.


I'd like to update you on a few decisions that were made recently regarding your packages.  But first, let me outline some of the issues that have been taken into consideration.


  • Our government is doing the right thing to stop the cycle of contagion. We must all support this to get to the other side as fast as possible.
  • Our government gave us curfew passes to go to the airport and clear our shipments.  But even if we did this, we still cannot deliver packages to you until after the curfew. We decided this was a poor use of the passes and are avoiding the unnecessary travel to do our part in stopping the cycle.
  • We've closely monitored the developing COVID-19 situation in Miami as pressures there escalate and reduce the availability of personnel. While expecting to continue to be open, they too are entering business continuity protocols to best serve our needs. 
  • There were a lot of packages in Miami for which you simply may not have had the time or resources to upload invoices or make payments for while getting your house in order for the curfew.  
  • We know that everyone is feeling the financial pinch, so we wanted to offer the best rates we can.


Ark Shipments

After considering all of these issues, we decided to ship all of our outstanding Air and Maritime packages via maritime routes, since it would be cheaper to execute and would offer the same turnaround for you.  While we are usually a pre-paid destination requiring packages to be paid before leaving Miami, we have temporarily suspended this requirement to manifest packages with or without invoices or payment.  Any package received in Miami not going on hold, and received this year, was manifested.  There are two such shipments, one left Miami on Tuesday, April 7th and another leaves Miami April 9th.  Internally we've called these our Ark shipments :-)


Rates

Our maritime shipments will continue using the same rates however, our Air shipments sent on the Ark shipments will receive a 50% freight rate discount.  This will only be applied to packages on our Ark shipments. The mechanics of adding the discount for this volume of cargo are complicated so there will be a further update regarding this measure.  


Future

After our Ark shipments manifested on April 7 and April 9, our current plan is to resume our regular rates for Air shipments. Due to limited volume, our expected turnaround for Air once manifested and assuming the curfew is lifted, will be approximately 2-3 days.  


I wish you and your families all the safety and comfort this new world can offer.  


Colin Rathbun,
CEO, Aeropost/TortolaExpress