Career
Good interior design makes life better. According to research by psychologists, a room’s colors and textures affect its functionality, and the ergonomics of the space can improve the quality of life for those spending time in it. So, proper design makes an office conducive to fruitful work and a home more comfortable and relaxing.
In the fall of 2020, a manufacturer of retro boards with innovative finishing approached AsstrA’s team in Yekaterinburg about a delivery from Russia to the United States.
Decorators use retro board for loft, retro, vintage, rustic, or scandi-syle designs, as well as those inspired by alpine chalets and hunting lodges. The board is extracted from old, well-preserved buildings. The material features a deep texture and woody patterns resulting from exposure to time, sun, and rain.
The customer’s key priorities included careful packaging and handling – so as to avoid external impacts to the board during transit – as well as competitive pricing and delivery scheduling.
Igor Dyachenko
"To keep pricing reasonable considering the distance involved, we proposed a combined road+sea transportation scheme. This was a good, balanced option given the customer’s budget and scheduling requirements," says Igor Dyachenko, a Sales Specialist at AsstrA. “On September, the first shipment of cargo departed Yekaerinburg on its transatlantic journey in a 20-foot container."
By road, the container was delivered to the port terminal of St. Petersburg, where the cargo passed the necessary weighing and inspection procedures for customs clearance.
"Full inspection are not required for every shipment. They are carried out selectively at the request of the customs services. Being selected to unpack the cargo at the port was therefore an unpleasant surprise. Retro board is quite sensitive to the external environment, so the customer was quite concerned about the packaging being temporarily removed. After the customs inspection, the repackaging was personally supervised by the client’s representative," adds Igor Dyachenko.
From St. Petersburg, the container with the retro board was delivered via feeder ship first to the port of Antwerp in Belgium, where the AsstrA’s local experts quickly organized its reloading on an ocean cargo liner to New York. At the request of the client, AsstrA’s team in New York supervised the cargo’s unloading to ensure its safety. Including the transshipment, the total travel time from the Russian port to the US coast was 30 days.
AsstrA’s approach to this logistics challenge "excellent,” according to the customer: "The transportation was carried out at the highest standard, and the retro board – which is very sensitive and easily damaged in a harsh environment – reached the buyer in one piece, dry and safe."
Three containers of retro boards have already been sent along the specified route. There are plans to send regular shipments.