What Are The After-sales Losses Caused By Truck Shipping Without Rust Prevention Treatment

The high humidity salt spray inside the container is prone to corrode the chassis, hydraulic, and electrical components of heavy trucks. Many manufacturers omit standardized sea freight rust prevention processes in order to reduce costs, resulting in widespread rusting of vehicles upon arrival at the port, directly causing multiple chain after-sales losses and significantly eroding the export profits of the entire vehicle.
Firstly, the high cost of rust removal and maintenance on overseas sites. The vehicle beams, axles, and suspensions that have not been rust proofed are covered with rust spots, the hydraulic piston rods and brake pipelines are oxidized and leaking, and the battery terminals are corroded and broken. The labor and accessory prices of overseas repair shops far exceed those of domestic ones. The comprehensive cost of rust removal, repainting of anti rust wax, replacement of corroded oil pipes, and repair of circuits for the entire vehicle can reach thousands of dollars per unit. If the welding joints of the frame rust and the steel plate springs corrode and crack, large structural components need to be replaced, and the repair cost is close to 15% of the new car price. The construction period will be extended by 1-2 weeks, which will delay the customer's construction site production.
Secondly, there are additional fees for port detention and container detention. After the customer unpacks the container and discovers rust on the entire vehicle, they will refuse to sign for the goods and apply for a third-party organization to inspect and assess the damage. Vehicles are stranded in the port area for a long time, resulting in daily tiered increases in demurrage fees and container demurrage fees. For a single container stranded for half a month, additional expenses of hundreds to thousands of US dollars are incurred, which are mostly negotiated and borne by export manufacturers, further increasing order losses.
Thirdly, disputes over final payment deductions and large claims. Most foreign trade contracts stipulate the delivery of intact vehicles, but severe rusting of the chassis, paint surface, and core components is considered a supply discrepancy. The purchaser will directly deduct 10% -30% of the final payment as compensation, and even file a full return claim. Many customers in West Africa do not have local repair facilities. If the degree of corrosion affects the road, cross-border negotiations will be initiated based on COC customs clearance and testing reports. In order to maintain overseas channels, companies often have to pay high compensation, and some orders suffer direct losses.
Fourth, customer churn and long-term reputation loss. Overseas infrastructure fleets and traders repeat purchases and industry reputation. Once a batch of trucks are severely corroded during sea transportation, customers will terminate long-term cooperation and spread negative reviews within the local peer circle. The procurement information exchange between mining and engineering fleets is strong, and a single rust prevention omission may result in the loss of multiple potential major customers in the area. Long term order losses are much higher than single repair compensation.
Fifth, the logistics cost of secondary export and return/exchange. If the negotiation fails and the customer insists on returning the goods, they will be responsible for the return sea freight and secondary customs clearance fees. The round-trip sea freight of the vehicle will aggravate rusting, and after returning to China, it will need to be rust proofed and refurbished, resulting in the loss of the vehicle's secondary sales value. Even if choosing to send replacement parts domestically or dispatch technical personnel for overseas repairs, the cost of travel and air transportation of parts still incurs significant additional expenses.