The IATA ULD Control Centre was established in 1971 in Geneva with the primary purpose of maintaining a central control over the interline movement of ULDs. The Control Centre is a self supporting, not for profit basis facility run by IATA on behalf of the participants to the IATA Multilateral ULD Control Agreement.
The Basic System
The main purpose of the IATA ULD Control Centre is to make sure that a unit is speedily returned to its owner, but, at the same time, he is compensated for the temporary absence of the unit by crediting him with a daily demurrage. Consequently, the Control Centre is largely an accounting system. Whenever a unit is interchanged, a control receipt is made out, and carriers report the transaction directly to the Control Centre, which then matches the transactions making debits and credits of demurrage charges to the carriers concerned. The information received is processed into a series of listings which reflect details of each ULD handled, together with demurrage amounts, both payable and receivable, and these lists re mailed or available on the internet, password protected, to 60 participants every week. If a unit is not returned within 180 days, a non-return penalty is assessed (approximately equal to the replacement value of the unit).
The benefits of joining the IATA ULD Control Agreement are:
- Quick return of your ULDs
- Compensation for units while out of your system (demurrage)
- Retrieval of lost units
- Compensation for damaged units or missing components
- Increased interline opportunities and revenue
- Fewer damaged units
- Complete information at very little cost
- Standard handling procedures
- Simplified billing procedures.
Cost Participation are as follows:
- Annual Fee US $500
- System Redevelopment Fee US $1,000 for each of the first 3 years
- Transaction Fee US $1.40 per transaction. (subject to change)