Canada Maritime Conference: Shippers Ask Service Providers for the Facts.(Conference notes)

BYLINE: By Alan Daniels

A major Canadian retailer has urged the Port of Vancouver to set up a help line where customers can get information about their goods in the event of delays caused by bad weather, labour disputes, avalanches or other service disruptions.

Tony Benincasa, general manager of transportation and imports for Hudson''s Bay Company, told delegates to the second annual Canada Maritime Conference in Vancouver that when things go wrong, customers have no means of tracking their cargo, resulting in anger and frustration.

He claimed that port officials, shipping lines and railways who transport his company''s goods live in a dream world when things go awry, apparently reluctant to send out "alarm signals" while hoping that the situation will improve.

"The customers of this port cry out for information," Mr. Benincasa said during a panel discussion on what happens when the supply chain breaks down. Last winter - often referred to as the Perfect Storm or the Winter of Discontent - there was a total logistics breakdown resulting in a huge backup of containers on the docks in Vancouver that took weeks to clear.

"A complete lack of information starts a level of panic, with everyone calling everyone else," Mr. Benincasa said. "There is no single location where the customer can go for information."

He said instead officials play a sort of "guessing game."