Vehicles and Pest Problems for Freight Forwarders in the Philippines

Here a mildly inconvenient truth for freight forwarders in the Philippines—your vehicles can be home to pests too! There are certain areas in your vehicle that have just the right amount of heat, moisture, and maybe even dirt and grime to make the perfect home for pests such as spiders, ants, cockroaches, and even rats. Another inconvenient truth is that, the bigger the vessel, the more likely it is to have a pest problem. If a colony of ants can thrive on a car, what’s stopping an intrusion of cockroaches from inhabiting your truck or cargo ship?

Here are some of the ways to tell if your already have a pest problem at hand.

Gnawed product packaging

This is the most obvious one since nothing shouts “pests” like damage goods. If the packaging on your shipment, especially if the shipment contains food, there might be bite marks and holes on some of them. At the first sign of gnawing, get specialists in to help you.

Droppings and Eggs

This is less obvious because not everyone involved in maintaining vessels are keen on details. They could be sweeping dust or droppings, and they wouldn’t know the difference but it pays to mention or even familiarize them with the different droppings or eggs that colonies of pests might be leaving behind.

Damage to Boxes and Crates

Damaged boxes and most especially damaged crates are also damaged assets. Some pests don’t need food to thrive since they can eat cardboard or wood such as termites. As a freight forwarder in the Philippines, it’s safe to say that termites is something that you deal with very commonly. If you boxes or wooden crates are sent out brand new but arrive damaged, get an exterminator immediately.

Holes on Fabric

Some pests might come as a surprise to you in the form of beautifully winged creatures like moths or more specifically, moth larvae. Moth larvae may eat at clothing and render a $700 (P35,000) Balenciaga socks as damaged goods.

Freight forwarders in the Philippines would do well to treat their vessels the same way they do their homes: like sanctuaries that are unwelcoming to intruders, always kept clean and always well maintained. Educate your fleet to also know how to keep their machines tidy and pest-free, as well as on how to detect if a pest problem is at hand.

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