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As a cargo professional, you’ve no doubt developed your own way of doing things. The trouble is, no item is shipped by just one person or even one company. When everyone in the transport chain – ground handlers, freight forwarders and airlines – works from the same guidelines, damage, delays, refusals and fines are significantly reduced.
The ICHM covers the entire shipping process door-to-door and describes the operating procedures standard in every stage of the transport chain in plain language. Why re-invent the wheel?
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What's inside the ICHM?
You’ll find everything you wanted to know about shipping cargo inside the ICHM. And lots of information you didn’t know you needed. Each chapter outlines what happens at each stage of the shipping process.
- Book and plan shipments, pick them up from the shipper
- Receive freight at the forwarder branch and transfer it to the forwarder hub
- Prepare export shipments
- Transfer shipments to and receive shipments from the carrier domain,
- Accept shipments as ready for carriage and prepare for transport
- Send shipments to the flight and distribute information
- Unload and dispatch shipment to warehouse
- Check-in and arrive shipments, transfer shipments to forwarder
- Load truck and produce run sheet, deliver and obtain proof of delivery
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Stay up-to-date
The key changes for the 9th edition of the IATA Cargo Handling Manual (ICHM) 2025 include:
- Standards compliance in air cargo for Shipper Built ULD (SBU) handling.
- Handling activities at shipper and freight forwarder terminals.
- Sustainability recommendations on Single-Use Plastic Product (SUPP).
- IATA Environmental Assessment (IEnvA) in ‘Sustainability’ section.
- New recommendations of SUPP in Chapter 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 15 and 16.
- Enhanced content in Chapter 7 and 8 regarding cargo security.
- New abbreviations on human remains in Appendix B.
- New Appendix for IATA Standard Compliance on SBU.
- Enhanced content on ‘Segregation Chart’ in Appendix E.