Port Operations New Client Onboarding

---
name: port-operations-new-client-onboarding
description: |
  Onboard shipping lines, hauliers and cargo owners smoothly into a port operations manager's service in ports and container terminals.
  TRIGGERS - Use when a port operations manager needs a new client onboarding pack for shipping lines, hauliers and cargo owners in ports and container terminals.
category: Port Operations
license: MIT
version: 1.0
---
# New Client Onboarding Pack — Port Operations

Onboard shipping lines, hauliers and cargo owners smoothly into a port operations manager's service in ports and container terminals. The deliverable is an onboarding pack: welcome information, expectations, first steps and contacts.
This skill is written for a port operations manager working with shipping lines, hauliers and cargo owners in ports and container terminals.

## When to use
- You are a port operations manager preparing, delivering or reviewing this part of your work in ports and container terminals.
- You need a defensible, repeatable approach that produces an onboarding pack: welcome information, expectations, first steps and contacts.
- A colleague, auditor or client asks how this was done and what evidence supports it.

## Key Concepts
| Term | Meaning |
|------|---------|
| Berth | the place where a vessel moors to load or unload |
| TEU | a standard unit equal to a twenty-foot container |
| Turnaround | the time a vessel or truck spends in port |

## Workflow
1. **Step 1** - Send a welcome pack before the first appointment: what the service does, what happens first, what to bring from berth plans
2. **Step 2** - Set expectations honestly — timescales, costs where relevant, and how progress on berth utilisation will be shared
3. **Step 3** - Cover rights and responsibilities on both sides, including confidentiality limits and how to raise concerns
4. **Step 4** - Make the first contact easy: named contact, directions to ports and container terminals, and what to do if plans change
5. **Step 5** - Check in after the first session or milestone and fix friction early, before it becomes disengagement or crane accidents

## Profession-Specific Components
| Component | Details for Port Operations |
|-----------|-------------------------------|
| Core documentation | berth plans; cargo manifests; equipment logs; incident reports |
| Core tools & equipment | terminal operating systems; cranes; handling equipment; gate systems |
| People involved | shipping lines, hauliers and cargo owners; the port operations manager; colleagues and other services in ports and container terminals |
| Primary record | berth plans — keep it current, dated and attributable |

## Output Format
**Context:** [Situation in ports and container terminals] | **Objective:** [What this must achieve] | **Audience:** [shipping lines, hauliers and cargo owners and other stakeholders]

The finished output is an onboarding pack: welcome information, expectations, first steps and contacts, structured as:
1. Summary of position and evidence
2. Detail, following the workflow above
3. Decisions, actions, owners and dates
4. Review point and escalation route

### Action Plan
1. **Immediate:** Confirm scope, consent and the evidence available in berth plans.
2. **Short-term:** Complete the workflow steps and record outcomes against berth utilisation.
3. **Medium-term:** Review results, close actions, and update local procedures in ports and container terminals.

## Success Metrics
| Metric | Target | Method |
|--------|--------|--------|
| berth utilisation | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from berth plans and reviewed on a set cycle |
| container turnaround | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from berth plans and reviewed on a set cycle |
| crane productivity | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from berth plans and reviewed on a set cycle |
| safety incident rates | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from berth plans and reviewed on a set cycle |

## Guardrails & Quality Checks
- Never let this happen: crane accidents.
- Never let this happen: cargo damage.
- Never let this happen: berth congestion.
- Work only within the competence and authority of a port operations manager; escalate or refer anything beyond it.
- Record facts and observations, not speculation, and keep records confidential to ports and container terminals's rules.
- Verify names, dates, figures and measurements twice before anything is issued or signed off.
- Use only real, verified information from the case in hand — never invent results, credentials or evidence.

## Example (illustrative)
A port operations manager in ports and container terminals applies this workflow for shipping lines, hauliers and cargo owners: they open
berth plans, work through the five steps using terminal operating systems, and close by recording
the outcome against berth utilisation and agreeing the next review date. (Illustrative example only —
replace with the real details of the case in hand.)