1. Assume that you are Weiss. How many viable alternatives do you have to consider regarding the initial shipment of 25 buses?
2. Which of the routing alternatives would you recommend to meet the initial 90-day deadline for the 25-bus shipment? Train or waterway? To which port(s)? What would it cost?
3. What additional information would be helpful for answering Question 2?
4. How important, in fact, are the transport costs for the initial shipment of 25 buses?
5. What kinds of “customer service” support must be provided for this initial shipment of 25 buses? Who is responsible?
6. The Brazilian buyer wants the buses delivered at Santos. Weiss looks up the International Chamber of Commerce’s Incoterms and finds three categories of “delivered” at a receiving port. They are:
7. Would you make the same routing recommendation for the second, larger (199 buses) component of the order, after the initial 90-day deadline is met? Why or why not?
8. How important, if at all, is it for N.A.M. to ship via water to show its support of the European Union’s Motorways of the Seas concept?