Know why your shipment is stuck. Know what to do next.
Pequod AI helps importers and exporters identify customs, classification, tariff, and documentation issues before they compound into delays, fees, and trapped inventory.
Container held pending classification review
Broker notice, invoice, product specifications, and tariff context assembled for review.
- Compare product facts against classification rationale.
- Identify missing country of origin and material support.
- Prepare broker review packet with source evidence.
Global trade still breaks at the border.
Every imported product has to be classified before it can move through customs. That classification helps determine what the product is, which regulations apply, and what duties or tariffs may be charged.
But products do not always fit neatly into one category. A classification decision can affect landed cost, trigger additional requirements, or contribute to a shipment being delayed while the importer tries to understand what went wrong.
When a shipment gets held, teams can end up jumping between customs notices, tariff schedules, classification databases, broker emails, invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, and government guidance just to answer one question:
Why is my shipment not moving? Every additional day can mean demurrage, detention, storage fees, inventory delays, and capital trapped in goods the business cannot access.The cost of customs friction compounds quickly.
Average demurrage fees can cost more than $2,500 per container.
Of customs holdups are caused by classification and documentation error.
Trade compliance is a $7.4 billion market.
Global trade shipments get stuck at customs.
Pequod turns customs exceptions into actionable next steps.
Pequod reads the customs or broker notice alongside the underlying shipment documents. It structures the issue and prepares the next steps for the importer or customs broker to review.
HS and HTS classification issues
Identify where product facts, classification logic, and tariff treatment need support.
Tariff and duty implications
Surface where a change in treatment could materially affect landed cost.
Missing or inconsistent documents
Compare notices, invoices, packing lists, origin support, and specifications.
Release blockers
Organize possible reasons a shipment has not been released and what to review next.
From stuck shipment to resolution workflow.
Upload the shipment context
Provide the customs or broker notice with invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, product specs, certificates of origin, and supporting documents.
Pequod structures the transaction
AI powered document intelligence extracts and organizes product, classification, tariff, origin, and shipment information.
Identify the likely issue
Pequod surfaces potential classification, tariff, documentation, or customs issues contributing to the exception.
Prepare the next action
Pequod creates a structured resolution workflow for the importer or customs broker to review and act on.
Built from firsthand experience moving goods across borders.
I got involved in TradeTech through TerraLuxCraftworks, my Himalayan pink salt company. I import products including Himalayan pink salt lamps, candles, foot detoxers, and urns directly from suppliers in Pakistan.
When I started TerraLux, I assumed the hardest part would be finding customers or navigating Amazon. It was not. One of the hardest moments came when a six figure cargo shipment became unexpectedly delayed at the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka.
Every additional day meant more demurrage and detention exposure, delayed inventory, and capital trapped inside goods I could not access. Working backward through the shipment forced me to understand how customs duties, classification, and tariff treatment could materially change the economics of a transaction.
Why is it still so difficult for businesses to understand what a shipment will cost, what customs expects, and what to do when something goes wrong?
That question became Pequod.
Customs complexity is becoming more consequential.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection processes tens of millions of import entries every year. At the same time, tariff regimes, trade policies, product classifications, and compliance requirements continue to change.
Customs and classification are among the most consequential bottlenecks in cross border trade. The cost of getting classification, tariff treatment, or customs documentation wrong can extend far beyond the duty itself.
Document intelligence built for trade workflows.
Pequod’s backend uses LlamaIndex and LlamaParse to ingest and structure complex, unstructured trade documents. After evaluating Pequod’s use case, LlamaIndex provided startup credits that helped subsidize development of the document intelligence infrastructure.
Pequod is designed as a decision support and workflow layer for importers, exporters, and customs professionals, not as a replacement for licensed customs brokers.
View Document Intelligence DemoAdvisory network
Shakiri Murrain
Advises on international manufacturing, sourcing, product development, and real world trade operations across production and logistics.
Ian Cain
Cofounder @Qubic Labs. Advises on startup infrastructure and company building.
Matthew Macarty
Advises on AI app development, technical execution, and product implementation.