Scenarios
A 203 Read as UTC
Section titled “A 203 Read as UTC”A terminal timestamp sent with format code 203, stored as a UTC instant the message never stated.
Two Arrivals, One Wall Time: The Fall-Back Night
Section titled “Two Arrivals, One Wall Time: The Fall-Back Night”Two flights land in New York an hour apart on the night clocks fall back, and the arrivals board shows 01:30 for both.
A B/L Dated a Day Late
Section titled “A B/L Dated a Day Late”Cargo loaded at 21:00 in New York, and a bill of lading dated the next day because the date was read in UTC.
A Connection Missed at the Spring-Forward Handoff
Section titled “A Connection Missed at the Spring-Forward Handoff”A truck reaches the Los Angeles port the morning clocks spring forward. An offset table says the ship connection holds with 30 minutes to spare. It is missed by 30 minutes.
Container Dwell: Two Hours, Two Days
Section titled “Container Dwell: Two Hours, Two Days”A container gates in at 23:00 and out at 01:00. The terminal charges two days, and dividing hours by 24 says one.
A Delay Across the Fall-Back
Section titled “A Delay Across the Fall-Back”A train due at 01:30 on the night New York’s clocks go back arrives at 01:30 by the station clock, an hour later. Subtracting the clocks says it was on time.
Demurrage Across a Weekend
Section titled “Demurrage Across a Weekend”The same container gates out on Monday morning. Whether that is zero chargeable days or one turns on a second, and chargedDates names the date.
Detention Is Not Demurrage
Section titled “Detention Is Not Demurrage”A container’s four events, and a detention invoice counted from the wrong one. The detention clock starts at gate-out, not at discharge.
A Dispute Window from a Contract
Section titled “A Dispute Window from a Contract”A service contract gives 14 days to dispute. Code that hard-codes 30 gives the wrong deadline.
An Estimate Shown as the Actual
Section titled “An Estimate Shown as the Actual”A vessel berthed at 12:52. An hour later a late feed delivered an estimate of 13:05, and the dashboard’s Actual column now says 13:05.
ET Is Not an Offset
Section titled “ET Is Not an Offset”An X12 status time with time code ET, given a fixed offset from a lookup table and an hour out for most of the year.
An ETA That Forgot the Sailing
Section titled “An ETA That Forgot the Sailing”A truck, ship and rail move whose ETA adds up every duration and dwell, and lands 20 hours early because the ship sails on its schedule.
A Filing Deadline Anchored to the Wrong Event
Section titled “A Filing Deadline Anchored to the Wrong Event”A rule says 24 hours before loading. The system counts 24 hours before departure, which is two and a half days later, and every filing it schedules is late.
Free Time: Which Day Is Day One
Section titled “Free Time: Which Day Is Day One”A container is discharged on Friday afternoon with three free days. Adding 72 hours says Monday afternoon; the tariff says Monday 00:00 or Tuesday 00:00, and nothing in between.
Invoice a Day Late
Section titled “Invoice a Day Late”An invoice issued on day 30 of a 30-day window, flagged as a day late by millisecond arithmetic.
Monthly Billing Without Drift
Section titled “Monthly Billing Without Drift”Charge on the same calendar date every month, not a fixed number of days.
A Re-Bill Anchored on the Wrong Date
Section titled “A Re-Bill Anchored on the Wrong Date”A party re-billing a charge it was itself billed counts its 30-day window from the charge, not from the invoice it received.
Recurring Meeting Across DST
Section titled “Recurring Meeting Across DST”Schedule a meeting that repeats weekly across a daylight saving time boundary.
Storing a Birthday
Section titled “Storing a Birthday”Store a birthday so it stays correct across timezones and years.
The EPCIS Offset Nobody Kept
Section titled “The EPCIS Offset Nobody Kept”An EPCIS event stored as its instant alone, and shown a day early at the site where it happened.
A 26-Hour Rail Leg Across Spring-Forward
Section titled “A 26-Hour Rail Leg Across Spring-Forward”A train leaves at 20:00 the evening before clocks spring forward and runs for 26 hours. Adding to the wall clock puts it in a station an hour before it arrives.
Two Days Before Is Not 48 Hours
Section titled “Two Days Before Is Not 48 Hours”A documentation cut-off is 17:00 local two days before the vessel sails. Subtracting 48 hours from the departure puts it an hour late, and a DST weekend moves it again.