News

ESC urges shippers to take a more proactive role in air freight

Friday, 11 February 2011

The European Shippers' Council urges shippers to take a more proactive role in the arrangement and procurement of air freight services.

Chairman of the ESC's Air Transport Council, Ramiro Dias, was quoted in a recent article published by Air Cargo World [Shippers say air freight services are good but must do better] as saying "Supply chains can represent competitive advantage; so it makes sense to utilise all the expertise and knowledge that you have at your disposal. If you [as a shipper] are not prepared to be proactive yourself, then you must be prepared for a suboptimal solution: you reap what you sow".

He was referring to the results of an ESC survey which showed that whilst most shippers were happy with the service they received from their freight forwarders and logistics service providers in respect of air freight, a sizeable majority felt that the industry could do more. Among the areas for improvement indicated by the shippers surveyed was the need to be more proactive, and to better understand the shippers' business and supply chain in order to find the best logistical solutions. However, the survey, also suggested few shippers were prepared to be more proactively engaged in the management themselves.

Mr Dias said "I expect the freight forwarder to be very proactive in looking for solutions and improvements to the way we do things for our clients; therefore, they need to know the businesses we work in and for" and went on to stress "shippers must be prepared to be equally proactive with the freight service providers: two heads thinking and working together to make the supply chain more efficient and effective is likely to be better than one."

ESC's Secretary General, Nicolette van der Jagt supported the statements of ESC's Air Transport Council Chairman: She added "The ESC has long been of the opinion that service quality and efficiency are best improved when the shipper is proactively engaged with the service providers in the chain. Outsourcing of air freight procurement and management activities is a fact of life and yields considerable benefits for the shipper; but it could be unwise for a company to remove from its organisation all knowledge and expertise in this area. The shipper needs to know what is happening, how the industry works, what drives it and affects it, and ultimately what influences the performance of the service. ESC is engaged with representatives of the carrier and freight forwarding communities to work with them and support initiatives that we and our members believe will make a difference to the services shippers receive. I would encourage any shipper to take a closer look at what we are doing on their behalf, and to make sure that we push for things which will make a difference."