Although forwarders might not be thrilled, shippers have praised Maersk and other box lines for deciding to provide integrated logistics services, including air freight as reported by Loadstar.
Switch services
Shippers at Tiaca’s regional symposium in Amsterdam last week claimed a one-stop-shop would make it easier for them to switch services when problems arise.
“For us, it’s a good thing, because of the level of complexity.”
“Hedging the risk-on assets is interesting for us because it’s an end-to-end service, and you can change modes.”
“Until it is an abuse of a dominant position, we will take advantage of that.”
Lars Droog, director of EMEA operations at Cytek Biosciences, agreed.
These changes will benefit us and benefit supply chains, lead times and cost.
Long-term strategies
“The challenges we have had are extreme. This will help everybody, with predictability. That will be better if we can find a model with long-term strategies for all stakeholders in the supply chain. It doesn’t help anybody to suffer from these types of challenges.”
He explained that it would also change the way shippers worked – “As a customer of [these integrated companies], you become smaller, and you have to work within their organisational processes.”
But he said: “Airlines have withdrawn a bit, they have outsourced services. This change might stimulate them to think more. Maersk and others will offer end-to-end services, not airport-to-airport. They have options that will create flexibility, which will cope with the challenges and different requirements.”
Better relations with airlines
Communication during challenging conditions is critical, said Pieter Vlam, manager of freight at Bausch Health Netherlands.
We have a continuous dialogue with forwarders and long-lasting partnerships with carriers.
He added that shippers were also concerned about sustainability and better relations with airlines would help.
Every airport needs to look at sustainability.
“We fly everything from the US; it’s not the best way to do it and our employees and customers want more sustainable options.”
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Source: Loadstar
