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Vol. 16 No. 84	Wednesday October 18, 2017

      “We are driven by the pains of our customer and that’s basically the soul of our organization. Our core mission is to decentralize things for efficiency and use available resources in the ecosystem for best use of customers.”
      That quote came from Cogoport Founder and CEO Purnendu Shekhar.
      Set up in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, Cogoport is an online logistics platform that will provide the best air freight rates for customers. The services will start in a couple of months. It is already doing that for ocean rates. An industry veteran—Shekhar has been in the “industry ecosystem for 22-odd years”—he had the distinct feeling that he was being left out of “logistics.” He wanted to transform the “ecosystem's existing framework and put customers at the top of the list. So Cogoport was born.
      Shekhar explained that logistics made up around 14.4 percent of India’s GDP. The Indian freight market, he said, was estimated to reach $ 300bn by 2020, of which the international freight component would be around $40bn and would grow at an estimated 12-14 percent CAGR. “This segment is complex and inefficient with multiple players adding layers of opacity leading to significant cost to the buyer and sub-optimal capacity utilization for suppliers.” Simply put, a fragmented, localized, scale-inefficient and technology-deprived market made the opportunity size “huge,” he emphasized.
      What Cogoport does as an online international freight exchange is provide price discovery and booking using a data-driven technology solution, enabling a simpler, smoother, and seamless freight booking experience for international freight.
      “The value proposition of Cogoport centers around seamless and quality services at the best price for business houses to export and import goods warehouse to warehouse through a transparent, full-stack solution for all stakeholders from the convenience of their mobiles and PCs,” said Shekhar.
      The online platform has been certified under the ‘Startup India’ initiative of the government (under the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion). “We are confident we will be able to leverage the ‘Make in India-led initiatives’ and derive benefits along the line,” said Shekhar.
      Cogoport was quite aware of the challenges when it launched in May 2017, but Shekhar and his team have been concentrating on customer-centricity. “That’s basically the soul of our organization,” he said. To achieve this, technology has been enabled. Also, the company “decentralizes things for efficiency and uses available resources in the ecosystem for best use of customers,” he pointed out. “Our space is B2B and we understand how it works so we work the way our customer works without trying to impose ourselves on them and this really sets us apart from all,” he said.
      Delving into the working of the system, Shekhar’s team members said that the platform’s complex algorithm takes millions of line items—prices, transit times, vessel details for 100,000 port pairs across the world and hundreds of suppliers—runs through distributed computing models, and displays best freight rates in the personalized dashboard of an importer and exporter, where it can then be booked in a single click. After the shipment is booked, the operations dashboard allows customers to track the shipments and also provides numerous analytics around that particular shipment.
      “Right now our priority is to shrink this century-old business into a smartphone screen and in a very short future that will get replaced by a voice command. We are constantly bringing new innovations to this industry and with the rise of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, in the near future we will be launching our own cryptocurrency to bring uniformity in freight prices,” said Shekhar.
      Cogoport believes in the democratization of freight and services. While large MNCs want transparency and small organizations need price benefit, Cogoport pointed out that it has a perfect value proposition for both.
      Barely a few months old, Cogoport has made its mark with 1,700 registered clients. The revenue growth, according to Shekhar’s team, has been strong. Cogoport is currently clocking an annual revenue rate of $10 million while the volume rate has been annualized at 9,000 containers and 2,500 truck moves, with ocean freight accounting for 95 percent of it.
      Shekhar hopes he will be able to see the same enthusiasm from the air freight community when Cogoport opens its portal for air transport.
      For the moment, Cogoport is not interested in making profits. It wants to scale up and then it will think of revenue streams, which will be largely from suppliers’ commissions and commissions from banks and other financial institutions.
Tirthankar Ghosh

      In horse racing, a “trotter” is a horse harnessed to a light, two-wheeled vehicle called a “sulky.”
      For the New York/New Jersey air cargo community, a novel and much-needed meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday, October 24.
      The JFK Air Cargo Association will get down to business and some fun as well at “Trotters Bar & Grill,” a favorite watering hole near the big airport.
      From our vantage point, Trotters is apropos for an evening off to the races, with people networking and moving the marble toward getting on the same page together.
      “It’s an after work gathering of the people that make New York/New Jersey air cargo go, and we are including an adult beverage if you choose and a bite to eat,” insist Joe Badamo, Mike Bednarz, Jim Burnett, Laura Cascino, Dayna Harap, John Ryan, Phil Jensen, Pete DeBenigno, and Mike Bacarella, all Air Cargo Association stalwarts.
      “Everybody is invited to our inaugural ACA Networking Mixer,” the group declared.
      “Come network with your fellow air cargo professionals.”
      “We know that not everybody can get away for a meeting at lunch because they're busy or they feel the pressure to get back to their office.
      “This event is after work, so you hopefully can leave without having to worry about returning to the office and sorting out that one last thing.”
      Tuesday, October 24th, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
      Trotters Bar and Grill
      1050 Hempstead Turnpike, Franklin Square, NY.
      Tariff is $20.00 and includes snacks and a complimentary cocktail.
      Space is limited, so go to https://www.jfkaircargo.net/events/ or
      Text Laura Cascino (Delta) at (347) 226-0726 by October 23rd.

More Trotters

The closest Trotters Club racetrack to JFK BTW is Yonkers Raceway, north of New York City.
The more familiar horse tracks near JFK International that can often be viewed on final into the big airport are beautiful Belmont Racetrack, located in Elmont Long Island, and Aqueduct Racetrack, bordering the airport just across the road.
Geoffrey

You've Got To Have Heart

     Often the news that comes through can be unbearable.
     Terrible is probably not strong enough a word to describe the senseless incident in Las Vegas at a harvest music festival where a lone gunman left 58 people dead and 546 injured.
     But hope is still alive as decent people everywhere came forward to offer help and comfort, love and mercy, all around.

     Air cargo stepped up as well.
     American Airlines President Rick Elieson told FlyingTypers, “When I learned of the attack in Las Vegas, I was heartbroken for the victims and their families.
     “We immediately began confirming that all of our team members were safe and accounted for.
     “This is one of those times when you want to stand for something and make a difference.
     “It probably isn’t much comfort, but one thing we do well, and with which we’ve offered to assist is the respectful return of victims to their grieving families, who have more than enough trials right now.      “Working with funeral homes, we are waiving all costs and fees associated with their transport.
     “American Airlines Cargo is serious about the care and sensitivity involved with transporting departed loved ones to their final resting place, and we’re committed to help in this small way,” Rick Elieson said.

PumpingTraffic British International Freight Association (BIFA) Heathrow Regional Members Meeting is set for October 25 at 14:00 at BIFA, Redfern House, Browells Lane, Feltham. TW13 7EP.
Robert Keen       “Members and ASM users will get information on BIFA activity with HM Revenue and Customs and other governmental/regulatory bodies at national level,” reports BIFA Director General Robert “Peachy” Keen.
      “Attendees will have an opportunity for a two-way dialogue between members and the Association and to raise issues of concern or interest.
      “Prior notification to attend is needed so if you are interested contact your Consultant to BIFA, Colin Young at young_colin.t21@btinternet.com.”

LAACA Golf Outing

      It is an annual event and money is raised to continue Los Angeles Air Cargo Club (LAACA) community outreach in several areas.
      But the underlying fellowship and fun of this LAACA 28th Annual Golf Tournament, held last month at El Dorado Municipal Golf Course in Long Beach, is evident on the faces of the Southern California air cargo people who celebrated each other and our industry.
      “The ‘Fiesta Buffet’ after the Tournament, Award Ceremony, and Raffles/Give-a-ways were a complete success,” reports Sherri Dunlap (LAACA Treasurer), Harvey Beesen, and Jim Stone (both LAACA Board members and past Presidents).
      “Everybody worked hard to make this an event to remember,” Sherri Dunlap declared.

From Tree To Shining Tree

A Kenworth T680 Advantage will transport the 53rd U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree from the November 8 tree-cutting in the Kootenai National Forest in Montana. The trip covers 15 community celebrations during a more than 2,000-mile journey en route to the tree-lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C., in early December.

Big Sky. Big Tree. Big Journey.

      The T680 also includes the logo of Montana-based Whitewood Transport.
      The company was selected as the hauler for this year’s tree because of its excellent reputation in Montana’s trucking industry, according to Bruce Ward, President of Choose Outdoors, a nonprofit organization that assists the U.S. Forest Service with coordinating the annual tour.
      Whitewood Transport is a recent multiple-year recipient of the Motor Carrier of the Year (including the 2016 award) from the Motor Carriers of Montana.

Dinner For One, Please, James

      The T680 is a 76-inch sleeper equipped with the premium “Driver’s Studio” option package, which includes the Diamond VIT interior, 180-degree swivel passenger seat and rotating table to accommodate two people, drawer-style refrigerator, convenient space ideal for a microwave, premium audio package, and swivel TV mount for up to a 28-inch flat screen TV. The Driver’s Studio also offers a full-size wardrobe space for hanging clothes, multiple storage drawers, large storage space under the lower bunk, and 8-inch thick, luxury pocket coil mattress.
      The driver is always at home….
      More click here.

   Heralding itself as “a trip back to 1962,” Eero Saarinen’s JFK International Airport TWA Terminal Building opens this weekend for a last look before a $250 million hotel complex obliterates the iconic airport building, erasing once and for all the last vestige of landscape surrounding Eero’s masterpiece.
   If you can’t wait to pony up the mega bucks the new on-airport hotel will demand when completed in 2019, the developers and some others have opened up a swank, by-appointment-only “sneak peek” at a replica of the new JFK TWA-Saarinen hotel on the 82nd floor of One World Trade Center in Manhattan.
   Maybe going back to 1962 holds some appeal, but a couple questions float above all the hyped sky-high dreams.
   Why does JFK Airport still feature several dank, dirty passenger terminals?

Geoffrey is pictured defying the bulldozers out front of I. M. Pei’s exquisite “Aviodrome,” which was created during the 1960s for National Airlines and was last home to Pan American World Airways at JFK International Airport in New York.

   And when it comes to spotlighting exceptional airport buildings, why did The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey allow I.M. Pei’s exquisite Aviodrome, an acknowledged masterpiece of 1960s art & architecture, fall under the wrecker’s ball a couple years ago despite widespread loud and vocal protest?
   Too much of a good thing?
   In this case, too much was not enough!
Flossie/Sabiha

If You Missed Any Of The Previous 3 Issues Of FlyingTypers Access complete issue by clicking on issue icon or Access specific articles by clicking on article title
Vol. 16 No. 81 Babar of Pakistan Leads FIATA To India Chuckles for October 10, 2017 October Event Like Silk In Baku Hurricane Relief Continues	Vol. 16. No. 82 IATA Loses India Agents Beef Again Chuckles for October 12, 2017 Donna Is Her Name Something For The Kids Letters for October 12, 2017	Vol. 16. No. 83 Peak Peek Into Octember Chuckles for October 16, 2017 Ramesh TIACA India Powerhouse Pumping Traffic for October 16, 2017 Letters for October 16, 2017

Publisher-Geoffrey Arend • Managing Editor-Flossie Arend
Film Editor-Ralph Arend • Special Assignments-Sabiha Arend, Emily Arend • Advertising Sales-Judy Miller

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