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| Vol. 16 No. 93 | Tuesday
November 21, 2017 |
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 Last week Messe München,
the folks that bring you Air Cargo Europe every other year, once again
organized Logitrans International Transport Logistics Exhibition in Istanbul
in conjunction with EKO Fair Limited, Munich. Soft Underbelly Certainly, the forwarding industry still
has a lot of modernizing to do, and this is the opening new entrants are
looking to exploit. Certainty or Hubris? Indeed, the shipping analyst also told FlyingTypers that “up to a third of shipping invoices are reported to contain errors, despite the introduction of e-commerce capabilities by shipping lines more than 15 years ago.” A Closer Look But so far at least, both the air freight industry and ocean container shipping have proven remarkably difficult markets to master for digital start-ups, which in many cases are backed by millions from venture capitalists. Cathy Counters Cathy Roberson, founder and head analyst at U.S.-based Logistics Trends & Insights, said the industry was moving in one direction on digitalization, but how much of the market new entrants would be able to secure was, as yet, unclear.“According to our Evolving Freight Forwarding Market survey, 92 percent of survey respondents believed that digitization will add value for freight forwarders,” she told FlyingTypers. “Digital forwarding companies are promoted as providing a more proficient means of obtaining cargo. “However, there are limits to many of these solutions such as fewer trade lanes offered and a lack of true cost savings.” Same Old Same Old “Many similarities exist among the digital forwarding companies. “However, there are some impressive service offerings from some, such as FreightHub’s transparent invoicing. Customers receive a breakdown of all costs—rate, applicable surcharges and fees, and FreightHub’s cut,” Cathy said.“Flexport is another that offers transparent invoicing as well as collaboration among supply chain partners and much more. “Flexport is now moving into physical asset ownership by leasing warehouse space for customers. “In my opinion,” Cathy said, “Flexport is a truly transformational forwarding company that has the ability to change the forwarding market as we know it.” Not Taking It Lying Down However, as Roberson noted, traditional forwarders are kicking back at the upstarts, not least by investing in technology with the goal to digitize services such as rate comparisons, booking, and tracking. KN + NextGen “For example, Kuehne + Nagel recently
launched its ‘KN+NextGen’ strategy, which the Switzerland-based
forwarder believes will lead the industry’s transformation by digitalizing
commodity shipments, training e-forwarders, and exploiting value chains.
Panalpina Rolls Out Change Elsewhere, Panalpina will significantly
increase its profitability as of the end of next year thanks to the continued
rollout of a new, “state-of-the-art” operational IT platform.
Trending Along Together Asked if new entrants had given the development
of these new services a push, he responded: “Yes, I think it’s
all about execution and people in this industry know that. But it’s
a trend and we want to go that way, and so do customers.” |
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 Our job is to create a commercial success at San Antonio International Airport. Our airport,” declares Marcel Johnson, vice president business development, “is served by several major airlines including United, American, and others. The airport is a joint-use facility that also serves (since 1941) as Lackland U.S. Air Force Base. So we are a unique and well-qualified full-service gateway, where the military shares space with civilian enterprise.” If San Antonio is worried about its bigger, more entrenched airport rivals elsewhere, the city that saw a small adobe fort hold off a vastly superior army for 13 days in 1835 during the siege of the Alamo seems ready to strike its claim as a major air cargo hub in 2017. We see the developing role of logistics providers and new generation service forces coming into the industry and setting up entirely new operations end to end,” Marcel said. San Antonio may have a big deal it is working on buttoned up at the moment and cannot name names, but it hardly matters. The new operator it hopes for points directly to one particular online retailer, which will soon be fielding one of the largest fleets of main-deck, all cargo aircraft in the world. We have excellent trucking and rail connections and huge amounts of land to create and grow into anything possible, including aircraft maintenance and of course just about everything connected to a dense and complete shipping service zone. Our goal is to continue to invest and grow our business, and we are looking for partners,” Marcel said. Our catchment area is very rich in talented labor with more that 12,500 people on the job at the airport today carrying several valuable skill sets in manufacturing and logistics that are easily adaptable to our growing enterprise,” Marcel Johnson said.  The man behind a good beverage at Avianca’s stand at Air Cargo Americas earlier this month—whether you wanted a cup of coffee, a colada, or a cappuccino—was a particularly sweet-faced gent, Octavio Ramos. I keep the machines working,” 80-year-old Octavio said. We have a snack machine, a coffee machine, a sandwich machine, and a soda machine,” Octavio smiles. Wasn’t like that when I came over here 50 years ago from Cuba,” he recalled. But today, everything is up to date in Miami, my adopted home, and I love it. “I am going back to Havana to visit soon,” Mr. Ramos said. We offered that he might see some of the same cars that were there half a century ago. “Yeah, but I am not sure what to expect otherwise,” Octavio replied. “My grandson here, Ricardo Contregas, who came to Miami just two years ago, tells me about life in Cuba, but I will go there and see for myself.” No doubt, the Cuban skill to keep things going against all odds—whether making a successful life in a new country, keeping vending machines operating, or pumping life into the 1950s-era cars (“Los Almendrones,” the locals call them) that still cruise around the the island in every day use—will continue to serve this gran hombre well. |
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When “Gentleman” Bill Spohrer came upon the scene at Miami International Airport, air cargo operations were dominated by the likes of Pan American, Slick Airways, Panagra, Eastern and National Airlines. When he “departed” in 1999, having sold the airline he founded (Challenge Air Cargo to UPS), Bill had transformed what was “Corrosion Corner” at the airport into something else. Miami International had become the “Hub of the Americas,” with scheduled airline routes reaching all around the world. JUST AROUND THE CORNER Once upon a time, there was a collection
of old Curtiss C46s, Lockheed Constellations and other itinerant, even
more mysterious aircraft at MIA. They shifted uneasily with the tide of
a cargo construction boom at the airport, moving in and out every night
on little cat’s feet. REEFER MASQUERADING AS A CARGO TERMINAL Today at Miami International, where a
colorful and rich part of airport history and legend are seldom recalled,
a giant, around-the-clock, automated refrigerator stands, surrounded by
the streamlined cladding of a modern air cargo transfer facility. HANDWRITING ON THE WALL Bill Spohrer saw the handwriting on the
wall and ramped up Challenge Air Cargo into a new landmark for air shippers
at Miami International Airport.
THE CHALLENGE AFTER After selling Challenge to UPS, Bill Spohrer
stayed on with the UPS team at Challenge for a year to work things in
for the new owners, and to basically show them the ropes in Latin America. EXCELLENCE IN ANY LANGUAGE Bill speaks several languages, including French and Spanish.He also knows the Latin American air cargo market like the back of his hand. But eventually it was time to move on. A small bed and breakfast interest up in Apalachicola, a beautiful town located in the panhandle area of Florida, has served as home during the well-earned retirement years for Bill and Lynn Spohrer. A HELPING HAND During the 1980s and 1990s, Gentleman
Bill was a major driving force that organized the Air Cargo Americas biennial
trade show, which today is the biggest event of its kind in this hemisphere.
PANAGRA AND TACA FROM THE GROUND UP As a young man, Bill was tutored in the Latin American airline game—first by legendary Lowell Yerex, who founded the TACA chain of airlines during the 1930s, and later by C.N. Shelton, who took on mighty Panagra with his TAN “barefoot airlines,” providing service down the west coast of South America much in the fashion that Southwest and Jet Blue operate low-cost airlines today.
A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY But when the UPS job was completed and
the music stopped at Miami International Airport, Bill reached back across
the decades to take a sentimental journey back to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh
City), taking a trip to Vietnam where he had served as aide-de-camp to
the American Advisory Group commander in 1954. LATEST UPDATE “We are coming back to Miami,”
Bill said as Air Cargo Americas concluded in Miami earlier this month. |
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 Vol. 16 No. 90 What A Difference A Day Makes Chuckles for November 13, 2017 All New Delta Cargo Web Miami Keeping Cargo Track ATC Best Results In 30 Years Lorena Lives Latin America Six Guys & A Gal Qatar With Interest In Cathay |
 Vol. 16 No. 91 Logitrans Instanbul Like Silk For Logistics Chuckles for November 15, 2017 45 Alive EMO Trans USA Atlanta Brokers Thanksgiving Friday Letters to the Editor |
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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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Once the U.S. and China are up and running, the Switzerland-based forwarder
expects some 60 percent of all its forwarding transactions to be handled
on the new system.
Tobias Meyer, (right) COO of DHL Global Forwarding, admitted digitization
was affecting freight forwarding and logistics as it was every other industry,
but he said DHL saw it as an opportunity and has already migrated most
trade documents to electronic formats, many of which can be accessed online
by customers. The company has also, amongst other initiatives, created
a selling rate database that now covers Air Freight, as well as ocean
freight FCL and LCL, and offers global coverage.
Recently
Malcolm Monteiro, CEO, DHL eCommerce noted that e-commerce purchases in
Asia Pacific were more than in North America and the region is currently
leading the growth rate for the sector globally.
100%
Green