FIATA e-Flash No. 211 – 4 November 2019

FIATA AND MEMBERS

Breaking with Routine – Interview with FIATA past President Babar Badat

In an interview with the International Transport Journal, FIATA Past President Babar Badat shared his thought on the future of FIATA and the World Congress in Cape Town. “It’s high time to break with routine! We have to create the conditions now to lead FIATA into a progressive future”.

Technology and people are key issues. “We’re talking to our technology partners about digitalization. One of the central instruments for FIATA is the FBL, among others” Badat emphasized.

For more details, please visit: http://epaper.transportjournal.com/en/reader/?/ED5154C9D/32-33or

FIATA Seeking Dialogue – A Message from WG Sea Chairman

Large shipping lines are annoyed about incorrectly declared consignments of dangerous gods. FIATA does not want to solve the problem with fines but through dialogues and local data exchange.

“Everyone wants freight on a ship to be safe and anyone who deliberately gives incorrect information should indeed be punished. There are already instruments in place for this however” WG Sea Chairman Mr. Jens Roemer emphasized

For access to the document, please go to: http://epaper.transportjournal.com/en/reader/?/ED5154C9D/45

2019 FIATA World Congress Presentation – Available on FIATA Website

Each year, FIATA holds a World Congress. This international event brings together some of the most interesting speakers from the freight forwarding and transport world to discuss the past year but also the future of the industry.

Presentations from speakers who participated in the 2019 FIATA World Congress are now available on the FIATA Website. Covering topics such as freight security, drone technology, connectivity in customs, freight insurance and much more.

For access please go to: https://fiata.com/about-fiata/congresses.html

TRAFFIC and FIATA Launch Digital Course for Freight Forwarders

FIATA and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, launched a new digital course “Prevention of Wildlife Trafficking” during the FIATA World Congress 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa on October 4th.

The course was developed in partnership with TRAFFIC with support from USAID through the Wildlife Trafficking Response Assessment and Priority Setting (Wildlife TRAPS) Project and is available for free through FIATA’s Logistics Academy. The course was launched in English, but will soon also be available in other languages, including Chinese, Spanish and French.

For more details, please visit: https://fiata.proversity.org/courses/course-v1:FIA+TRA001+2019/about

FIATA issues guide to help forwarders combat corruption

FIATA said that as a sector deeply involved in cross-border trade and frequently interacting with public officials, the international logistics and freight forwarding industry has a relatively high risk of exposure to corruption or bribery.

Richard Gluck, chair of FIATA’s advisory body legal matters, said: “Our member companies requested a guide to combat bribery and corruption. This best practices paper, developed with support from FIATA’s Customs Affairs Institute, emphasizes the significance of establishing and implementing a systematic anti-bribery policy in the enterprise, with a strong leadership commitment against bribery behaviour.

For access to the document, please go to: https://fiata.com/media/documents-for-download.html

Freight forwarders may lose licences for not registering with CRFFN

The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Sam Nwakohu, has said freight forwarders who refused to register with the council on or before December, 2019, will not get their licences renewed by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

Towards this end, he advised all freight forwarders in the country to take advantage of the window of opportunity provided to register or risk being shut out at the expiration of the deadline.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/freight-forwarders-may-lose-licences-for-not-registering-with-crffn.html

 

WORLD ECONOMY

Logistics leaders suggest quickest routes for decarbonizing shipping

Globally, freight makes up about 15 percent of global energy demand, according to the green business advocacy group BSR. That’s a lot of fuel, but industry advocates in the transportation and logistics field are working hard to decarbonize while they still have time. At VERGE 2019, shipping industry leaders convened to discuss their plans, their challenges and their hopes for a radically different – and greener – delivery future.

The shipping industry has made big strides in recent years on fuel efficiency, determining better ways to go further on less. Earlier this month, Maersk partnered with agribusiness Cargill to develop and test new technologies with a view to continuing to accelerate progress on lowering emissions.

For more details, please visit: https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/logistics-leaders-suggest-quickest-routes-for-decarbonizing-shipping/

Flexport partners with SF Express for smarter logistics in China

Freight forwarder Flexport is partnering with Chinese logistics specialist SF Express to offer a one-stop-shop for freight services, including full container load (FCL) ocean shipping and air cargo.

It stated that the Flexport and SF Express partnership will allow Chinese businesses to get “real-time visibility into the status of shipments through the tech-driven Flexport platform while taking advantage of data automation and analytics to develop more efficient processes and procedures”.

For more details, please visit: https://www.aircargonews.net/airlines/freighter-operator/flexport-partners-with-sf-express-for-smarter-logistics-in-china/

Alphabet’s Advanced Logistics Summit highlighted expansion plans

Google’s parent company Alphabet held a closed-door meeting last week, called the Alphabet Advanced Logistics Summit, with representatives from logistics providers and e-commerce retailers, including FedEx, JD.com, Deliv, and Flexe, reports CNBC.

Alphabet is likely looking to expand its logistics offerings to claim a share of the fast-growing e-commerce market. E-commerce sales are expected to generate $5 trillion globally on an annual basis by 2021, up from an estimated $3.5 trillion in 2019, according to eMarketer.

FIATA believes eCommerce has the potentiality to boost economies locally, by allowing local merchants access to new and far away markets and customers by means of digital instruments and expert logistics, with the creation of significant economic, social and environmental gains. Read more in our position paper.

For more details, please visit: https://www.businessinsider.com/alphabet-scopes-out-larger-logistics-plays-2019-10?r=US&IR=T

Temperature Control and Logistics 2020 – 27-30th January 2020

The Temperature Control and Logistics forum remains the industries foremost operational and hands on conference to discuss everything logistics, supply chain and temperature controlled for the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Across four days of workshops, keynote presentations, case studies, interactive think tank discussions and networking – we will ensure that the industry leaves with the strategies, solutions and partners to overcome their most pressing operational challenges in order to make industry transformation and – patient care – possible.

For more details, please visit: https://www.pharmalogisticsiq.com/events-temperaturecontrolledlogistics

 

SEA FREIGHT

MSC links with logistics start-up MatchLog to drive efficiency

MSC has partnered with an Indian start-up to help it triangulate its containers, reducing costs and boosting efficiency. MatchLog Solutions, founded in July, will help the line reposition its empties in India. If used across the country, it is thought lines could make savings of some $10bn a year by cutting the 40% wastage seen in the sector

MatchLog has created its offering built around technology and data (enabled by artificial intelligence and robotic process automation), backed by a transportation network of 8,000 trailers and seven virtual on wheels triangulation points to turn around and match-back containers with resultant reduction in empty repositioning on vessels and empty runs in the hinterland.

For more details, please visit: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/logistics/global-container-giant-msc-picks-indian-logistics-start-up-matchlog-to-drive-efficiencies-and-lower-costs/article29672483.ece#

A global shipping revolution is weeks away – Here are the likely winners and losers

On January 1, 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will impose new emissions standards designed to significantly curb pollution produced by the world’s ships. Amid a broader push toward cleaner energy markets, the IMO is poised to ban shipping vessels using fuel with a sulfur content higher than 0.5%, compared to the present upper limit level of 3.5%.

Starting in 2020, ships found in violation of the new law risk being impounded and ports in cooperating countries are expected to police visiting vessels. More than 170 countries, including the U.S., have signed on to the fuel change.

FIATA, in one of its position papers, ask policy makers to not only focus on enacting legislation that will set GHG target emissions for which the industry must remain compliant. But to look at the glass half full and enact policy that would enable infrastructure development, technological research, and tracking procedures leading to enhanced connectivity and efficient transport operations that would in turn stimulate economic growth.

For more details, please visit: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/30/imo-2020-the-winners-and-losers-of-a-global-shipping-revolution.html

 

AIR FREIGHT

Cargo bosses fear reputational risk from trade sanctions

Around 80% of cargo businesses named reputational risk as driving their trade sanctions and export risk compliance programmes as the US authorities have already imposed a record $1.3bn in penalties this year.

Accuity, the provider of financial crime screening and payments solutions, said that its survey made it clear that “the cargo sector cannot afford to be a weak link in the supply chain”.

Read more at https://www.aircargonews.net/freight-forwarder/cargo-bosses-fear-reputational-risk-from-trade-sanctions-as-us-imposes-1-3bn-in-penalites-for-2019/

The New WOW Air Will Now Be A Cargo Airline?!

WOW Air’s relaunch is delayed, but it’s now being reported that the new carrier will be flying within weeks. The catch is that they’ll be transporting freight rather than people. WOW Air ceased operations this March, though the airline is making a comeback. The person behind this is an American businesswoman, Michele Ballarin, who is otherwise best known for negotiating with pirates and warlords.

She purchased WOW Air’s assets, though for a while the deal had been called off over failure to pay the purchase price. The purchase price for WOW Air’s assets was reported to be around $1.5 million at the time, though then it ended up being only a bit over $400K.

For more details, please visit: https://onemileatatime.com/wow-air-cargo/

 

RAIL AND ROAD FREIGHT

Amazon’s brand-new tractors have hit the road

Amazon’s branded tractors have hit the road in the megaretailer’s latest push into logistics. Several truck drivers told Business Insider that they saw the branded tractors in states including Pennsylvania, Texas, and Ohio. Business Insider broke the news earlier this month that Volvo and Kenworth were manufacturing the branded tractors.

Jose Aguilar, a truck driver, spotted an Amazon-branded tractor trailer at an Amazon fulfillment center in Manteca, California, a small city about 80 miles east of San Francisco. (That fulfillment center is near Stockton Metropolitan Airport, a regional airport whose Amazon partnership appears to be driving growth in cargo volumes.)

For more details, please visit: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-branded-tractors-trucking-threat-2019-10?r=US&IR=T

China accelerates construction of freight links

The National Development & Reform Commission has issued instructions to accelerate the construction of freight lines to improve the last-mile connectivity of ports, industrial plants, mining sites and logistics parks.
The programme covers 127 rail links totalling 1 586 km in 24 provinces and municipalities. These range in length from a 0·9 km line for use by automotive group Volkswagen at Nanhai port in Guangdong province to a 64 km line connecting the Xuwei port area in Lianyungang with the national network.

FIATA has advocated for improving connectivity through regional infrastructure being essential for prosperity and sustainable growth. This is the most effective way to contribute to poverty reduction in a great many countries of the world. Cross-border infrastructure projects have helped raise household incomes through improved access to markets and enhanced trade and investment by reducing the cost of doing business, and private sector development through creating business opportunities.

For more details, please visit: https://www.railwaygazette.com/freight/china-accelerates-construction-of-freight-links/54852.article

 

INNOVATIONS

JD.com unveils 5G smart logistics site

JD.com has launched a logistics park powered by 5G networks that it says will enhance site operations and drive its Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) strategy. Located in Beijing, the warehousing facility features a new monitoring system that can detect and assess problems that occur on-site, in real-time.

The Chinese e-commerce giant said 5G provided the bandwidth to increase the efficiency of its IIoT capabilities “on a large scale” and facilitate “instantaneous communication” between its staff and machines. With its real-time monitoring system, it would be able to track the location and routes of forklifts and pallets as well as receive preemptive alerts if there was an anomaly.

For more details, please visit: https://www.zdnet.com/article/jd-com-unveils-5g-smart-logistics-site/

Looking to become the central hub for logistics management, Shipwell

Shipwell, the software platform for managing trucking logistics, has raised $35 million and is expanding its suite of services to become a full-service hub for logistics management.
The Austin-based company works with multiple service providers – including the logistics services unicorn Flexport  – but operates as a marketplace for shippers to connect with freight companies and online tools to manage those shipments. In effect, the company is pitching to any retailer or outlet a version of the proprietary logistics management toolkit that has made Amazon so successful.

For more details, please visit: https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/24/looking-to-become-the-central-hub-for-logistics-management-shipwell-raises-35-million/