4 FBJ FREIGHT BUSINESS JOURNAL CONTACTS 2011


SALES JOHN SAUNDERS - PUBLISHER Tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 Fax: +44 (0)151 427 1796 Mobile: +44 (0)7932 102026 john.saunders@fbj-online.com


RAY GIRVAN Tel: +44 (0)1691 718 045 Mobile: +44 (0)7790 000443 ray.girvan@fbj-online.com


EDITORIAL


CHRIS LEWIS - EDITOR Tel: +44 (0)208 645 0666 Mobile: +44 (0)7778 106433 chris.lewis@fbj-online.com


GILES LARGE Tel: +44 (0)1728 685 558


MARTIN ROEBUCK Tel: +44 (0)20 8657 0138


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LORRAINE CHRISTIAN Tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 lorraine.christian@fbj-online.com


WILL PLANT Tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 will.plant@fbj-online.com


HEAD OFFICE


FREIGHT BUSINESS JOURNAL Saunders Associates Ltd Station House Mersey Road Liverpool UK L17 6AG


Tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 Fax: +44 (0)151 427 1796 Email: info@fbj-online.com Web: www.fbj-online.com


Chris Lewis


NEWS FROM THE EDITOR


Most of us still actively involved in the freight and shipping industries are too young to remember a time when there was no Johnson Stevens Agencies, so getting used to the idea that this fixture of the liner trade is no longer an independent entity will be very difficult.


At least the business that Derek Johnson started back in 1976 will live on as a separate entity, JSA Global, within the Kestrel portfolio. And Derek Johnson himself is still actively involved in the industry through his forwarding and NVOCC interests,


which have not been directly affected.


It only goes to show that nothing in life is guaranteed, especially in business. While there were special circumstances in Johnson Stevens Agencies’ case, notably the decision by the bank to freeze funds after European sanctions were imposed on one of its clients, Iran’s IRISL, its problems were also a result of the generally tight lending situation and the overall economic situation. It’s scarcely a coincidence that the news about Johnson Stevens came at about the same time as a Government report threatening the banks with penalties if they do not increase lending to businesses soon. Liner agency is a particularly difficult business to thrive in. Shipping lines aren’t exactly famous for splashing their money around so margins are tight. Line amalgamations and the disappearance of some of the smaller niche operations into larger groups have reduced the scope for agencies to some extent. Cynics might also argue that, if a liner agent is successful, it will always end with the principal setting up its own operation. That said, offices and staff are expensive and some lines might find liner agency a more attractive option in the current climate. Interestingly, the airfreight equivalent of shipping liner agencies, the Generals Sales Agents (GSAs) or General Sales and Service Agents (GSSAs) in Europe seem to be thriving – or at any rate, they are doing plenty of business, which is not necessarily quite the same thing. Many carriers have been looking at ways of cutting costs and one way of doing that is to farm out smaller activities such as freight sales.


It may just be coincidence, but conversations with two freight forwarders – at the opposite ends of the size spectrum and in completely different parts of the country – revealed concerns about staff shortages. This may seem bizarre, at the tail end of a major recession, but there is no shortage of no shortage of job-seekers. What both our contacts complained about was the sheer difficulty in finding people with genuine freight forwarding experience. As one of the forwarders said to me, “most of the people we see are capable of processing information but very few are able to actual carry out the freight forwarding function in the true sense of the word”.


If our informants’ experience is representative, it seems that sometime during the past few years the freight industry has stopped training people – or, possibly, people have received training but then been lured away into other sectors. We suspect that the roots of the problem lie in the boom years of the past decade. Why go into something like freight forwarding, if other sectors like IT, banking or insurance seemingly offer more rewards and greater prestige?


The industry in this country has always suffered because most people probably don’t even know what a freight forwarder does, NEXT ISSUE


Our next issue will include features on European pallet networks and deepsea and short sea roro. There will also be our regular IT Section and news pages. For further details contact John Saunders - +44 (0) 151 427 6800 john.saunders@fbj-online.com


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and it still isn’t seen as a true ‘profession’ in the way that it might be in, say, the German-speaking world.


It might be locking the stable door after the horse has bolted, but perhaps what is needed is a concerted effort to put the industry on the agenda of school and university careers advisors.


It’s always been somewhat puzzling that that great bureaucracy and consumer of the public’s cash, the European Commission, the very antithesis of entrepreneurship and the free market, should so concern itself over whether private companies are playing by the rules of fair competition. News reaches us of yet another ‘dawn raid’ with the Commission’s competition apparatchiks turning up unannounced at the offices of shipping lines in Europe. It all sounds very dramatic, but by all accounts the visits were quite cordial, almost routine affairs, and not totally unexpected. As far as we know, no doors had to be broken down nor shouts of ‘You’re nicked!’ or any other histronics.


There had been a few murmurings of lines colluding over rate increases ever since shipping line conferences disappeared in Europe a couple of years ago. It’s also true that as an industry that has only recently abolished conferences, it was always going to be under the Commission’s special scrutiny.


That said, the fact that so many shipping lines have put out so many similar increases at about the same time can hardly have helped give the impression of an industry that has put the conference era behind it.


As we went to press, the first reports were coming in of disruption to flights from a second Icelandic volcano. By the time this appears, we will know whether we are in for a re-run of last year’s chaos or whether it will be a false alarm. But with the holiday season fast approaching, Bognor or New Brighton suddenly seem much more attractive.


ISSUE 3 2011


FBJ has already become established as the only UK and one of the few pan-European Multimodal newspapers. The comments we have received prove there is still room for a hard copy publication with the freighting industry. You don’t have to look at a screen all day!


FBJ boasts the most informative and authoritative source of information with unrivalled in-depth knowledge of the rapidly changing freight business environment.


As the definitive publication within the sea, air, road and rail freight sectors, each issue includes regular news and analysis, in-depth coverage discovering the business decisions behind the news stories, shipper and exporter reports, opinion, geographical features, political and environmental issues.


If you have any stories or letters which should be of interest or any feedback on FBJ, please contact our editor Chris Lewis - +44 (0)208 6450666 chris.lewis@fbj-online.com


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