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FBJ 4 FREIGHT BUSINESS JOURNAL


CONTACTS 2012 SALES


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


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EDITORIAL


CHRIS LEWIS - EDITOR +44 (0)7778 106433


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Issue 2 2012 FROM THE EDITOR


Back in the mid-1980s, as a young(ish) reporter on what was then one of the UK’s two multimodal freight newspapers, the TNT phenomenon had lately hit


Britain. At a stroke,


deliveries that took several days to accomplish, happened overnight – and with guaranteed regularity. TNT-IPEC as it then was,


reflecting one of the myriad mergers and takeovers that have characterised the express industry ever since, was bold, it was brash; tales abounded in the rest of the industry about the go-getting Australian management’s aggressive techniques. Reputedly, the inside of the toilet cubicles at company HQ were painted bright red to discourage dallying over a newspaper and a cigarette. I once made the mistake of phoning the TNT sales office with an enquiry about parcels pricing; it was several months before the follow-up calls from eager salespeople finally ceased. Back in those days, the two US giants largely stuck to their home market, although UPS


By Chris Lewis


was making a name for itself in Germany. Federal Express had a brief and fairly disastrous excursion into the UK and European market, before cutting back its operations on this side of the Atlantic and opting for a more measured approach. DHL was beginning to become important too, though mainly as a courier and small package shipper; this was long before the knock of the German postman was heard. And in those days, logistics or distribution as many of us still called it, was largely something that supermarkets did, not express parcels firms. How times change. TNT has grown, but not fast enough to satisfy the needs of a voracious


global market. Now, as part of the Dutch postal group, TNT itself has become a takeover target. It will be sad to see the famous initials disappear – surely it was no accident that they might


also be taken for a type of explosive – but it’s no exaggeration to say that in its time, TNT virtually created the express industry and in no small measure, changed the world. Displaying the 20-20 hindsight that container shipping line executives are noted for, Maersk


Line’s new chief executive officer Søren Skou recently declared at his first major press conference since taking the helm at the Danish giant: “If lines had bought new ships only when they could afford them, it would be a much more healthy industry.” But, as management types are fond of saying, ‘we are where we are’ and the industry does


face a major task in, firstly, getting capacity nearer to actual demand and restoring a measure of profitability. Maersk’s own average return on investment in the past few years has been a paltry 2% or so – and it was one of the better performers. As Mr Skou said, shippers will have to start paying more if they want to continue enjoy


quality services. Encouragingly for him and his competitors, this point has been taken on board by shippers – or at any rate the European and British Shippers’ Councils. The problem the lines face though, is that while their customers may nod sympathetically


when they make the case for higher rates, when it comes down to spending hard-earned cash, we all like a bargain. No matter what we are shopping for, whether it’s a new cooker or a 40ſt box from Asia to Europe, price is one of the first things we look at. Sometimes it’s the only thing we look at. Unless the lines can take a serious amount of capacity off the world’s major trade lanes – or there is a sudden and unexpected surge in demand - the downward pressure on rates will continue.


Still, some folk are optimistic. Hard on the heels of the announcement in January that Britain’s newest port, London Gateway would be open for business in 2013, the port of Liverpool – not to be outdone by a bunch of southerners – has revealed that its own ambitious Liverpool 2 development will be operational in 2015. On the other side of the Pennines, PD Ports’ Teesport is making concrete progress – literally – with its plans to double container capacity. Similarly, Southampton is pushing ahead with its deepening and enlargement project. Felixstowe, the daddy of UK container ports, continues to expand and has just started work on its North rail terminal. Some of this is necessity. Recession or not, ships are getting bigger and ports must


somehow stump up the money for enlargement if they are to stay in the container handling game. But the new capacity should be perfectly timed for a true upturn in world trade in around 2-4 years’ time. So for once perhaps someone in our industry has got their timing right.


///OPINION


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@fj-online.com


next issue >> circulation >>


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Our next issue will include features on Malta, Freight Soſtware Guide


and UK North East There will also be our regular IT Section and news pages. For further details contact: John Saunders - +44 (0) 151 427 6800 john.saunders@fj-online.com


Could an obscure Suffolk branch line be a harbinger of things to come on the UK rail network? The port of Felixstowe boss has stirred up a good deal of controversy by suggesting that some lightly-used passenger trains be replaced by buses, to free up more paths for freight trains. The idea, it must be said, hasn’t gone down well with local rail users but as the economy recovers and if passenger and freight business on the rails continues to grow, similar decisions may have to be made on other parts of the network. Already, the Freight Transport Association is worried about lack of capacity for freight on key parts of the network as new schemes such as Crossrail thrust ever more passenger trains onto the network. A few years ago, the idea of passenger trains every 20 minutes between London and Manchester would have been dismissed as fantasy. Long term, the High Speed 2 line will provide relief to the southern end of the West Coast main line, but even here there are concerns that the extra long distance passenger traffic it generates could eat into capacity on the northern section of the route before it too can be duplicated by high speed lines.


The Multi-award Winning Specialist Recruiter for Freight, Logistics & Supply Chain Personnel


www.logiskills.com


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