Freight Business Journal

FBJ 4 FREIGHT BUSINESS JOURNAL

CONTACTS 2013 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

RAY GIRVAN Tel: +44 (0)1691 718 045

EDITORIAL

CHRIS LEWIS - EDITOR +44 (0)7778 106433

chris.lewis@fj-online.com MARTIN ROEBUCK PHIL HASTINGS JAMES GRAHAM

CIRCULATION

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Issue 1 2013 FROM THE EDITOR A new Institution report by the of Mechanical

Engineers (Global Food; Waste Not, Want Not - http:// www.imeche.org) warns that an astonishing 50% of all food produced in the world ends up as waste and calls for urgent action to prevent it. As delegates to the Cool Logistics conference in Antwerp

last September

or readers of our feature on the subject in the last issue will already know, in the developing world a great deal of food is squandered through poor storage, handling or transportation, long before it reaches the retailer or the consumer. It will take time and money, but these are problems that can be addressed through investment in roads, warehouses and equipment. What is less encouraging is that, in the developed world, far less food is

wasted in the supply chain up to the retailer’s back door but virtually the same amount ends up in the bin because it ends up being thrown away by the consumer, or because supermarkets reject it because its physical appearance is not up to scratch. If we are going to feed the estimated three billion world population by 2100, we need to have a rethink.

These days, Wikipedia’s has an instant – though sometimes dubious – answer for almost any query. So it was that, for reasons that escape us, we were reading its list of the allegedly world’s most dangerous cities. One thing that struck us (if the online oracle is to be believed) is that the

vast majority of them are in Latin America. Big US cities like New York and Chicago have long ago ceded the dubious honour of being the places where you are least likely to come back from an evening stroll outside your hotel with all your vital organs still intact. The other interesting thing that struck us is how many of them were also

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the locations for seaports. International trade does seem to be a magnet for criminals – either the cargo itself, or the opportunities it offers for smuggling drugs, illegal weapons or contraband. As speakers at the recent Transport Security Conference in London

confirmed, in an increasingly globalised world, the freight industry is becoming ever more of a target for the ill-intentioned.

As recounted elsewhere in these pages, Liverpool has finally the go-ahead for its new container terminal and plans to start work on building it during 2013. It remains to be seen if the northern city, once among the country’s most important maritime gateways, can begin to reverse the half-century trend for major lines to concentrate their activity on the southern half of the UK. At the other end of the country, DP World’s London gateway will also begin the process of creating a major container port expressly to serve the country’s capital. It promises to be an interesting year.

Guest column by Peter MacSwiney, ASM chairman

What is security for? Security levels at airports are unlikely to decline and will continue to irritate shippers and travellers - although most people accept the reasons behind such precautions. They are seen as a necessary evil. The question is what do they achieve? Firstly, they highlight the potential to use a high-profile hijacking or

bringing down of an aircraft as an instrument of terror. They make it harder for terrorists to carry out such actions and they improve (but do not guarantee) safety. But many terrorist groups have moved from causing mass-

By Chris Lewis

///NEWS

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 >>

FBJ will increase our frequency over the next few months. Our next issue will include

features on Ireland, far East, UK North-West, Heavyliſt, Animal Transport & Logistics Property. 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

circulation >>

emailing your details to circulation@fj-online.com or the address cover sheet included with this issue.

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casualties to causing commercial disruption. As I have commented before, the aim now is to cripple commerce and that makes freight a key potential target. So do we improve security through the freight channel by increasing

the number and level of checks or is it through targeted intelligence and sensible risk assessment? If we accept that the objective of the terrorist is to damage business then perhaps a blanket increase in security regimes does no more than cause delay and cost money. Yet all security regimes are there for a purpose. And that’s where the debate should begin - how much of our current security falls into the realm of simply ‘being seen to be doing something’ rather than actually taking the right action? The objective is to stop dangerous consignments getting on to aircraft.

It’s not to complete a job in a specific time-period or tick a number of ‘job-done’ boxes. It’s not following a set of standard tasks yet at the same time losing sight of what you’re supposed to be doing. The focus is not on how long detection takes or compliance with a set of rules – it means understanding the risks and assessing them accordingly. Why do UK Customs work so well with the trade? Everyone knows what’s going on and the system operates in an integrated fashion from the outset – security has to operate in the same way. To be effective does not mean checking all freight, all the time. All that

does is increase the time it takes to load aircraft and to clear customs. The focus has to lie on targeted risk – by destination or by route. No matter what security regime you implement, someone will get through. Forget the assumption that ‘intruders’ are unsophisticated; they’re not. As screening processes improve, so does the camouflage. That means a successful system needs to allow people more latitude

to deal with issues as they understand them. If it’s accepted that 99% of business is legitimate then accept it and instigate security processes accordingly. If we should revise that figure to 95% or perhaps 75%, then accept that. The key is actually targeted risk assessment, planned for accordingly.

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