Issue 2 2014 Freight Business Journal


FullScreen View Road freight exchanges – buyer beware


New entrants to the road freight exchange sector - many of which are in Eastern Europe - are more likely to cause problems than established players, according to the International Road Transport Union (IRU). As reported in the last issue of


FBJ, the IRU has issued guidelines on the use of freight exchanges, after a survey revealing a number of problems encountered by members. “Some well-established freight


exchanges work really well,” emphasised Jens Huedel, head of sustainable development in the goods transport sector at the IRU. “There are good companies in the sector with control procedures in place. But most of these are in Western Europe. There are a lot of start-ups - primarily in Eastern Europe - and these tend to be the ones that cause more difficulties.” A survey of IRU member


companies carried out last Autumn showed that 43% of incidents was


fraudulent caused by non-


payment. In 15-16% of reported incidents, the information obtained when booking the job was used for vehicle and load thefts.


“We know these problems


are increasing, although we have no statistics supporting this knowledge,” says Huedel. “Maybe we have triggered more awareness of fraudulent and potentially fraudulent incidents by our analysis and guidelines. But we think the number of online freight exchanges will continue to grow.” Exchanges bring other problems,


whether they are fraudulent or not. “Although they can reduce empty running and increase load factors, they also increase price pressure on the industry, as shippers hunt for the cheapest carrier online, Huedel points out. Even worse, some hauliers buy


and sell jobs through the exchanges, resulting in several layers of sub- contractors that the shipper knows nothing about. “Some companies make their living this way - bidding for a job, then selling it at a lower price to a sub-contractor, who may sub-contract it again,” explains Huedel. “This may go on several times - and the shipper loses control completely.” UK Road Haulage Association


members have also reported problems with exchanges. “Some


IT NEWS Customs tariff goes online


Freight soſtware firm ASM is to launch an integrated Customs Tariff Viewer at the coming Multimodal show in Birmingham in late April as part of the latest update to its Sequoia customs declaration soſtware. ASM says this makes Sequoia the first and only soſtware solution to provide a complete, fully-searchable electronic customs tariff, combining all the visual benefits of the traditional paper tariff with the advantages of searchable electronic media. It is also available as a stand-alone product. The traditional three-volume paper tariff weighs 12 kilos and searching it takes a lot of patience, says ASM, while monthly updates involve swapping out lots of pages. Moreover, paper tarffis don’t fit in with current ‘green’ concerns. ASM says its Customs Tariff Viewer offers same layout, look and feel as the printed tariff but now searching is easy, it updates automatically, and importantly it ‘lives’ on a desktop where it’s always accessible. As well as being freely downloadable, the Customs Tariff Viewer is offered as a stand- alone product available to anyone, ASM customer or not. Customs Tariff data is supplied directly to ASM from Customs and Sequoia fetches data from a central server on demand, ensuring that it is always up-to-date and the most accurate available. For more details see: http://www.asm.org.uk/en/support/downloads/


Champ launches new airfreight platform


CHAMP Cargosystems has launched CargoUpdate, described as a comprehensive airfreight community platform designed to enhance communications among airlines and freight forwarders. Champ says that airlines and GSAs can easily publish and disseminate operational and news announcements to the global air cargo community and the portal is fully prepared and optimised for smartphones and tablets, using its comprehensive air cargo portfolio of core airline and messaging systems. Airlines can communicate flight and capacity changes as well as updates, such as fuel surcharges to the market, generating significant communications and commercial efficiencies to all parties. Innovata’s FlightMaps tool is embedded into CargoUpdate enabling airlines and freight forwarders to quickly obtain an overview of all currently available routes operated by over 800 airlines at over 3,500 airports around the world. This and other products will be further integrated into CargoUpdate over the coming weeks and months.


By Marcia Macleod


jobs being quoted were actually illegal,” says Peter Cullum, head of international affairs. “For example, they want a haulier to deliver in a time not possible unless the driver breaks the speed limit. In addition, a lot of exchange work goes to van drivers, who may cheat and not have log books. “There are so many scams going


on. We advise members to know their customer: don’t take a job without checking the shipper out. For shippers looking for a haulier, we believe our code of conduct gives shippers some security and confidence that the company being booked is okay - but they should still do their own checks, especially if they have a valuable load or one requiring Customs clearance. “It is important to report any


fraudulent incidents to the police,” adds Huedel. “Relevant bodies such as the local road haulage association


should also be informed.” There always seems to be a sting


in the tail of every technological advancement. And however advanced our technology becomes, the old saying buyer beware still holds true. l Transport Exchange Group’s 4,500 users will benefit


from a


deal with Navman Wireless to provide telematics to optimise fleet performance. Registered hauliers, forwarders and couriers will be able to utilise vehicle tracking systems to promote available capacity and match precise vehicle locations with more than 40,000 loads posted on the freight exchange each month. Members and their customers will also be able to view the location and progress of loads.


///IT NEWS Online pharma


Information exchange is also being embraced by some vertical industry sectors, most notably pharmaceuticals. The need for information sharing to manage pharma and life science shipments throughout their transportation was promoted at the Pharma Shippers’ Forum, organised and co-hosted by Schiphol Airport, at the recent Air Cargo India event. Pharma companies highlighted


the need for greater collaboration; a resistance to share information; and the inability of some carriers to participate in the flow of information from forwarders. The Indian pharma sector


suffers from the same barriers that have long affected attempts to collaborate and share information in all sectors, such as a lack of standards for handling instructions and procedures. Delegates insisted that companies throughout the pharma supply chain need one running document from origin to destination to enable better control of the process. “We need a platform that allows sharing of information to protect


the integrity of each shipment,” emphasised Enno Osinga, senior VP cargo at Schiphol. “There is no point in continuing to identify the problems if we are not prepared to address and solve them.” Whether the pharma industry


- in India or anywhere else - can overcome the inherent barriers to collaboration - the lack of standards and resistance to information sharing - remains to be seen.. Even the automotive industry, which has led the field in collaboration and the development of industry- wide exchange systems, has not escaped these problems altogether. Companies like to talk about


sharing information, but when it comes down to it, a combination of different technology platforms, mistrust of technology, especially the Internet, and commercial protectionism lead to collaboration projects being abandoned, oſten before they’ve even got off the ground. The same difficulties were being


mentioned at the birth of EDI - and that was at least 30 years ago. Plus ça change...


Exchange idea takes to the water


A maritime information exchange is being launched by the EU as part of its Maritime Transport Strategy. Part of the EU Digital Agenda, the e-Maritime initiative, known as eMar, aims to improve the efficiency and increase the competitiveness of maritime transport in Europe. The three-year EU-funded


research project, which finishes at the end of this year, is developing and implementing advanced shipping management technologies; strategic fleet management; personnel


management, crewing and crew training; chartering dashboards which can be used to monitor rates and trends from brokers; ship condition monitoring; maintenance and emergency support systems; load planning and optimisation; integration with routing, port systems and cargo monitoring systems; and voyage management systems. eMar also covers additional


aspects of shipping, such as supply chain management, intermodal transport chain planning, intermodal corridor design; and


performance management and benchmarking. Interfaces with third party


services such as e-navigation support services, e-maintenance services, e-rules (to support compliance) and e-commerce support tools are also being developed. Pilot ‘tools’ to facilitate


daily transactions between the maritime agencies and governmental and administrative services


throughout


should be available by this summer.


the EU


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