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News Desk


e-AWB set to become default air cargo contract


IN THE AIR The electronic Air Waybill (e-AWB) will become the default contract of carriage for all air cargo shipments on e-AWB enabled trade lanes by 1 January 2019, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), in order to help accelerate digitalisation in the sector. It said: “This key industry milestone ushers air cargo into a new era where digital processes will be the norm and paper processes will be the exception”.


Speeding delivery of information to airfreight supply chain personnel is


reducing truck congestion at London Heathrow, according to the airport advanced information system (AIS) computer users and the CCS-UK User Group. The users say that they cannot change the Heathrow infrastructure, so are changing the way they work, focusing on capacity management, collating cargo off-airport, and then delivering just in time, ideally 12 to 24 hours ahead of the flight.


IATA data for global air freight markets shows that demand, measured in freight tonne kilometers, rose 2% in September


2018, compared with the same period the year before. This pace of growth was relatively unchanged from the previous month, but was less than half the five-year average growth rate of 5.1%.


IN THE WAREHOUSE Brexit preparations are leading to a build-up in demand for UK warehousing, with a ‘just-in-case’ supply chain strategy part of the increasingly anxious planning that British companies are undertaking in case the UK exit from the European Union comes without an agreement over complicated trading and customs procedures.


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The European parliament has adopted the proposal for a directive on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures (Eurovignette Directive). According to the adopted text, all light and heavy duty vehicles in the EU will be charged depending on their actual road use and the pollution generated. EU countries using time-based charges will need to switch to distance- based charges (tolls) from 2023 in the case of trucks and buses, and from 2027 for vans and minibuses.


OVERLAND Global demand for road transport services is set to surge in the years to come but many operators are not equipped to overcome the significant challenges facing the industry such as digitalisation, driver shortages and Brexit, according to a major new report from trade body the IRU. ‘The future of road transport’ predicts that by 2030, road transport operators will move 31,000 billion tonne kilometres globally and up to 51,000 by 2050.


www.bifa.org Madeleine Matheson, from Impress Communications, reviews some recent news that might impact on Members’ business


The UK government is advising international hauliers to be prepared for a possible no-deal exit from the EU by obtaining new travel permits. Government advice suggests that if there is no deal, it is possible that UK hauliers will need a European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) permit in order to travel in Europe. To get such a permit in time, hauliers will have to make an application between 26 November and 21 December.


The senior traffic commissioner has warned UK hauliers to keep their qualifications and development up to date. Richard Turfitt said that key staff, such as transport managers, should be proactive in keeping current with new guidance on haulage regulations. He said this applies in particular to those whose qualification is more than 10 years old, those who have not worked for an operator for the past five years, or anybody who is called before a public inquiry.


ON THE OCEAN The chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping has highlighted serious concerns about the challenge presented by the US “to the proven benefits of multilateralism and the existing global trading order underpinned by a system of international rules and norms which has brought peace and prosperity since World War Two”.


IN BUSINESS Global freight forwarding growth this year is expected to be barely half the level of last year, due to the petering out of positive effects of the recent 18-month restocking cycle, according to new analysis by Transport Intelligence (Ti). The global freight forwarding market achieved growth of 4.9%, year over year, in the first half of 2018, according to new mid-year market figures from Ti, with airfreight forwarding expanding 5.3% and seafreight forwarding growing 4.3%.


December 2018


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