International Forwarding Association Blog »
Global vaccinations of crews are not going fast enough to prevent outbreaks onboard vessels, resulting in trade and supply chain disruptions and endangering the life of seafarers. The fact that vaccinations are going too slowly is potentially slowing economic recovery for countries trying to pull out of a deep, pandemic-induced recession. Effect on Supply Chains Outbreaks onboard ships could have a significant negative impact on global supply chains now that Europe and the U.S. are heading for recovery and businesses are stocking up for the holiday season. Industry experts warn that supply chain disruptions are likely to occur as some… Read more
Distri24 is the new distribution division, composed and implemented by Corneel Geerts Transport Group and operating since April 2021 via its depot (Hub) in Venlo. It is a parallelized freight distribution network with a fast and reliable national coverage, serving a wide variety of customers. The service is provided in collaboration with local partners for the Netherlands and Luxembourg and has its own logistics infrastructure. The transports between the logistic branches are carried out overnight to save time. The size of the shipments can vary from one pallet to several. Distri24 guarantees delivery within 24-48 hours in the Benelux, depending… Read more
The congestion caused by a recent outbreak in Southern China has been expected to impact air freight in summer. Yet, despite predictions that the chaos at major ports would cause a modal shift from sea to air, the volume of converted orders has only slightly increased. Experts are not really sure why this is happening but it can be high air freight rates that are causing drop in demand. Reasons for High Rates About ¾ of freight capacity was removed in 2020 due to a significant reduction in travel. Demand for personal protective equipment skyrocketed, resulting in record high… Read more
The freight transport industry has suffered significant supply chain disruptions due to the ongoing global health crisis. Intermodal transport in Europe, including truck carriers and railroad shippers, has been affected. Ports around the world have seen a reduction in cargo volumes due to uncertainty. Parcel delivery companies have been the least affected as they face less competition from cargo transported by air. Now due to a new outbreak in China, a shipping crisis is looming. Effect of Supply Chain Disruptions before the New Outbreak in China Disruptions are set to continue throughout 2021, possibly resulting in Christmas shortages. The industry… Read more
With global warming, supply chain networks face considerable risks due to climate disasters, severe weather, and the threat of future pandemics. When wildfires rage, ice covers the roadways, and high winds howl, many businesses are forced to shut down operations. Supply chains have to do the exact opposite and find alternative ways to ship commodities. Consumers expect small shipments to arrive on time even in harsh weather. What is more, shipping cardo is even more important during severe weather and climate disasters when essential goods are blocked in affected areas. As threats are constantly evolving, the shipping industry must find… Read more
Logistics companies are increasingly faced with a shortage of commercial truck drivers due to a combination of global economic downturn, Covid-19, and the Brexit. Driver shortages have been a global problem even before the start of the coronavirus crisis but recent studies predict a 25 percent increase across all EU member countries. A combination of factors that industry experts have been warning about for a long time, driver shortages have resulted in a situation where European logistics companies and businesses find it increasingly difficult to move goods to shelves on time. They are also increasingly facing higher operating costs for… Read more
Dry bulk and tanker shipping for outbound and inbound trade to India have become expensive due to the recent coronavirus outbreak in India. The country is one of the major exporters of dry bulk commodities and refined products such as salt, steel, pellets, and iron ore. India also imports significant volumes of crude oil, vegetable oils, and coal. Yet, countries around the world have barred ships from berthing at their ports if they arrive from India and have called any Indian port during the last 2 – 4 weeks. For this reason, some shipping companies are seeking premiums for discharging… Read more
2020 has been a challenging and difficult year for global populations. The changes in how we live, work, and connect with others have been fundamental, with a shift to digital and the proliferation of Internet commerce. Other areas such as economic growth and fighting global poverty took a step back. The logistics industry has been one of the most impacted by the global pandemic, and some interesting trends have surfaced. From contactless deliveries and omnichannel services to green logistics, demand for refrigerated goods, and robotic process automation, here are some of the trends to watch for. Contactless Deliveries and Omnichnnel… Read more
Warehouse automation is a major trend amidst a coronavirus pandemic that already entered its second year. The resulting global recession and lockdowns across the world brought industrial activity to a near halt. As manufacturers began to gradually reopen and resume operations, forwarders throughout Europe found themselves faced with multiple challenges – e-commerce logistics, a growing demand for essential commodities, restricted mobility, and social distancing. As a result of all this, logistics providers have been forced to seek ways to optimize resource use, shorten loading and shipping times, and increase productivity. Many companies turned to warehouse automation in an attempt to… Read more
It is a strong name in the Norwegian Transport and Forwarding industry, which in 2021 looks back on 75 years of operation. We are quite proud, still being a family owned business in a market consisting of major constellations. Nevertheless, the Hakull-group is a strong brand looking back on 75 years. Today owners are Gudmund Hakull (73), Kjartan Hakull (50) and Lena Hakull (47). The financial situation in the group is solid. Total turnover last year passed € 55 Million Tallak Hovstad (55) is another key person in the Group. He started in the company back in 1996…. Read more
The number of coronavirus vaccine shipments is steadily increasing as rollout begins in more countries and more products become available. While the jabs are mostly transported by land and air, ships are also expected to join the race against the global pandemic. According to Financial Times, ships will get involved in vaccine distribution so that shots reach healthcare professionals instead of piling up in warehouse facilities. Why Use Ships? According to European logistics experts, vaccine supply and distribution is expected to exceed air freight capacity by the middle of 2021. Because of the surplus of jabs, the supply chain will… Read more
Every stage of the global supply chain is facing a shipping crisis and forcing forwarders to make significant changes to their operations. Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions have already resulted in additional operating expenses for businesses and reduced customer satisfaction. The main issue is the higher freight rates due to the difficulty of booking shipping slots, especially on certain dates, with many deliberating on keeping safety stocks. This strategy allows them to build extra time and use raw materials between deliveries. Some plants have even taken downtime due to shortages of raw materials. Others, especially in China, shut down temporarily because… Read more
Commercial road transport has been hard hit due to traffic restrictions and the economic downturn. The global economy fell into recession last year and is not expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels in 2021. Social and economic recovery from the global crisis depends on road transport which accounts for more than 80 percent of the logistics and transport services. At the same time, logistics operators are facing default and insolvency risk and few have benefited from cash grants and other types of financial incentives. Default Risk Freight forwarders throughout Europe and globally are facing very high or high… Read more
Being a perishable, temperature-sensitive commodity, vaccines are normally shipped by air. Amidst an ongoing pandemic in its second year, global rollout is the key to controlling the virus but airlines have been forced to scale down operations. This is mainly due to a significant decline in passenger traffic and flight restrictions. With hundreds of planes grounded for months, virtually all airlines have been hard hit. But even operating at full capacity, 8,000 Boing 747 cargo planes would be needed to deliver vaccines globally to each of the world’s 7.8 billion people. Not only this but shipping costs will increase substantially… Read more
For most people logistics companies are simply in the business of shipping cargo and goods from point of origin to final destination. While this is certainly true, they are also involved in data collection, analysis, and processing. Safe and efficient shipping requires data from a variety of sources such as analytics and transport management solutions, enterprise resource planning systems, and real-time navigation systems, to name a few. Freight forwarders also use sensors to monitor factors such as sudden starts and stops, speed, vibration, and temperature inside containers. And while data is valuable, just having it is not enough. Data integrity… Read more
The slow circulation of containers, together with increased cargo volumes, has led to supply chain disruptions and reduced capacity, resulting in significant delays and rate increases. Box shipping rates have spiked due to strong demand and container shortages and are projected to continue going up. Reasons for Slowdown in Circulation The slow circulation of containers is due to multiple factors, including higher volumes, increased demand, and reduced labor productivity at marine terminals and warehouses. While some are blaming carriers for reducing capacity to match demand with supply, the main issues seem to be service reliability and labor productivity, combined with… Read more
Rail freight is a cost-effective alternative to air freight for shipping cargo from China to Europe. Air delivery is expensive for both consignees and shippers while ocean freight transit times are slower, making rail transport a solution that sits in between. Why Use Rail Freight for Shipments from China As the borders between Europe and China remain open amidst the pandemic, rail freight is not facing any serious disruptions. There is also a trend of shipping more medical supplies and personal protective equipment by railway instead of by air freight. This is because demand has slowed down in recent months,… Read more
The parcel marketplace is facing serious challenges due to Covid-19, including difficult service conditions and lack of capacity resulting from a huge surge in B2C shipments. This has already led to increased operating and shipping costs for freight forwarders because carriers have implement peak surcharges. This trend has been ongoing since the onset of the global pandemic and is projected to continue until more vaccines are distributed to inoculate the global population. This is when more consumers and freight forwarders are expected to return to normal. Reasons for Shipping Price Hikes The shift to digital and the acceleration… Read more
The EU recently threatened to impose export controls on Covid-19 vaccines manufactured in Europe. This move came after AstraZeneca announced a significant reduction in the number of dozes it could deliver by March. As a result, a political crisis followed, with debates to block the export of vaccines to the North. In case the bloc decides to trigger the emergency provision, the new regulation would also require that pharmaceutical manufacturers report the destination and quantity of exports, enabling states to block vaccine flows. While the EU reversed its decision to impose controls, the question that begs to be answered is… Read more
Air freight is expensive compared to other modes of transportation and thus is limited by cost. Freight rates vary between €1.25 and €3.75, which makes it 12 – 16 times more expensive than sea transport and 4 – 5 times more costly than road freight. For this reason, it is usually used for items that are time-sensitive or of high value, including perishable seafood products and agricultural produce, electronics, consumer goods, fashion clothing, pharmaceuticals, documents, and production samples. Air transport is also used for emergency shipments and just-in-time production as well as for exports from developing countries, including commodities such… Read more
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