Sorting the lemons from the lies in airfreight booking
When will the money run out?
© Theerapan Bhumirat |
By Alex Lennane
Air freight booking platforms have resisted the urge to allow shippers to book online, fearing a backlash from carriers.
However, some forwarders say they have no objection to shippers accessing prices, having held tripartite discussions for years.
“I would have no issues with a carrier advertising directly to shippers,” said one independent, medium-sized forwarder.
“We would either be transparent with the client and agree a margin, which is the way of the world now, especially when you look at the ocean freight equivalent. ...
Comment on this article
John Smith
June 24, 2020 at 2:30 pmThis article sounds more like a booking platform advertising article than a piece of journalism. Title says “forwarders” (plural), but only one forwarder is interviewed. Although online bookings is the “next big thing”, I am not sure forwarders will benefit from it, and most of them definately mistrust them.
Alex Lennane
June 24, 2020 at 2:35 pmWhile only one forwarder may have been mentioned, we talk widely to lots of forwarders, but many prefer not to be quoted at all, however anonymously. As this forwarder suggests, there is more to the business than just one transparent rate quote.
MileX
June 25, 2020 at 12:27 amRubbish, name the mid-size forwarder who said that. Go on, name them if this isn’t complete bull and actually journalism
Alex Lennane
June 25, 2020 at 12:14 pmWe don’t name our off-the-record sources, but I can assure you I have better things to do than make stuff up! The forwarder in question responded to your comment: “It’s the multinationals – they try to keep it a dark art. It’s a glorified taxi cab booking. I’ve been doing tripartite for years. Probably part of why we’ve been so successful on air freight.”
And perhaps I can refer you to the discussion on this article on LinkedIn, which shows that this is a real issue.