Not rocket science

Not rocket science    I could not agree more with Edward Sands of ICG Commerce ( 'DIY container drayage,' March American Shipper, pages 2-4), managing drayage operators yourself is absolutely the way to go. Especially for larger importers that have many daily container movements, dedicated contract carriage is the perfect match. Not only is the service so much better and more reliable, Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism compliance is a done deal and cost savings can be considerable ' I have seen up to 50 percent.
   Importers and exporters need to start thinking outside of the traditional box, and carriers need to do the same as the 'old rate structure' that promoted some of these 'fake' rates make no sense whatsoever in today's contracting environment. If you can take all these inefficiencies out of the equation it is a win-win for all.
   In 'Solving the export-box dilemma (March American Shipper, pages 6-11), it is great to hear that a large carrier such as Schneider National is putting such programs together. Transloading, on both import and export sides, can make a lot of sense, and I am somewhat surprised many freight forwarders aren't thinking about these opportunities and putting all the moving pieces together. That would be true added value, something we all talk about but often not deliver.
   I recall two such programs I had the pleasure of putting together for export customers from Florida about 20 years or so ago. It was a lot of fun, and we created services for two clients that did not exist in the traditional shipping schedule:
   ' For a grapefruit exporter to Asia, we loaded refrigerated trucks at the packing house, transloaded into refrigerated railroad cars farther north, and those railroad cars were then transloaded again into oceangoing reefer boxes in Seattle for export to Asia. The forwarder handled all the coordination and we offered the customer a total bottom-line cost. Transit time was better than all-water services at about the same cost.
   ' For rolls of steel going to Antwerp, we loaded trucks twice a week in West Palm Beach, Fla. They went up to Charleston (which was a backhaul lane), there the trucks were transloaded into ocean containers and delivered to the pier. Again we could offer the client a total door-port price, with transit times unheard of to Europe from South Florida. Costs were about the same or even lower than the all-water services, as much more competitive services and space were available from Charleston than from South Florida.
   Both concepts were not rocket science, just looking to find creative solutions. And matching up multiple service offerings.

Albert Saphir
president, ABS Consulting
Weston, Fla.