Box crunch shifts some U.S. exports to air

Box crunch shifts some U.S. exports to air    Shippers faced with mounting difficulties getting export products on a containership are turning to air freight as an alternative, according to one airline executive.
   As ocean carriers have trimmed U.S. inbound capacity because of weak demand and low freight rates, and exports have boomed because of the weak dollar and demand for raw materials, many exporters are having difficulty obtaining space on vessels or containers at inland locations. Containers are also in short supply because of the recent shift of many bulk commodities to containers and because vessels reach their weight limit with heavier exports before they reach their volume capacity.
   The inability of exporters to reserve container space without long wait times is leading some shippers to take a look at air freight, even though it is a more expensive mode of transport.
   Jack Lampinski, a managing director for Swiss WorldCargo in New York, said two freight forwarders told him last week they are shifting to air freight because ocean carriers can't meet their need for timely transport.
   Lampinski, who spoke Monday with members of the trade press during the Cargo Network Services conference in Palm Beach, Fla., also said he worries that escalating fuel surcharges to help cover rapid price increases in jet fuel will alter the air cargo business model.
   Cargo surcharges for international flights can be two to three times the actual transport rate, which isn't sustainable in the long run, he said.
   'Unless fuel goes down, something has to change,' he said, but acknowledged he didn't know how that change would manifest itself.
   (To read more about container export difficulties see the April American Shipper, pages 54-59.) ' Eric Kulisch