With the fourth quarter beginning this week, retailers are bracing for a flood of e-commerce orders — many of which will end up in the networks of UPS and FedEx on their way to holiday shoppers later this year. Express providers are also getting an early start, with peak surcharges, typically reserved for the holidays, in place throughout the pandemic and rising further for the traditional peak. In this On Logistics episode of “On Air with Air Cargo World,” Cathy Morrow Roberson speaks with Nate Skiver, founder of LPF Spend Management. LPF Spend Management works with e-commerce and parcel shippers to locate shippers and services aligning with their shipping strategy and negotiate more favorable contracts. The discussion covers peak season surcharges, transportation capacity for parcels, and options for retailers struggling to secure capacity with big express carriers.

On Air with Air Cargo World

On Logistics: LPF Spend Management on peak season parcel trends

Washington-based logistics company Expeditors this month opened its Opportunity Knocks internship program to other companies hoping to launch their own version of the program. In cooperation with non-governmental organizations, the program supports interns just starting their careers, introducing them to Expeditors, logistics and the professional world more broadly. More than 90 of the program’s former interns went on to full employment with Expeditors. Now, Expeditors has made the program available to other interested companies.In this episode of “On Air with Air Cargo World,” Editor Caryn Livingston speaks with Lenora Turner, director, Opportunity Knocks, and Jose Ubeda, senior vice president, Digital Solutions, at Expeditors, about the program’s objectives, track record and Expeditors’ move to share the program with other companies. Interested companies can find more information on the program here.

Expeditors shares Opportunity Knocks internship guide

Throughout the past year, carriers and freight forwarders have partnered on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) initiatives to help reduce carbon emissions within the airfreight industry. While aviation currently accounts for roughly 12% of all carbon dioxide emissions from transport sources, according to the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), airfreight stakeholders recognize that cargo growth comes with the responsibility to reduce its carbon emissions.In this episode of “On Air with Air Cargo World,” Associate Editor Kelly Stroh speaks with Asok Kumar, executive vice president and global head of airfreight at DB Schenker, about SAF, sustainability initiatives and the current push to decarbonize the airfreight industry.For more on SAF and sustainability, see our full feature in the latest online issue of Air Cargo World.

DB Schenker’s Kumar on decarbonizing the airfreight industry

The supply chain upheaval that began with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 is persisting through 2021 and has been recently exacerbated by the port and airport closures in China in recent months. Manufacturers and other shippers who may have previously relied on as-needed updates from their logistics partners are now taking a more active role to avoid transportation pitfalls and keep their products on shelves. In this episode of “On Logistics with Air Cargo World,” Cathy Morrow Roberson speaks with Audrey Ross, in-house logistics and customs specialist at Orchard Custom Beauty, a cosmetics and personal and home care product manufacturer. The two discuss the changes in in-house supply chain management for major shippers, how to mitigate some impacts of the reductions in ocean, air and road capacity, and vulnerabilities in sourcing that will likely take years of planning and investment to correct.Listen as Roberson and Ross take a deep dive into these topics in this Air Cargo World podcast.The On Logistics with Air Cargo World podcast segment explores air cargo logistics with analysis from regular Air Cargo World columnist Cathy Roberson of Logistics Trends & Insights. The podcast analyzes major trends affecting global logistics, including topics such as sustainability, e-commerce growth and M&A strategies, and changes in the global express market. On Logistics with Air Cargo World is brought to you by Air Cargo World, the leading air cargo magazine. 

On Logistics: Orchard Custom Beauty on managing supply chains

In this episode of “On Air with Air Cargo World,” Editor Caryn Livingston speaks with Cathy Roberson, founder of Logistics Trends & Insights, about the second-quarter results of major airfreight industry stakeholders announced in recent weeks.  With more earnings presentations to come through early August, the benefits of the current high rate, low-capacity market are clear as integrators continue to blow past records set in previous pandemic quarters. Not all operators are avoiding some of the pitfalls of pandemic operations, however.Roberson, a weekly columnist at Air Cargo World and the host of the On Logistics podcast, discusses how major integrators, combination carriers and freight forwarders are faring so far in 2021, expectations for the remainder of the year, and how the current strategies employed by airfreight operators may continue to evolve as aviation slowly returns to normal.

Q2 performance round-up and second-half outlook

The recent surge in e-commerce amid the pandemic, alongside technology improvements for logistics, is driving demand for warehouse space in markets around the world, but availability varies widely by market. In this episode of “On Logistics with Air Cargo World,” Cathy Morrow Roberson speaks with Melissa Alexander, vice president of the Industrial Services team at real estate company Foundry Commercial, about the high demand for warehousing space, the factors behind shortages in U.S. commercial real estate markets, and Alexander’s outlook on future demand and development in the space.While some growing metros are more development-friendly from a policy and geography standpoint, others may be constrained by local regulation, geography or less land available for development. Advancements in warehousing technology are also driving up customer expectations for warehouse features and capabilities, making some existing properties outdated by today’s standards. Combined, these factors are pushing warehousing prices up significantly from even five years ago.Listen as Roberson takes a deep dive into these topics in this Air Cargo World podcast.The On Logistics with Air Cargo World podcast segment explores air cargo logistics with analysis from regular Air Cargo World columnist Cathy Roberson of Logistics Trends & Insights. The podcast analyzes major trends affecting global logistics, including topics such as sustainability, e-commerce growth and M&A strategies, and changes in the global express market. On Logistics with Air Cargo World is brought to you by Air Cargo World, the leading air cargo magazine. 

On Logistics: Foundry Commercial on demand for warehouse space

In this episode of “On Air with Air Cargo World,” Associate Editor Kelly Stroh speaks with Alexey Zotov, head of sales of AirBridgeCargo, part of Volga-Dnepr Group, about how the air cargo market has been reshaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effect on the carrier’s relationship with forwarders.  The pandemic has dramatically altered global supply chains, complicating not only capacity availability, but also the traditional ways in which carriers and forwarders cooperate. Consequently, the current state of forwarder-controlled charters, block-space negotiation and digitalization initiatives catalyzed by the pandemic could leave forwarder-carrier communication changed long after the world emerges from the pandemic. For more on how the pandemic has changed the carrier-forwarder relationship, see our full feature in the latest online issue of Air Cargo World. 

AirBridgeCargo’s Zotov on carrier-forwarder relationships

The increased focus on digitalization in air cargo during the pandemic is by now well established as logistics companies seek to become more agile and adapt to a rapidly changing global airfreight market. Legacy processes that relied on phone calls and emails are now too slow to accommodate shipper needs in today’s disrupted market.Years before the pandemic began, major forwarders began adopting transportation management systems (TMS), which allow logistics companies plan and optimize their freight flows across modes. But the abrupt changes in freight flows and demands during 2020 have reinforced the need for visibility into supply chains and are prompting more companies to utilize TMS as a foundational part of business planning.In this episode of “On Logistics with Air Cargo World,” Cathy Morrow Roberson speaks with Ron Lazo, vice president of professional services at Manhattan Associates, about technology trends and demands the supply chain solutions company is seeing.The On Logistics with Air Cargo World podcast segment explores air cargo logistics with analysis from regular Air Cargo World columnist Cathy Roberson of Logistics Trends & Insights. The podcast analyzes major trends affecting global logistics, including topics such as sustainability, e-commerce growth and M&A strategies, and changes in the global express market. On Logistics with Air Cargo World is brought to you by Air Cargo World, the leading air cargo magazine. 

On Logistics: Manhattan Associates on expectations for logistics technology

The past year in airfreight logistics has seen the rise of multiple trends, among them an increase in digital initiatives and a rapid rise in demand for e-commerce cargo. Teleport, the logistics venture of Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia, focuses heavily in both areas.A younger company in the logistics space, Teleport has built its logistics services to align with its digital goals, including with the 2020 launch of its digital air cargo network on the blockchain platform Freightchain. The company is in the process of bringing several new carriers onto the platform and has a bullish outlook on cargo demand in Southeast Asia, where it is based, with e-commerce growing at around 40% per year. In this episode of “On Air with Air Cargo World,” Editor Caryn Livingston talks to Teleport CEO Pete Chareonwongsak about the use of technology to optimize cargo loads across the fleets of AirAsia and Teleport’s other airline partners, and the current and expected growth trajectory for e-commerce in Southeast Asia. 

Teleport captures Southeast Asia e-commerce growth with tech focus

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of most brick-and-mortar retail locations in countries around the world, retailers and many other businesses entered the e-commerce space or grew their e-commerce investments to adapt to changes in consumer behavior. The growth in this sector of retail has been a major driver of airfreight strength over the past year, and is leading to investments that will expand logistics footprints for decades to come.Despite the recent increase in cases in India and some other countries, vaccinations are well underway in several countries and some lockdowns are easing, leading to the reopening of many retail businesses. The higher airfreight rates driven by the current capacity shortage will also eventually return to more normal levels when passenger aviation increases, meaning express carriers may no longer realize the record profits that peak surcharges have helped them achieve during the past year. Airfreight’s place in e-commerce fulfillment beyond the pandemic remains to be seen.In this episode of “On Logistics with Air Cargo World,” Cathy Morrow Roberson talks to Charles Brewer, chief operating officer for Canada Post, about the e-commerce growth of the past year, the longer-term outlook for e-commerce logistics and whether the pursuit of e-commerce cargo will be a viable strategy for realizing profits beyond the pandemic.The On Logistics with Air Cargo World podcast segment explores air cargo logistics with analysis from regular Air Cargo World columnist Cathy Roberson of Logistics Trends & Insights. The podcast analyzes major trends affecting global logistics, including topics such as sustainability, e-commerce growth and M&A strategies, and changes in the global express market. On Logistics with Air Cargo World is brought to you by Air Cargo World, the leading air cargo magazine. 

On Logistics: Canada Post on making e-commerce airfreight profitable

The pandemic’s challenges to all modes of transportation have contributed to varied solutions, from passenger freighters to an increase in express ocean freight shipments. The logistics industry is also looking to technology to help mitigate market volatility and smooth processes around capacity booking, airport pickup and drop-off of cargo, and other areas. California-based startup Airspace has created a technology platform that expedites transportation and improves accuracy and visibility for time-critical shipments across transportation modes. Airspace’s ability to reroute critical shipments has attracted attention due to the disruption from the pandemic, and has helped the startup secure more than $70 million across three funding rounds, the most recent closing in January at $38 million.For this launch of our new podcast segment “On Logistics with Air Cargo World,” host Cathy Morrow Roberson, founder of Logistics Trends & Insights and a regular Air Cargo World contributor, is joined by Airspace co-founder and CTO Ryan Rusnak. Hear Roberson and Rusnak discuss the niche that Airspace has carved out in time-critical shipments, and the startup’s expansion goals.The On Logistics with Air Cargo World podcast segment explores air cargo logistics with analysis from regular Air Cargo World columnist Cathy Roberson of Logistics Trends & Insights. The podcast analyzes major trends affecting global logistics, including topics such as sustainability, e-commerce growth and M&A strategies, and changes in the global express market. On Logistics with Air Cargo World is brought to you by Air Cargo World, the leading air cargo magazine.

On Logistics: Airspace talks tech-enabled time-critical shipments

A new partnership between Meantime Communications and Change Horizon forged on March 8, or International Women’s Day, aims to bring gender imbalance issues to the foreground and help the air cargo logistics industry overcome these issues.

Change Horizon, Meantime launch Women in Aviation and Logistics Pledge

In this episode of On Air with Air Cargo World, Joshua Aelick talks to Nathan de Valck, Frank van Gelder and Emir Pineda of Pharma.Aero about some of the security issues surrounding the transport of COVID-19 vaccines.

Pharma.Aero on COVID-19 vaccine transport security

Kuehne+Nagel Q4 earnings this week saw soaring airfreight rates support revenues for some freight forwarders in 2020 while other transport modes struggled, but volatility in rates, particularly in the spot market ex-Asia, could threaten gross profits in the months ahead.

Airfreight rate volatility likely to linger

In this episode, Air Cargo World Senior Editor Charles Kauffman and Ed Gillett, co-founder of U.K.-based CharterSync, discuss the impact the pandemic and Brexit have had on charter activity, particularly to, from and within the U.K., and the growth of CharterSync's platform.

CharterSync sees charter boom in light of COVID-19 and Brexit

The On Air with Air Cargo World podcast explores air cargo operations and logistics. The podcast delves into topics such as air cargo integration into the logistics supply chain, new technologies and operational strategies, especially for freight forwarders. On Air with Air Cargo World is brought to you by Air Cargo World, the leading air cargo magazine.

hubhopper

On Air with Air Cargo World

hubhopper