Air Cargo

Shippers are taking a cautious approach to air cargo as the UK struggles with Brexit and the US considers imposing tariffs on a wider range of European goods.

It’s going to take more than airport terminal investment to better handle a seismic shift in shipping.

As US airports, terminal operators, and ground handlers are taking heat for rampant truck congestion and cargo delays, two software firms are looking to bring digitization and automation to airport freight handling operations.

The Airforwarders Association’s mission to put an end to congestion at major US airports is already bearing fruit, but forwarders in New York and Boston worry airport efforts won’t address underlying issues.

O'Hare tops New York’s JFK as even more congested, with trucks trying to get their loads in and out of the airport thwarted by vehicular traffic, handling, and operational delays.

Rising demand on its Asia-Europe express network is seeing UPS make some big investments in infrastructure and aircraft capacity to keep up.

The promise of digitization and real-time pricing is forcing the air freight industry to rethink longstanding booking practices.

Speakers at the Cargo Facts EMEA conference in Frankfurt say trade disruptions and booming e-commerce will continue to drive increased global air cargo volume.

After a subdued end to 2018 and trade and with economic hurdles stacking up, there are relatively low expectations for the trans-Pacific air cargo market in 2019.

Gathering e-commerce momentum is revolutionizing global air cargo supply chains.

Trimming inventory has been made easier as visibility of shipments improves, but it leaves little room for error and even a slight disruption can divert cargo into the air.

Of course, many factors can be involved in an air cargo volume uptrend, but this holiday season trade tension and the threat of higher tariffs certainly is one.

Europe's main hubs are operating at maximum capacity, pushing increasing volume into secondary airports that are not always suitable.

Like commercial aviation’s takeoff and landing slot booking system, BRUcloud enables forwarders to reserve guaranteed slot times and designated warehouse dock doors with ground handlers, enabling their truckers to quickly discharge loads or collect shipments.

Efforts to digitize the bill of lading that must accompany each shipment, whether on an ocean vessel or tractor-trailer, aren’t necessarily new, but they’re gaining ground in an era of e-commerce and tight capacity.

Three major online buying events — Singles’ Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are coming — and when they are combined with the evolution of the three into global shopping and shipping events, it means more pressure on air freight pipelines.

Executives from Imperial Logistics International participated in a wide-ranging question and answer session concerning the mounting intermodal transport challenges facing shippers and forwarders moving cargo around Europe.

“There should be enough space as supply catches up with demand, but it is still possible to have a peak like we did last year [2017],” a spokesman for Freight Investor Service said.

“I don’t know if the peak this year will look like last year, but we have about 20 freighters and take a lot of volume in our widebody fleet that we expanded quite a bit, so there are a lot more destinations,” Cathay Pacific CEO Rupert Hogg said. “But going into next year the future is unknown.”

The two main regional markets for air freight — Asia Pacific for international shipments and North America for domestic shipments — may be headed toward slower growth, due to the ongoing trade war between their two largest economies, Airports Council International said.

The International Air Transport Association said this slowing growth was coming against a backdrop of rising trade protectionism measures, and wider momentum in global trade was weakening.

At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest passenger and 42nd busiest cargo airport, congestion and delays in picking up/dropping off loads are adding wait time surcharges, and in some cases storage expenses, on to already high transport bills.

Further, trans-Pacific shippers will welcome the additional capacity, especially this peak season, for several reasons.

Air cargo freight rates between China and the United States have been rising since July, according to US-based logistics provider C.H. Robinson, and shipper concern about lack of space on the trans-Pacific trade is a factor in that rise.

“Trade wars never produce winners. Governments must remember that prosperity comes from boosting their trade, not barricading economies,” the International Air Transport Association said.

Schiphol’s management said it expected lower overall freighter air traffic movements in the first half, due to capacity constraints, but its longer-term analysis remains encouraging.

However, shippers should still expect some robust peak season pricing from the airlines that are seeking to extend their profitability, which grew at a strong rate in the first quarter.

A slight dip in demand for air cargo in the first quarter has quickly reversed, with volume steadily increasing on the east-west trades.

E-commerce and high-speed rail are enabling China-Europe rail services to give the air cargo industry a run for its money.

Amazon’s new network could help reduce shipper costs, and even aid other transportation providers, as volumes outstrip capacity. But as one might sense, Amazon’s latest play also will affect resources in an already beyond-tight US trucking sector.

Nippon is expanding cross-border services as Asia-Europe demand increases and as five Mekong subregion countries adopt an agreement that could serve as a trade model for other regions.

Nova Scotia-based Tangier Lobster does not cut corners nor does it nickel and dime transport providers. “We will pay extra for the very best logistics options because we have extremely valuable cargo and do not want to disappoint our customers,” Owner Stewart Lamont said.

Austin, Texas, may one day be on air cargo operators' “A-List” for cargo pick-up, but until then shippers will continue to adapt, develop creative air transport solutions, and find air service niches to transport products to customers.

Rising confidence in the air cargo market is good news for air cargo providers, as shippers and their forwarders move to lock in space and avoid the capacity constraints that characterized peak 2017.

A series of factors has lined up to ensure European shippers importing air cargo from Asia will be stuck with services to the congested hub airports.

Air cargo is changing — no longer is tonnage the sole, ultimate metric. Air cargo companies and the airports that serve them must be entrepreneurial-minded to meet the needs of transit-time, cost-sensitive shippers with their high-value cargo, and so far, three key Canadian hubs are meeting the bill.

FedEx Corp. has tapped John A. Smith to run its FedEx Freight division as president effective Aug. 16, succeeding the retiring Michael Ducker. Smith, 56, has been with FedEx since 2000 but is unrelated to the company’s founder Fred Smith.

The rate hike may be just the beginning of additional, larger Federal Anti-Monopoly Service fee increases, as part of Russia's response to the West’s latest package of sanctions, imposed by the United States, and supported by many European allies.

The year is off to a good start in terms of air cargo volume, but the trade dispute between the United States and China is making confident predictions for 2018 difficult.

Capacity problems abound on land and in the air, and experts say many of the solutions are the same, including earlier planning and sharing of forecasts by shippers.