It’s safe to say in 2018 that we scaled mountainous cliffs with blind curves and put our snow tires on a time or two. I’m certain maps for 2019 haven’t been charted yet and the only way we will find our way is to form a caravan. The fine folk at Webster’s define Caravan as: “A company of travelers on a journey through desert or hostile regions.” I can’t think of a better way to notate my thoughts on what we are about to encounter.
As the global shipping industry develops and learns from ghosts of years past, we often see common drivers: regulation, technologies and, lately, market fluctuations in the form of a trade war. The true challenge I see is how do we all — BCOs, carriers, NVOCCs and technology platforms — work together to navigate new, uncharted territory? How do we grow together and not apart?
The reality is that each of us is facing a myriad of outside forces impacting our once relatively stable trade. As shippers weigh impacts of tariffs and new markets, trucking shortages, rail embargoes, and a moving fuel target, carriers must do the same: evaluate the rapidly changing trade flows, consistently turn profits in a market where shippers have been accustomed to rate dictation, and re-evaluate the costs they have historically subsidized.
Meanwhile, we all are speeding through the flashing yellow lights that alert us to hazards ahead. I don’t know the answers to the challenges, but what I do know is that no one entity, setting out on its own, ever seems to survive the desert. Our strategy for 2019’s journey will be to deepen our vendor and supplier relationships through open communication lines and seek accountability in those partnerships.
The route is more dangerous and uncertain than ever, but our hope is that 2019 is the year the industry collaborates to safely navigate the detours together.