Last year I discovered a transportation innovation while traveling from Los Angeles to Long Beach for the JoC’s TPM: Uber. Uber is a disruptive technology. It has reinvented the car service business. Now you don’t have to find the car; the clean, more affordable, seamlessly paid (tip included) car finds you. I have recently read that Uber is causing the value of taxi medallions to plummet. Uber has even figured out a better way to keep the car clean.
Transportation companies in general and ocean cargo lines in particular are in search of that type of disruptive business force. Peter Thiel, the legendary Silicon Valley entrepreneur, says humans can perform miracles. I wholeheartedly agree, and transportation companies, too, are recognizing the value of high-performing, miracle-capable humans.
In 2015 and beyond, transportation companies will seek that entrepreneurial mindset that can perform miracles by contracting out more operations to smaller more nimble companies. The transportation companies and their partners will seek better qualified employees by recruiting from the entire world, rather than just the office’s locale. Developing a high-performing staff is made significantly easier when the job applicant pool is the global workforce; a telecommuting staff is often a team of all-stars. Telecommuters will make up a substantial portion of the workforce. Moreover, telecommuting and the natural evolution of globalization will put global shared service centers in jeopardy. As shared centers are relocated in search of lower wages and costs, there is a loss of knowledge, much like a photocopy of a photocopy. Telecommuting allows companies to save substantial money on physical overhead while still being able to employ the most qualified people. This sort of human resource will produce miracles.
Maybe one of those miracles will be how the chassis-leasing companies can effectuate gate control.
Marcus L. Arky, Principal, Metro Group Maritime