2017 will be remembered as the year of the new alliances. Most carriers in this day and age have joined an alliance to share expenses, cut costs and expand their services. We, of course, have switched from our old CKYHE Alliance to the new Ocean Alliance, and other carriers have switched as well. As alliances are a fairly new concept, the first go round for most of us in this industry was a learning experience. Now that we have had some experience under our belts, most of us are going into these new alliances with more knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.
We in the Ocean Alliance are listening to our customers and trying to make sure past mistakes are not repeated. In prior agreements, individual carriers in alliances had their own terminal preferences, and sometimes one service called at multiple terminals. This was a logistical nightmare in an age where most carriers have divested themselves of chassis, and truckers having to pick up and deliver equipment at multiple terminals is costly and time consuming. We are attempting in the Ocean Alliance to stick to the concept of, “one string, one terminal,” and it appears the other alliances may be doing the same.
We are also about to enter service contract season, a year after one of the major lines abruptly ceased operating, wreaking chaos for the whole supply chain. While carriers in the new alliances, have done much to cut costs and share expenses, it still must be said that rates are not healthy enough to ensure carriers realize a decent return that ensures stability and growth for the future. We look forward to working with our customers this year and have productive negotiations that ensure they get the best service and we achieve a level of revenue commensurate with the service shippers want and need.