Reliability and ease of shipping are the cornerstones of carriers dealing with shippers; the environmental issue is one more for governments and regulators, and while shippers are also environmentally aware and accountable, relative to dealing with carriers, not sure it is as important. 
 
So lets deal with reliability first, carriers are horrible to say the least, few above 70% on time. Maybe a day or two here and there doesn't mean much to many, but to many others it does. So get the ships on timeTHE WAY THEY USED TO BE> Maersk fist container ships in the 1970's and 1980's were like clocks to timing and reliability. Thing is, they had too much buffer in the schedules so as they tightened down the schedules, the clocks were off. But it can be done, they did it before they can do it again. 
 
Ease of doing business; that is a shipper by shipper issue. Some are large and sophisticated and use systems to communicate/send documents. Others are using faxes, The internet has eased the connectivity issue, you really don't need EDI, but is is nicer. A very high percenatge of boookings, bills of lading, freight bills and invoices are "no-touch" at Horizon Lines - they have the process and system originally designed for Sea-Lands global operation now servicing the Jones ACt trades plus China. Other haven't caught up with this mid-1990's process and systems combination since updated by Horizon.  
 
When you look at what percentage of freight moves between points A and B week after week after week with virtually no variation except the date, name of ship and bladiing numbers, it becomes a point of departure for anyone trying to minimize work in the order to cash process. Railroads have done it for literally decades. It takes a lot of work to complete the analysis and then commit the people and capital to make it happen; but it has been done and it can be done - you simply have to have the resolve to do it.

Gary 
 
 
 
Good points. It would seem that Maersk is a prime candidate to push the other Carriers into this Century, as they are the biggest, and they always tend to set the tone for the Market every year.  
 
 
 
Carriers need to see that the new market is all about service, not price. Otherwise they will be doomed to repeating the same cycles all over again of price wars when they should be thinking service wars. Then the Shipper will finally get what they paid for and that will hopefully inspire efficiency in the Industry as a whole, which can only spur much needed growth.

Certainly, environmental friendliness is becoming more and more important to businesses. Of course, I agree with you, Gary, that reliability and ease of use are likely to be higher priorities to shippers. After all, these affect their time and bottom line in a very direct way. "Going green" can obviously affect the bottom line too. Often, it is more expensive to do so, affecting that bottom line in a negative way. Yet, being seen as a "green company" can increase business as well while being seen as an environmentally unfriendly company can have a negative impact on the company's public image. I found it to be quite interesting that Maersk found environmental performance to be in the top three demands of shippers. Certainly government has a responsibility to the safety of its people and therefore preservation of the environment. But there is no way that the entirety of environmental issues lies or should lie in the hands of government and regulators. While initially, this has not been a top priority of business, it seems that Adam Smith's invisible hand has slipped in as consumers and businesses demand more responsibility on this issue. 
 
 
 
You've made excellent points on the reliability and ease of doing business in this industry. Resolve is needed to increase ease of use and reliability (or restore it as you mentioned with Maersk). Do you think this kind of resolve is not needed as much on the environmental impact side of the industry?

I don't downplay the environmental side, I simply point out that given the three isuues my perspective is that the first two are most important to shippers. Maersk and others hear from large corporations that their governments are demanding X in the way of emission reduction, and Y in the size of carbon footprint, so they react to it. And of course Maersk and other carriers hear directly from governments about their emissions standards.  
 
Business will do what it must to adapt to requirements - but usually after they have fought directly or indirectly to limit any and all regulations. Then they comply, add the cost of doing so to their business model and hope that they can capture that cost down the line somewhere. In the case of ocean carriers, when they stop shoting themselves in the foot/feet.

Lol. They do seem to like to shoot themselves in the foot. 
 
 
 
It's true that carriers do seem to do just what they have to from government demands when it comes to the environment issue. Of course, they seem to do just what they have to when it comes to most issues, focused on a battle over prices rather than consumer needs. Kolding's manifesto has a lofty sound, pointing out changes that should take place in this industry. But it's just words until business practices actually change. What do you think it would take to see a change in focus from the carriers in this business? Would they have to be backed against a wall with an industry catastrophe in sight?

There were a that point in 2009 going into 2010 (conatiner carriers). COllectively they lost $20. Billion in 2009 when you consider people like MSC don't report publically. So in the beginning of 2010 they took measures to manage capacity, raise rates and make $15. Billion or so in doing that. Sound like a plan to follow? of course not! Seems that in 2010 one carrier didn't follow the pack in reducing capacity, they actually added capacity (MSC) and in doing so smartly gained in volume and market share. That got everyone elses attention so as 2011 approached, they didn't manage capacity, lowered rates even though volumes globally were climbing and will lose billions again in 2011. That I think will trigger consolidation; two or three carriers (maybe more) are virtually bankrupt, just no one out there wants to buy them just yet. They may sink of their own weight in a year or so. We'll see. The question will then be, did they (the industry) learn anything from that? History says they don't, the ocean floors are strewen with the skeletons of many shipping giants of the past, no reason to think that will stop - not for a while yet.

Gary 
 
 
 
I agree, the name of the game now is consolidation. I wouldnt be surprised if some carriers get bought out eventually. Any word you hearing of this ?

Just speculation and I don't want to repeat what is only speculation,

I do know more carriers are turning to NVO's to fill their vessels now, which is a switch from the past. Usually during peak season we NVO's get zilch, high rates, no space. But now it is a very interesting market...there is cargo out there, but way too much capacity. Because the Carriers are so transparent, everybody knows the minute someone lowers their rates, and everything moves with it. Right now during July into Aug, there is rates as low as $1300/HQ from China to L.A.. Compared to this time last year, the rates were $2800-$3000/HQ. 
 
However if they cannot get their PSS going soon, there is going to be some hefty losses this year reminisant of '09. So far the projected month for a big upsurge is late Aug early Sep. We shall see. 
 

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