Open Letter to Small Freight Forwarders
In Forwarders Forum, the Airforwarders Association discusses the most pressing issues facing the forwarding industry. Of late, this has been primarily focused on the challenges associated with CCSP. With February 2009 around the corner, it is in our industry’s best interest to look for the silver linings in the one hundred percent screening era and to work cooperatively to ensure these opportunities do, in fact, exist in the final iteration of the CCSP regulations. It is in that spirit that the Airforwarders Association offered a coalition partner, the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, the forum to examine CCSP from a small business perspective.
An open letter to small freight forwarders:
Outside my office window, as I watch planes in their landing approach pattern against the gray snow laden clouds in the sky, there is no doubt that a major storm is coming. Not just the 3” – 4” of promised snow that will land on the roads and runways, sidewalks and houses, but also within the air freight forwarding industry. The arrival of the snow and the challenges it serves as an apt analogy for the challenges our industry is currently facing on cargo screening. Let me explain.
Snow removal in the Midwest becomes a full time job in the winter. It amazes me each year as I see the various methods and tools utilized for the removal of snow. At the airport, there are huge industrial grade bulldozers with 20’ wide plow blades to make short work of clearing the runways. Sometimes I wish I could borrow that truck for the 10 seconds it would take to clear my own driveway at home, but I know the equipment is quite expensive, and does not handle delicate work very well. Virtually every business in the area uses pick-up trucks with the mounted 6’ or 8’ blades on the front to clear parking areas. I considered hiring one of these entrepreneurs until he mentioned that as there is no room to turn around in my driveway, all the snow would be pushed up against my garage door. Not exactly a good solution for me!
No, for me the best option is a simple combination of a residential snow blower and a good old fashioned snow shovel. The snow blower handles the driveway quickly and efficiently, and is within my budget. The shovel is for my somewhat narrow sidewalks and walkways, and also for the deck and porch. The shovel is much more portable for that task and inexpensive as well. Clearly, the best solution for my needs.
Just as snow removal equipment has evolved into an offering of specialized equipment and different approaches designed for specific needs, our air freight industry must have a variety of tools and methods to address the 100% scanning storm that is upon us. With different approaches being debated right now, I believe its incumbent upon our industry to select that approach which offers the most options within its application.
One approach that being talked about a lot lately is a TSA-run screening program that would operate on surcharges paid by forwarders as the primary mode of screening for smaller forwarders. While in theory this approach makes sense, from a practical perspective it presents some very real problems. Anyone who has flown in and out of a northern airport in the winter knows that there are only so many trucks available with 20’ blades to clear runways. Flights are delayed, passengers sit in planes on tarmacs waiting for snow to be removed, and sometimes due to the delays the planes have to be de-iced again further impacting schedules. Similarly, relying on TSA airport screening to the “maximum extent possible” will cause backlogs, extended lock out periods, higher costs involved due to a flat surcharge fee and less choice for forwarders as the market will not create as many alternate options for screening facilities.
In my mind the only small ray of hope in the coming storm is the Certified Cargo Screening Program (CCSP) that the TSA has developed with a great deal of input from the industry. As a small freight forwarder, I can’t afford the airport industrial grade screening equipment, just as I can’t afford an industrial grade bulldozer to plow my driveway. Spending a quarter to half a million dollars on cargo screening equipment for each of my five small offices is just not in my budget for 2009.
While at first blush, the CCSP program seemed to favor the larger multi-national companies that could meet the volume requirements; the second iteration of the program now addresses my specific situation. At Argents we have contemplated initiating a car-wash approach in our company. Can we, or an independent screening agent, approach other small forwarders in the area to form a co-op for screening? The CCSP does allow for that. That will allow us to share the cost burden with others our size, while offering already screened cargo to airlines to ensure parity in service. Aren’t cargo alliances based on the same principal? In my mind, this may the most effective way to compete.
Without a robust CCSP, one that has the full weight of TSA personnel and funding behind it, I worry that alternate screening options such as a car wash would never come into being. I also worry that with the direct purchase of the equipment by TSA, such equipment will be placed only at the major hubs, forcing freight to be trucked from smaller airports to larger hub locations. This will limit my routing options at small and medium sized airports, especially for time sensitive shipments. While screening equipment at the airports or airlines themselves does make sense in some situations, there has to be alternate solutions for me and my freight at other locations.
Perhaps focusing on creating market-based, cost-effective solutions within CCSP will not work for everyone, at every location, but it is a viable option for many of us, and it is one for which our customers are expressing a great deal of support. One that just may help some of us stay in business during this sour economy.
When I look at 100% screening, just as I look at the storm clouds hanging low in the sky, I am a realist. Is there a chance that the storm will pass without the need for me to don the hat and gloves, and fire up the snow blower to address the sidewalks? Yes, but given the forecast on all the major news channels, this storm is going to be a direct hit and I’m better off preparing for it, than hiding inside the house hoping that the storm will pass over without impact. And to me, the best way to prepare is to work to ensure that the CCSP helps us all deal with the impact of cargo screening.
Signed,
Cindy Allen
Cynthia D (Jerome) Allen
VP Customs and Director of Compliance
Argents Air Express, Ltd.