Remember its a "Dry Heat"

I blogged recently about APL seeking cheaper digs for its corporate headquarters but selection of Phoenix, Arizona seems ironic.

A major shipping company based in the 115 degree heat of Arizona?   It makes sense financially, but the concept of a shipping company based in the "dry heat" of Arizona just seems funny to me!  Especially APL, who historically has always been an icon of the "cool" San Francisco bay area.

I know one thing,  APL won't have a problem finding high quality IT people in the area.  Lots of talented technology people work in the Phoenix area because many companies, including DHL, have their data centers there.

APL headquarters moving to Phoenix By Cecily Burt Oakland Tribune Posted: 01/07/2009 04:39:17 PM PST OAKLAND — Neptune Orient Lines, the parent company of shipping giant APL, announced today that it will move its Americas headquarters from Oakland to the Phoenix area later this year. The company announced in November that it would relocate its Oakland headquarters as part of several cost-cutting moves to meet declining revenues and a worsening economy. APL will retain its marine terminal operation at the Port of Oakland. Oakland has hosted APL's headquarters for 35 years, and the company's roots go back to 1848. NOL purchased APL in 1997. Approximately 340 employees work in the Oakland office. Mike Zampa, communications director for North America, said NOL is in the process of deciding which positions will be moved and which employees will be offered the chance to relocate. Those announcements likely will begin later this month, Zampa said.

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Comments

[hariesh manaadiar]

hello.. good topic about shipping being active in an inland area..

my name is hariesh manaadiar.. i am a shipping professional working in the industry for 20 years..

i live currently in johannesburg, south africa which is an inland container depot and is the biggest commercial market in south africa for non-frozen goods.. its where most of the global freight forwarders like DHL, Panalpina etc also have their local headquarters.. i guess where the market is stronger defines where the companies what to headquarter..

i am writing a couple of blogs that will be very helpful for people within the shipping industry and also to newcomers to the industry..

one of the blogs is specific to shipping in south africa and its processes, but will also be useful to others.. the link is http://shippinginsouthafrica.wordpress.com..

the other blog is an international blog which covers shipping in general.. the link to this blog is http://theworldofshipping.wordpress.com..

please do visit and subscribe to the blog so that you will be updated of all new articles..

thanks
hariesh manaadiar

[Neha]

Wow, I remember interviewing at APL's Jersey City office way back in the day. I absolutely love the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. Perhaps I should consider returning to Logistics ;)

[Eric]

Jean, APL does most of its back office activity in China! When I worked for APL I visited the service center in Shanghai. virtually all bills of lading worldwide were processed in China! And..it was a great operation too! These were smart and very efficient people. I never saw so many dilbert cubes filled with so many smart young women.

I have no issue with this kind of activity relative to documentation, billing etc.

What makes me MAD whether its dealing with my own credit card company or Dell, is when I have to deal with somebody from India for what should be a US local issue. Rarely do they have decision making ability beyond a script.

[Jean Poole]

Great.... another ship line soon to be staffed by just-out-of-highschool customer servatrons who've never seen a container ship.

The old skool gets smaller every day.

[Madolyn Wagner]

Eric,

I really enjoy your blog! I work for a company called Protection One and we offer monitored security for companies all across the US. Transportation companies are a focus for us this year and when I read the article about APL's move and the heat in Arizona I thought I'd mention the fact that companies could set up environmental sensors in their terminals tied into their alarm systems...terminal employees or management could also receive alerts on their blackberries if the temperature went over a preset limit. Just a thought! Thanks!

[C.J.]

I think it's very interesting that the state of technology allows a shipping company to move to the desert and still continue to do business as usual. I wonder how long the actuall transition will take though.