Eric Joiner's Freightdawg.com - The Logistics and Supply Chain Blog!

Home from Europe. An Old Friend Revisited.

Yes, boys and girls, Freightdawg is still an active blog, for those of you who have written me.   I took on some newly increased job responsibilities in December and those have kept me running all over the place, including Latin America, Europe and China (next week). I got home from Europe on Friday, having spent the week on planes, trains and automobiles all over the Netherlands and Budapest, Hungary.   I had not been to Budapest before, but this is one beautiful city that I look forward to visiting again once the snow stops flying. 

I've been to Europe many times, but I am always amazed at the efficiency and low cost of the Dutch railways.   I commuted over several days between Amsterdam, Maastricht, Rotterdam, Utrecht and back to Amsterdam Schiphol throughout the week.   Quick, on time and very efficient.   I wish we had these kinds of trains even regionally in the US.  Granted, Holland is a small country with short distances between metropolitan areas.   The citizens are also motivated by very high fuel prices, which push them to seek public transport as well as old fashioned means of commuting, included bicycles.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that the whole country is flat, making biking an easy business.

While I have been an international traveler for years,  for the past 3-4 years my job has put me mostly in the Americas.   I spent my time in North and South America.   I had not been back to Europe since 2003.  On that basis, returning was like visiting an old friend.   When I was with P&O and later P&O Nedlloyd, I spent considerable time in the UK and on the continent.  At one point I had more friends in England than I did in Atlanta.  In fact I once took a weeks vacation in the UK where I had drinks or a meal with different former colleagues daily.

From a logistics point of view, Europe has always been complex.  Historically, you had different countries, different currencies, different customs regulations and different market constituencies based on geographical location within the European continent.  Today, much of the same complexity remains, but now with different twists.  These include a common currency and customs regulations within most of the EU, but still geographical market pressure based on location, whether eastern or western Europe.

New security regulations governing the EU's Import Control System (ICS) are now burdening shippers whose freight is either destined for European consumption or transiting through Europe to other markets.   Following the US lead,  the EU is now requiring additional information on European shipments.   Both air and ocean carriers are putting surcharges on these shipments in order to cover the administrative cost of governmental reporting.

Russia is continuing to grow as a major market in Europe, but also remains complex due to factors that include high inflation, changing tax and customs codes, and security around product transportation.  One area I am now just learning about is the Pan-European trucking market, whether FTL, LTL or Part load shipments.   This business is somewhat different from the US version.  I have little knowledge of that trade, but one of the nice things about working for a major European logistics player is that we have an extensive network and lots of product expertise to draw from.

I look forward discussing some of these Euro focused topics in more detail soon.  Living in a global economy, its a good idea to understand that regional differences and nuances still exist.  Understanding those differences is critical to understanding and designing global supply chains that work, both physically and culturally.   The goal is still satisfying the end customer, whether he lives in Moscow, Russia or Moscow, Idaho.

I'm off to Beijing on the 27th of February.  I'll have more to post from that trip and more in between. 

Eric

Runway Girl!

Ok, I'm digging this.  People will blog about anything, but with as much as I fly, I am now amazed to have run across a blog that covers Inflight Entertainment Systems (IFE). 

Mary Kirby's Runway Girl site is part of Flightglobal.com and covers professional news and reviews of various systems from major IFE manufacturers.   Believe me when you are trapped in row 41 in a middle seat for 10 hours on your way back from Buenos Aries to Atlanta, the Inflight entertainment can be a bridge to sanity (or at least take your mind of the posterior numbing discomfort.)  It's nice to find a site that covers these things.

I do consider IFE when I am booking an airfare when traveling internationally.  As an Example, between Sao Paulo, Brazil and Buenos Aries, Argentina, you can fly 2 or 3 air carriers.  Aerolineas Argentinas is the Argentinean government owned carrier (and flies and acts like one.) while TAM is the major Brazilian carrier on the route (now owned by LAN).   TAM flies new A330's with some awesome IFE systems.  Its a 2.5 hour flight, and I think I spent an hour playing with the controls on the system.   The airfare was basically the same, so why not choose the carrier with the best amenities?

Eric

 

And Now for something Entirely Different...

I once worked with a guy back in the mid 1980's who truly had no idea about international geography. This guy had come from a domestic air freight company and had to be educated on "where stuff was". One day I asked him how things were going and he replied that he had a heck of a sales lead on some business going to the "Far East". I asked him exactly where...and he replied "Savannah".(doh!)

The little cartoon below I think should be included in ALL sales training for international logistics people. You'd be surprised how many folks truly have no idea where places are. That is shameful in a global economy, though this little cartoon is hilarious to me.  For we DHL folks there is a version of this on youtube in German!   

Dont know your state capitols in the US?   Yakko has that covered as well.

(Note: Some corporate proxy servers ban video from youtube.com.  If you see white space below...you may be on such a network. Please revisit from home or a connection that does not go through your company VPN.)

Eric

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Airline Travel: How to Effectively Complain.

I travel every week.   Periodically, it gets ugly.  The article below is syndicated from the Wall Street Journal Online and gives good advice on how to effectively complain to major airlines.   

The key is to know where to go, and more importantly what you want in return for the inconvenience.

Never tell the airline you'll never fly with them again! What incentive would they have to compensate you then?   

Visit the link below from finance.yahoo.com to read the rest of the article.

clipped from finance.yahoo.com What Airlines Do When You Complain By Scott McCartney Friday, March 23, 2007 provided by Wall Street Journal Online Mike Wallace of San Francisco was so mad about recent travel   experiences and a lack of response to his complaints that he searched the   Internet for email addresses at UAL Corp.'s United   Airlines and fired off an angry letter to more than 60 company officials. No   response. A second email to all the addresses he could find that used   @united.com and @ual.com did get some attention. In all, after corresponding   with United a dozen different times about being stranded at airport hotels on   two different trips because of United flight problems, Mr. Wallace and his wife   got some measure of satisfaction: business-class upgrades for some future trips   and a $400 voucher. "It's a series of systems, policies and nameless, faceless people in place to wear you out. Most people just give up, but I pursued and pursued and pursued before I finally got something," said Mr. Wallace, an environmental consultant and elite-level United customer. A United spokeswoman says the airline's goal is to "satisfy our customers the first time they call, write or email us." After the aggravation of mechanical breakdowns, computer meltdowns, schedule changes, lost luggage, missed connections and long telephone or airport waits, many customers fire off angry complaints to airlines -- only to get less-than-satisfying responses. But there are ways to get more redress, airlines and travel experts say. (This week, The Middle Seat focuses on how airlines handle complaints; next week, the column will look at the Department of Transportation's role in addressing fliers' grievances.) A common mistake: Telling an airline you'll never fly them again. If so, then the airline no longer has an incentive to try to win back the customer, some airline officials say.

TSA: Superman Not Required!

X-Ray Vision Sees Through Passenger Clothing.

The Transportation Security Administration recently started using a new X-Ray scanner at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.  The new scanner has the capability to see through passenger clothing in an effort to see contraband and explosive devices hidden in peoples clothing.

One Small Problem...

The scanner sees too much!  Images from the scanner are detailed enough to become a personal privacy invasion. They have the capability to show an individual without clothing.   The TSA has listened to complaints on this issue and modified the imagery to create a more obscure outline image.  While this limits image "detail" it also limits the imaging of contraband. Fortunately, use of the scanner is voluntary. Passengers have the option of being manually screened by a TSA officer.

The test scanning unit will be operated for the next 90 days at the largest KPHX terminal, which operates US Airways and Southwest Airlines flights.   In due course, the technology could be rolled out to additional airports including New York, John F. Kennedy Airport (KJFK).

 

Airline Baggage Fees Increase

This week on Smartmoney.com,  Kelli Grant wrote an article discussing recent fee increases for excess baggage charged by the airlines.   An interesting article that points to restrictions by a number of carriers on the type and number of bags you can carry aboard both domestic and international flights.   The article discusses these fees as being "nickel and dime" attempts to make a profit.   I think thats a little naive. But...to be fair, Kelli's article is intended to point out cost avoidance, not why the airlines charge the fees.  I wrote an article for Logistics Recruiter.com back in January that addressed both the problem and a potential cure.   The carriers had a chance to fix this courtesy of the TSA.

The SmartMoney article does do a good job at outlining travel strategies for those who bring the house on every trip.   Good reading on which carriers charge what for overpacking.    As a guy who travels every single week, and checks bags,  I hope some readers will pack lighter.  The bain of my travel existance is the 90 lb. woman with a hundred pound roll-aboard bag who cant get it into the overhead!  (And I am a gentleman...I put it up there most of the time!)

Eric