JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE

摘要

The impact of alliances on service levels has been much discussed over the last year, as the major players on the east-west trades form into four global groupings. Carriers insist that the co-operations are not just about reducing costs, but will also improve service levels for shippers by enabling each carrier to offer more port pairs on the their east-west networks. But shippers have expressed some concerns about the grouping of carriers into these alliances. The annual Shipper Sentiment Survey (pg42), which also includes the thoughts of freight forwarders, revealed that 51.8% of respondents felt that alliances would not improve service quality, 35.5% felt these grouping would improve services and the remaining 12.7% were unsure.