Freight experts discuss the shipping industry with Ideoli: Part I
As a global company with clients and projects all over the world, ideoli ships products daily via air, ocean and train. In order to optimize our freight, we need to work with the best in the freight industry.
We work with experts such as Lauren to learn more about what’s going on in the industry so that we can stay ahead of any potential issues that change brings.
For example, the makeup of the global freight carrier industry has changed in recent years, which can affect who we work with and the details of transporting our products.
“Beginning with the collapse of Hanjin in the summer of 2016, we’ve seen a wave of mergers and acquisitions among global carriers. Just a short 5 years ago, we had about 20 major players, whereas this year, we’re working with14,” explains Lauren.
In addition to internal industry changes, political and economic changes also affect the freight industry. For example, tariffs between the US and China have made an impact on international freight.
“The immediate impact that we’ve seen has definitely been an extended peak season,” says Lauren. “Shippers are trying to get their goods out of China before newer tariffs hit or the current tariffs are increased.”
Going forward, Lauren thinks that clients will try to diversify their sourcing so as not to rely so much on China. It will take time for other origin countries to develop their resources, but Lauren sees a shift on the horizon.
“I think shippers are really going to start to try and source from different places to avoid these tariffs.”
This advice from one of the experts we frequently work with helps ideoli stay on top of our freight so that we can deliver amazing products to clients with amazing results.
