2009 Quest for Quality Awards: OCEAN CARRIERS: Comeback story coming soon
By Logistics Management Staff -- Logistics Management, 8/1/2009
As Executive Editor Patrick Burnson has reported almost daily on logisticsmgmt.com, ocean liner executives are anxious to see the final credits roll on 2009. But it’s safe to say that those same executives are quietly anticipating the sequel due to hit the screens in 2010. The current working title: “The Comeback.”
Over the past couple years, U.S. ocean shippers have certainly taken advantage of this difficult time on the high seas. There’s been more balance in trade, containers and chassis are easier to locate, and shippers have had more leverage in contract negotiations. Meanwhile, carriers are rearranging their fleets and deployment cycles to mitigate further losses, while savvy shippers are matching shipments to these new routes for more supply chain efficiency.
However, a recent U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services report confirms what many ocean carrier executives have suspected for a while: A sluggish recovery in the global movement of containerized cargo will take place in 2010. Analysts are telling shippers that the worst may be over for their carrier partners—meaning that the window of pricing opportunity and port convenience may start to close soon.
While it’s still a little early in the recovery game, there are indications that those analysts may be onto something. In fact, in the 2009 Quest for Quality results we’re finding that ocean shippers are giving their carrier partners slightly higher scores this year—indicating that their perception of carrier service is on the mend.
In fact, the overall weighted average for the mode ticked up 0.7 points over our 2008 results. And, it’s good to see that the On-time Performance average jumped up nearly a full point and subtle improvements in Value, Information Technology, and Customer Service.
This year we find Sea Star Line posting the top weighted average of 35.61, just a hair in front of “K” Line’s 35.60. In fact, the two carriers put up near identical scores. They tied in On-time Performance (11.50), while Sea Star had a very slight edge in Value (8.37), Information Technology (4.40), and Equipment & Operations (4.25). “K” Line, 2008’s overall winner, edged out Sea Star this year in Customer Service with a 7.29—the best overall score in that attributed category this year.
In the individual attribute categories, Matson Navigation steamed ahead of the pack this year in On-time Performance posting a very impressive score of 12.13, more than half a point better than the next competitor. Quest for Quality newcomer Wan Hai Lines led the way in Value with a 9.25 and Information Technology with a 4.75. “K” Line’s 7.29 in Customer Service topped the attribute category this year, while Sea Star’s 4.25 led the way in Equipment & Operations.
While this list of winners tends to be the longest year over year, we do see a nice mix of perennial service stars as well as a few carriers we haven’t seen for a year or two. Walking up the red carpet again this year we find OOCL (35.08), Matson Navigation (34.47), Hyundai Merchant Marine (33.68), Hapag-Lloyd (33.03), APL (32.98), and Hanjin Shipping (32.91).
| On-time Performance | Value | Information Technology | Customer Service | Equipment & Operations | Weighted Score | |
| All scores are weighted. Weighted scores are determined by multiplying the average raw scores by the average importance of each attribute (1= least important; 5= most important). To find the attributed weights for this category, see the introduction to the Quest for Quality report. Logistics Management - 2009 Quest for Quality - International Ocean Carriers - Reed Business Information - June 2009 |
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| Sea Star Line | 11.50 | 8.37 | 4.40 | 7.09 | 4.25 | 35.61 |
| “K” Line America, Inc. | 11.50 | 8.29 | 4.34 | 7.29 | 4.18 | 35.60 |
| OOCL | 11.31 | 8.51 | 4.31 | 6.91 | 4.03 | 35.08 |
| Wan Hai Lines | 10.35 | 9.25 | 4.75 | 6.75 | 3.83 | 34.93 |
| Matson Navigation | 12.13 | 7.90 | 3.97 | 6.55 | 3.92 | 34.47 |
| Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics | 10.35 | 8.14 | 4.56 | 7.20 | 4.08 | 34.33 |
| Atlantic Container Line | 10.98 | 8.00 | 4.21 | 7.13 | 3.91 | 34.22 |
| MOL | 11.06 | 8.28 | 4.03 | 6.91 | 3.76 | 34.04 |
| Horizon Lines | 10.94 | 8.06 | 4.28 | 6.64 | 3.83 | 33.75 |
| Hyundai Merchant Marine | 10.43 | 8.54 | 4.01 | 6.89 | 3.81 | 33.68 |
| Hamburg-Sud (includes Alianca) | 11.37 | 7.82 | 3.91 | 6.35 | 3.90 | 33.36 |
| Evergreen Line | 10.52 | 8.45 | 4.04 | 6.34 | 3.71 | 33.05 |
| Hapag-Lloyd | 11.08 | 8.14 | 4.03 | 6.07 | 3.72 | 33.03 |
| CSAV Group | 10.60 | 8.69 | 3.71 | 6.27 | 3.71 | 32.98 |
| APL | 10.88 | 7.69 | 4.24 | 6.28 | 3.89 | 32.98 |
| Hanjin Shipping | 10.67 | 8.08 | 3.93 | 6.46 | 3.77 | 32.91 |
| AVERAGE | 10.58 | 8.12 | 4.03 | 6.39 | 3.78 | 32.91 |
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