Full speed ahead

Staff -- Logistics Management, 8/1/2001

Shippers today have great expectations where ocean shipping service is concerned. Since enactment of maritime reform two years ago, shippers have been able to negotiate both rates and service terms with their ocean carriers. That newfound freedom has given shippers the means to demand more in the way of service capabilities.

For their part this past year, ocean carriers have been inundated by higher freight volumes stemming from burgeoning global trade. Despite the slowdown in the U.S. economy, ocean liners ferried more containerized shipments this past year than they did in the previous 12 months. The increased container traffic, not surprisingly, has taxed port facilities and rail connections. The new generation of larger-size containerships has also strained the port system's ability to handle large vessels.

Despite those obstacles, ocean liner companies have responded swimmingly to shippers' demands. Their weighted composite customer satisfaction score, which rose from 31.05 last year to 31.77 this year, provides evidence of that.

The carriers' ratings actually rose in three of the five categories measured in our survey. The on-time performance score improved from 9.68 to 9.72. The value rating swelled from 7.29 to 7.96. And the equipment and operations score rose from 4.99 to 5.16.

But liner companies did founder a bit in two categories: customer service and information technology. Last year's rating of 6.04 for customer service sank to 5.92, and the information technology score dipped from 3.05 to 3.01.

This year, ocean shippers bestowed gold medals on 13 ocean carriers, compared with 15 last year. MOL led the fleet with the highest overall weighted score of 36.33. Canada Maritime placed second with 35.22. Other honored carriers in the parade of tall ships were Cast North America, Maersk Sealand, Atlantic Container Line, K Line, APL Ltd., NYK Line, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Seaboard Marine, Evergreen Line, Hapag-Lloyd, and FESCO.

Ocean Carriers

International Ocean Carriers	On-time performance	Value	Information technology	Customer service	Equipment & operations	Weighted score
MOL	11.00	9.04	3.43	7.14	5.71	36.33
Canada Maritime	11.06	8.94	3.23	6.40	5.60	35.22
Cast North America	10.82	8.87	3.00	6.61	5.40	34.69
Maersk Sealand	10.44	8.21	3.47	6.24	5.63	33.99
Atlantic Container Line	10.20	8.13	3.15	6.61	5.66	33.74
K Line	9.98	8.13	3.15	6.29	5.42	32.97
APL Ltd.	9.76	7.77	3.41	6.34	5.58	32.85
NYK Line	10.24	7.67	3.21	6.31	5.30	32.74
Hyundai Merchant Marine	10.30	7.98	3.04	6.02	5.34	32.68
Seaboard Marine	10.27	8.07	3.06	5.84	5.22	32.47
Evergreen Line	9.89	8.18	3.06	6.07	5.19	32.39
Hapag-Lloyd	10.24	8.28	3.00	5.73	5.02	32.28
FESCO	9.78	7.82	2.91	6.22	5.25	31.99
Average	9.72	7.96	3.01	5.92	5.16	31.77
All scores are weighted. Weighted scores are determined by multiplying the average raw scores by the average weighted importance of each attribute (1=least important; 5=most important). To find the attributed weights for this category, see the table titled “Performance Attributes’ Importance Ranked by Mode” in the introduction to the Quest for Quality report.