Front Runners

Quest for Quality - Freight Forwarders

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 8/1/2006

When it comes to top-notch service from their key middlemen, logistics managers have fairly simple expectations: They want a freight forwarder that is “committed to us, committed to satisfying our customers, and overly concerned about the quality of the shipment and the data shared,” as one respondent put it.

This year, 10 freight forwarders—a jump up from last year’s seven—exhibited this stellar customer commitment. The 2006 winners include: FedEx Trade Networks, Expeditors International of Washington, UPS SonicAir, Associated Global Systems, Lynden Air Freight, Pilot Air Freight, BDP International, BAX Global, AIT Worldwide Logistics, and DHL Global Forwarding (formerly DHL Danzas Air & Ocean).

While the elite 10 met or exceeded the 31.52 weighted average score, this category of high-flyers was not immune to the trend of lower year-over-year weighted averages in a few key categories. For starters, the overall weighted average dropped 1.6 points from 2005. Averages dropped a bit in Information Technology and Equipment & Operations, and took a sharper dip in Customer Service—down to 5.97 from 7.35 in 2005.

The good news is that the overall weighted average in On-time Performance and Value improved this year.

Another note of interest from this year’s findings: No single freight forwarder ran away with top honors in every category. UPS SonicAir took top prize in On-time Performance (11.44) and Equipment & Operations (3.81); Pilot was considered the best Value (8.21), FedEx Trade Networks led the way in IT (5.29), and Lynden Air Freight posted the highest Customer Service score (6.77).

Even if the overall averages did dip a bit this year, shippers are telling us that now more than ever, freight forwarders are in fact willing to go the extra mile to make things happen. “Our forwarder continues to exhibit the willingness to do whatever it takes to allow us to meet our customer-service requirements,” said one shipper. Another reported that when things got rocky in one instance, his forwarder “took responsibility, then took action to turn a problem into a win for us and our customer. That defines quality service in my estimation.”

Given this category’s level of importance, it would be safe to assume that we’ll see these overall scores shoot off the charts once shippers and freight forwarders better define their relationship. This interface is a critical point in the supply chain that seems to be plagued with more than its share of misunderstandings and disagreements.

Once practitioners on both sides of the fence recognize the importance of good communication to successful business relationships, they will be holding consistent ideas about how to make those relationships more effective and professional. And that’s just the kind of quality attribute that is bound to translate into chart-topping satisfaction scores when it comes time for the 2007 Quest for Quality.