NITL air cargo shippers report results from national meeting

Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor -- Logistics Management, 11/15/2007

ATLANTA—Air cargo, which has long been the “step child’ of the National Industrial Transportation League(NITL), has been gaining more traction at its national conference in recent years, says NITL Air Cargo Committee Chairman and IBM Corporation Strategic Distribution Projects Manager Richard W. Macomber.

“While truck and rail still get most of the attention,” he said, “air cargo is gaining interest because of the global nature of our business. And because of the impact U.S. laws and regulations have on other nations, we are becoming even more prominent.”

To that point, the committee listened to a presentation given by the Department of Homeland Security, telling them that the department was stripping some of the “redundancy” out of screening procedures.

“That was particularly reassuring,” said Macomber, “as we have been getting mixed signals about inspections.”

Another hot topic of discussion, he said, was fuel surcharges and the ongoing U.S. Department of Justice investigation of major freight forwarders.

“We have long suspected air carriers of working together to hike rates,” he said, “but as shippers we never had a way to litigate or question these add-on charges. We work with the middlemen. Now that they are being scrutinized, we can defend ourselves against this kind of conspiracy.”

Macomber noted that the globalization of the industry brought this issue to head, as it was driven by the European Union.

“We are working much more closely with our European counterparts now,” he said, “and will take advantage of the information they share with us about rates and hidden charges.”

Meanwhile, he says, U.S. shippers can lead the way in shaping more environmental-friendly ways of doing business.

“Many of our companies are leading the way in the so-called ‘green movement,’” he says. “Being part of the NITL gives us a certain advantage, because we can anticipate changes in laws and regulations.”

Macomber also observed that companies like his [IBM] are also trying to “stay ahead” of compliance issues.

“As shippers, we can lead by example,” he says. “We don’t fly to meetings unless absolutely necessary. “E-mails and teleconferences can be just as effective.”

Until the NITL committee meeting, that is.

“We’ll get together again in Washington, DC this spring,” he said, “to revisit these issues and to be brought up to speed on others.”

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