When the 31st Annual Meeting of the Agriculture Ocean Transportation Coalition convened in Tacoma, WA this month, it featured the always popular Ocean Carrier Performance Survey (now in its 14th year).
OOCL was presented the coveted plaque as Top Ranked Carrier, with ONE and Evergreen comprising the upper tier.
The AgTC members who completed this survey represent a broad, diverse cross-section of U.S. agriculture and forest products exporters and importers, some being the largest exporters from the U.S., others smaller — from all geographic locations, of virtually all dry and refrigerated products, via dry and refrigerated container.
In addition, freight forwarders, who often serve as the export departments of ag and forest products exporters, are members of the AgTC, and bring their expertise to the survey.
Shippers assessed carrier performance in each of these areas:
· Documentation Accuracy and Timeliness
· Quote Responsiveness
· Rate Competitiveness
· Claims Service
· Freight Billing Accuracy
· On-time Performance
· Ease of Doing Business
· Canceling or Rolling Bookings
· Equipment and space allocation
· Problem Resolution
· Customer service practices
As reported in LM this year, meeting shippers’ service and contractual expectations continues to decline,according to the third annual shipper satisfaction survey conducted by the London-based consultancy, Drewry.
That may explain why AgTC’s executive director, Peter Friedmann, was so generous with his praise of survey winners.
“Congratulations to all,” he said. “And we find it encouraging that so many carriers value this annual exercise taking place before Peak Season.”