BUSINESS HOLDING UP AT CII

One great thing about airfreight and a slow down in the economy, companies look immediately to reduce inventories and thus airfreight very quickly benefits! Think about it, airfreight is the best way for companies to top up on those inventories and get the replacement stock onto the shelves as quickly as possible in the same ratio as sales. There is presently a little lag as merchants reduce their high levels of stock, but within months airfreight volumes will return with even a bigger vengeance and for low valued goods, LCL shipping will enjoy a similar renaissance.

This last weekend the normal “silly season” volumes of yesteryear returned and fingers are crossed that business will remain strong until the end of the year. Over the past week the CII “think tank” has been hard at work spending countless hours studying how best we can adjust our business and thus cope with the changed environment. We have decided the only route is to keep the sign up, “Business as usual”. We are confident we can still grow our market niche, the South Pacific, even though it has been a mature market for the last twenty-five years. Only last week, the owners of the largest tuna fleet in the Pacific handed us their business on a platter because they noted their rival (also a CII customer) seemed to be receiving their spares faster and shortening their vessels’ time in port. Our new customer found the answer by getting on the telephone and asking their competitor, “How come?”

Another first time customer, a South Carolina-based forwarder shipped 20,000kgs with us over the weekend to Sydney. This new business was won by word of mouth. While we pride ourselves on our work ethic, we are not unique. Many of our customers are smarter and better at moving freight than us, but the one thing we do possess that many out there don’t, is a “can-do” spirit. That is why we’re doing everything possible to keep the CII team 100% intact. Come rain or high water, we will survive this recession and our goal is to come out stronger.

Tags: AirFreight, CII, LCL, south pacific, SYD