OceanWaves: Are SMBs being left out in the cold?

BIO: Murphy has an international business degree from the University of Missouri and attended Peking University in Beijing. During a 12-year career in domestic and global logistics, she managed an extensive portfolio of large-scale domestic and global logistics projects.

KEY QUOTES FROM MURPHY:

“A lot of the smaller to medium-sized BCOs and NVOCCs are having to exist on the spot market. I am also seeing that even though these larger-sized firms have contract rates, it may not always mean that they have guaranteed space. If they can’t get space, think of how difficult it is for the small and medium-sized companies to get space.”

“Before the pandemic, a lot of steamship lines would be open to 50 TEUs a year. Now, unless you are at 500 TEUs, you can’t get a specific contract. … So you see this inflation of how much shipping volume you have to have. Well if you don’t have that, you are forced to book on the spot market. Well how do you book on the spot market? When you are a freight forwarder importing, you are heavily reliant on a global database of other forwarders. We are a part of several freight forwarding organizations, which is one way we find overseas partners to book our customers’ freight.”

“As of a few weeks ago, the rate to Vancouver was almost $4,000 cheaper than the rate to Long Beach. You need to have the right freight forwarding partners to do this strategically. Logistics is all about relationships. … It was cheaper for one of our clients to bring it into Vancouver, transload them, truck them, in-bond, into the country.”

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