The Cooperative members will be awarded with a 5% rebate on subscription fees for their first year on xChange

The partnership reached with xChange has been upgraded providing The Coop members an exclusive discount in the form of a rebate for the first year subscription

The Cooperative Logistics Network upgrades its partnership with xChange to provide the members with an exclusive discount. The aim of xChange is to provide a neutral platform for container owners and users to collaborate easily and efficiently. It connects the global container logistics and takes the hassle out of owning and transporting container equipment.

The Coop members will enjoy an exclusive member benefit receiving a 5% rebate on subscription fees for their first year on xChange. Use the referral code: COOPXC21 at onboarding to qualify. Additionally, this upgrade will also enable members join different advantages to make the most of xChange services.

Click HERE to search for empty containers

Coop_xChange_5% rebate_subscription_logistics_partnership
Coop_xChange_5% rebate_subscription_logistics_partnership

 

Container xChange helps you lease, buy and sell containers in more than 2500 locations worldwide. Currently, 600+ small to mid-size companies as well as large enterprises use their online platform to gain market transparency, avoid demurrage and detention charges, and increase flexibility. Furthermore, they cover the entire transaction process, from finding new partners to managing payments and even tracking containers.

If you may need any futher information about xChange, arrange a demo with their team or directly reach out their contact person Jedida Ravindran

Interview with Isabel Magdaleno, The Coop’s Agent Coordinator

“Reaching 300 members in Coop was a very exciting moment and more, bearing in mind it was in the middle of the pandemic”

Freight agent network - Interview Isabel
Isabel Magdaleno, the Agent Coordinator of Cooperative Logistics Network

This week we are publishing an interview with Isabel Magdaleno, the Agent Coordinator of Cooperative Logistics Network. Isabel is contacted by our members regularly for all their questions and for resolving any issues they might face within the network. She also supervises The Coop’s Agent Coordination Team ensuring high performance and productive output.

Before joining the Coop, Isabel has almost twenty years of experience in education, translation, and in international departments of various companies from different fields, dealing with customers from all over the world. She has gathered a broad experience in multicultural environments where she was fully committed to achieving maximum customer satisfaction.

Q. Tell us a bit about your experience with the Coop team so far.

A. I have learned a lot from my co-workers at The Coop and my overall experience here has been a great one. My work consists of helping the Coop members from across the world with any questions or problems they face daily. I try my best to help sort out all the problems of our members and working in a multicultural team has taught me how to do my job sensibly and meticulously.

Q. How do you feel about The Coop reaching more than 300 members?

A. This has been one of the greatest achievements of our network in the last 6 years! Coop’s team also celebrated this moment. I strongly feel that several factors such as reputable and solvent international partners, a reasonable membership fee, the availability of a range of free online tools, a highly productive yearly conference, and the obligation to cooperate with other members and share a part of the shipments are some of the factors that are encouraging more and more quality forwarders to join our network. Currently, we have our presence in 132 countries around the world and I am sure that this number will continue to grow.

 

Q. Which is the most challenging aspect of working with The Coop? How do you deal with it?

A. The most difficult element of my job consists of responding to issues and enquiries from hundreds of agents from so many different countries. I strongly feel that timely response, empathy towards the complaining agent, and being familiar with the agent’s history are three ways of effective handling of the member’s issues. Moreover, I have plenty of understanding about dealing with people from all over the world and my previous job experiences in overseas departments have certainly helped me in this regard.

Q. How does the Coop help to promote the brands of the member companies?

A. Every Friday, The Coop publishes one news on their website about the recent achievements of a member which is also shared on our social media handles. This definitely helps in increasing the visibility of the member’s brand. Moreover, we have several other free PR and marketing materials for the members like a customizable brochure for the members for presenting to their clients, a personalized Powerpoint presentation for use in sales meeting, a tailor-made video about their company that can be used for promotional purposes and even a personalized website for augmenting their online presence!

 I would like to remind the members about the importance of cooperation within the network. The more you cooperate with other agents the greater are you chances of increasing your business. In the present super-competitive environment, mutual cooperation is the only way for independent forwarders to survive and succeed.

                                 


Q. Which aspects would you encourage Coop members to boost?

A. We always encourage our members to boost their online presence and take special care to be active on social networking sites. Right now having a strong online presence is important like never before. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are ideal platforms for promoting the companies while actively interacting with the consumers. Moreover, liking, commenting, and sharing the posts of your clients/partners/network will help to boost your company’s visibility and also prompt others to do the same with your posts.


Q. What is the potential of The Coop’s TMS FreightViewer?

A. Our innovative online tool which can be used by the members at no extra cost will help to reduce the workload of the members by eliminating the process of manual quote generation for good. When used in the right way it will provide them with one single easy to use platform for obtaining freight rates and sending accurate quotations instantly. Moreover, our IT team has been working relentlessly to improve the features of this platform and in December we have finally entered into a partnership with SHIPCO which will allow our agents to access LCL rates in more than 30 countries from the FreightViewer. Our recent additions to the platform have made this tool even more dynamic and useful than before and we are hoping that with time more and more members will utilize this software to substitute many of their manual work processes.


Q. Before concluding, is there any important advice you will like to give to The Coop members?

A. I would like to remind Coop members about the importance of cooperation within the network and participation in Meetings. The more they cooperate with other agents the greater are their chances of increasing your business. In the present super-competitive environment, mutual cooperation is the only way for independent forwarders to survive and succeed. And one way to meet all the members at once is by participating in our Annual Meetings. Our members always say that after the meetings, they have closed many deals and agreements.

 

E2E Supply Chain Management moves a test bench of 26 tonnes

They had to fabricate a skid capable of holding this unit for the seamless transportation of this shipment

E2E Supply Chain Management PTE LTD, a Coop member in Singapore, recently moved a test bench from Singapore to Texas. To move this RORO shipment they had to fabricate a skid and load the cargo onto the skid using 2 units of 55 tonnes crane on site. They lashed and choked the cargo to the skid before covering it with shrinkwrap and tarpaulin/canopy. Thereafter, it was transferred from the site to the conventional port by a low bed trailer due to over width. At the port, they used a 200 tons mobile crane to transfer from the low bed trailer to the Mafi trailer before lashing and choking. Finally, the Mafi was towed on board the RORO vessel.

Coop E2E-independent freight forwarder
Test Bench Shipment of E2E

The dimension of this cargo was 12.76m x 3.4m x 2.02m with a volume of 86cbm. Being quite a big skid, they required additional lashing and choking for ensuring the safety of the cargo.  Moreover, it also ensured general public/seafarers’ safety during the voyage and during the land transit in Singapore and Texas.

“The most challenging part of this shipment was to make sure that the skid could carry this over weight cargo. Moreover, we also had to arrange the loading of the unit on the skid, thereafter, onto the low bed trailer. Lastly, on arriving at the port we had to make sure that the mobile crane and lifting teams were on standby to offload onto the carrier’s Mafi. All these activities had to be pre-arranged and carried out simultaneously. Thanks to my teammates for demonstrating the utmost competence resulting in the successful execution of this project,” says Mr. Alan Lim, the CEO of E2E.

Congratulations to the E2E team for the successful execution of this complex project!

The anouncement launched by The Cooperative about the new tool implemented in FreightViewer covered by the logistics media

The new tool added to FreightViewer opens new business opportunities to members in the network since it enables users not only to exchange information with agents, but also with external partners.

The article explains the advantages which come along with the new incorporated feature of FreightViewer- The Coop’s member exclusive freight management software. This new implementation is a game changer in FreightViewer since, up to now it could only be used between members of the Network but – from now on- FreightViewer can also be used with external agents.

Cooperative_FreightViewer_logistics_media
Cooperative_FreightViewer_logistics_media

 

American Journal of Transportation ( AJOT): is dedicated to providing shippers, carriers, transportation intermediaries, and transportation and logistics professionals with coverage of news and events that shape the world of international trade and transportation.

Hellenic Shipping news Worldwide is an Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and International Shipping Leaders in global shipping news for over 10 years Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide.

Novologistica.com: launched at the begginig 2012 as a blog specialized in and the suplay chain. Since 2017 it covers news and updates in the industry.

The World’s New Monitor:  launched in February 2019 gives an unbiased, neutral view of important economic information.WNM is a brand of NewsTech, an international media company with a strong focus on journalism and technology.

Logistics Bussines: is a pan-European journal dedicated to the best-in-class application of all aspects of technology and services spanning the entire supply chain.

Don’t hesitate to contact amartin@thecooperativelogisticsnetwork.com for further details.

 

 

Alphatrans Ltd executes the delivery of a crane beam by road freight

The beam which weighed more than 40 MT was moved from Ukraine to Belgium

Alphatrans Ltd, a Coop member in Odessa, Ukraine, has recently carried out the movement of a crane beam by truck. The cargo which was moved from Kiev, Ukraine, to Wolvertem, Belgium, had to pass through the territories of four countries.

Alphatrans-road freight shipment
Road freight shipment of crane beam

 

The shipment, which weighed 40,05 MT, had dimensions of 24,02 x 1,80 x 2,08 m. As stated by Dmitriy Balaban, the Managing Director of Alphatrans, “Over the years, we have successfully concluded many road freight projects to the satisfaction of our clients and this one was no different. Obviously, moving a shipment of this size by road and crossing the borders of four countries was no easy task. I would like to congratulate my entire team and especially our trucking department for seamlessly concluding this shipment!”

Congratulations to Alphatrans Ltd and wishing them the very best for their upcoming endeavours!

The Cooperative welcomes new members with an online tour reception and renovates its members area to create a more fuctional space

The intranet has been transformed into a more user-friendly space- a renovated area which will be presented to the upcoming members through a personalized welcome tour

With the aim of converting the members area in a more useful space for agents, The Coop team has redesigned its format. All changes have been included under the premise of improving the traceability and the use of the intranet. This renovation comes along with the digital strategy that has been developed by The Coop for the past two years.

The new design enables members to easily access the essential tools such as the Network Directory or FreightViewer. Moreover, there are two additions to this space. Firstly, a section dedicated to the newest Coop members, which will inform about their incorporation to the Network and will introduce new agents to the group. Secondly, we have created a section for The Coop member news. In this section the agents will find interviews with partners and interesting information related to the sector.

The COOP_new intranet_new tools

Along with these changes, the team will greet new members with an online welcome tour. This update is a significant change since it will enable the latest members to know all features and procedures within the Network. The Coop considers it essential to introduce new members into the group through a warm and personalized welcome.

This facilitates the interaction with all members and with the Head Office. Both these changes were included in the digital strategy adapted by The Coop  for the last two years. This is because, reshaping the intranet enhances the traceability and the use of the members area. On the other hand, the welcome tour ensures that new members are integrated in the network from the beginning.

The welcome tour is for those agents who have recently joined the Network. Besides, it is also for those who wants to know more about the features offered inside the members area.

Don’t hesitate to contact amartin@thecooperativelogisticsnetwork.com for further details.

 

Interview with Robert Schott, the President of AirSchott – PART 2

“We have team members who have worked with us for over 20 and even over 30 years and I often hear them say that they enjoy working at AIRSCHOTT. That’s the company’s greatest success and it’s been a team effort.”

This is a continuation of our last week’s interview with Robert Schott, the President of Airschott, INC, a Coop member in Washington DC, USA. In today’s interview, Mr. Schott sheds light on the problems facing the industry, the importance of having a disaster plan and once again tells us another highly engaging story involving the movement of a solar-powered, high-altitude UAV.

Robert Schott, AirSchott - The Cooperative
     Robert Schott, AirSchott

Q. What has been the greatest success of your team so far? How did you handle it?
A. In my opinion, our greatest success has been in providing a healthy, productive, cooperative environment for our staff. We have team members who have worked with us for over 20 and even over 30 years. I often hear them say that they enjoy working at AIRSCHOTT. That’s the company’s greatest success and it’s been a team effort.

Q. Can you tell us a curious shipment your team has handled?
A. The ZEPHYR is a solar-powered, high-altitude UAV that was developed and built in Great Britain and brought to the USA multiple times for testing. AIRSCHOTT / SEASCHOTT had the honour (and challenge) to enter it into the US, transport it to test sites in remote desert areas and then re-export it back to England, attending to all the customs and transport formalities in each direction.

The aircraft, in its various iterations, had wingspans of 40’ – 70’ and travelled in a bespoke case (wings disassembled) that was shoved down the nose of 747F aircraft or fit onto a 40’ ISO flat rack. It would arrive by air freight and we shipped it back by ocean. We did this about a half dozen times from around 2005 – 2013, meeting a freighter at ORD or LAX and shipping back out of Houston after desert trials.

I don’t recall which year’s shipment it was but one year we had the aircraft on a flat rack and the ground handling equipment stuffed into a 20’ box, booked on an HLAG vessel from HOU. Shortly before scheduled sailing, Houston was locked down due to an incoming hurricane. The sailing was postponed, and we found a warehouse that would store the aircraft inside and the ground gear on the leeward side of the building, protected from the high winds and tidal surge.

The storm passed, all was safe, and we loaded the UAV and gear on the first available departure. All good, right? The container and aircraft arrived in England and I received a frantic phone call and e-mails about the recipient’s staff entering the container holding the ground handling equipment and being chased out by a huge, hairy spider.

Now, I spent much of my youth in my native Florida where huge, hairy spiders are a common fact of life – as a child, I watched my grandmother chase one out of her kitchen with a broom. So, when asked why we hadn’t provided insect control procedures prior to departure, I responded that the big hairy spider was our insect control procedure as its job was to capture and eat insects!

My sense of humour unfortunately was not appreciated in England.

Q. That was funny! Changing the topic a little bit: What are the main challenges facing freight forwarders regarding the pandemic at the moment and how is AIRSCHOTT dealing with these challenges?
A. Obviously, keeping staff and clients safe was, for some, the biggest challenge. However, about 18 years ago, AIRSCHOTT developed a “work-from-home” model both for convenience and as a part of our “disaster plan”. COVID-19 brought the disaster that we had prepared for since 9/11 and the transition was pretty easy for us. Now, the challenge is freight capacity and dealing with carrier shortages and this challenge extends to all transport modes.Q. What is the outlook for your country’s shipping market? Which sectors in the freight forwarding industry are growing, and which not?
A. We see the market growing and capacity improvements in all modes as the pandemic is being brought under control. Outdated and deteriorated infrastructure is a serious problem domestically and we’re hopeful that the government will soon address this issue aggressively.
 

“We had the honour (and challenge) to enter a solar-powered, high-altitude UAV into the US, transport it to test sites in remote desert areas and then re-export it back to England, attending to all the Customs and transport formalities in each direction.

Q. In your opinion, what does the freight forwarding industry lack? How would you think it should improve?
A. Industry-wide professionalism and integrity need to improve

Q. From your own experience, which are the keys to success in the freight forwarding industry?
A. Communication and attention to detail are key. Innovation leads to success in this and most industries. The most important thing is to listen to the clients’ needs and find the best ways to fulfill those needs.

Interview with Robert Schott, the President of AirSchott.- Part 1

“We are local and home grown but our focus has been national and global. We’ve pursued the more esoteric, challenging and highly regulated commodities: We’ve moved satellites to their launch sites, high-explosive charges to mining/drilling sites,  prototype automobiles to secret sites for photo-shoots, among others.”

 

Today we had a long conversation with Robert Schott, the President of Airschott INC, a Coop member in Washington DC, USA. In this two-part interview Mr. Robert Schott, the President of Airschott INC, not only introduces his company, its strong points, its achievements but also narrates a very interesting story about an extremely challenging and complicated DG shipment they handled.

 

freight forwarder

Q. Can you tell us a little about the history of AIRSCHOTT?

A. I founded the company in 1977 as a sole proprietorship, customs brokerage firm. In 1982, AIRSCHOTT, INC. and SEASCHOTT, INC. were incorporated, the former based in the Commonwealth of Virginia with offices and warehouse on Washington Dulles Int’l Airport (IAD) and the latter based in the State of Maryland, near Baltimore. The names identified the modal markets we served as both Customs Brokers and Air/Ocean Freight Forwarders.

Q. What distinguishes AIRSCHOTT from other freight forwarders in your city?

A. We are local and “home grown” but our focus has been national (and global) for many years. We’ve been forward thinking and innovative in all respects and we’ve pursued the more esoteric, challenging and highly regulated commodities where others shy away from difficult transactions. We set up two Foreign Trade Zones, ab initio, both on airports, one in Maryland the other in Virginia. We also developed and patented a mobile, temperature controlled fumigation chamber to process inbound air freighted fruits and vegetables. At IAD, we remain “on-airport”, adjacent to the flight line, in order to be able to efficiently handle airside transactions.

 

We set up two Foreign Trade Zones, ab initio, both on airports, one in Maryland the other in Virginia and we also developed and patented a mobile, temperature-controlled fumigation chamber to process inbound air freighted fruits and vegetables.

Q. What would be the most significant shipment your team has handled?

A. After 43 years, it’s difficult to identify a single shipment – there have been so many. We’ve moved satellites to their launch sites, high-explosive charges to mining/drilling sites, university laboratory samples for research, aircraft by ocean and air to/from testing sites, prototype automobiles to secret sites for photo-shoots, live animals, ship spares, AOG parts, frozen foods; disaster relief material…too many to list.

Q. Wow, that is very interesting, could you please let us know more about these memorable shipments?

A.The following derives solely from my memory as the paper and electronic records have long ago been shredded. As time passes, my memory sometimes seems shredded, as well, but this was a pretty memorable shipment.

The year was around 2008. The shipment of hundreds of shaped explosive charges originated in Australia and consisted of Class 1.1 products used in the mining industry to generate controlled underground blasts that provide a seismic profile of the earth below. It was headed to the mountains of Azerbaijan. It was a 20’ container that was, of course, being watched very carefully.

The task was to move the container to the US West Coast, then across the country by truck, park it in a safe harbour before lading aboard an ACL vessel in Halifax for transport to Liverpool where the container would be stripped and a charter aircraft would carry the contents to Baku. At GYD, the consignee would collect their cargo and move it to the mining region in the mountains.

MAERSK brought the box to Oakland. In preparation, well in advance, we contacted the U.S. Customs supervisory officer in charge and provided all appropriate information for collection by a qualified trucker and movement “in bond” across the USA into Canada.

On the day of the vessel’s arrival in port, our driver was waiting at the quay to collect the container. Of course, the U.S. Customs Supervisor with whom we had prepared all in advance was not on duty that day. The replacement officer had no advance information and questioned the adequacy of the trucker’s bond – which we had previously cleared as adequate. While in the process of trying to educate the substitute Customs officer, I received a phone call from the Captain of the Port of Oakland, saying that if I didn’t remove that container from the quay within 1 hour he was going to shut down the Port and my company would pay for all the expenses that would entail. I immediately called the Customs Port Director and explained all to him. Within about 15 minutes, the container was released to the bonded trucker and the driver left the port with the container.

Liverpool required a $20million bond in order to discharge the container there, which was arranged with our colleagues/agents in England. Over-flight permits across all the nations between England and Azerbaijan were challenging but the air charter operator managed that in due time. The cargo was delivered, we were paid. All good.

Keep an eye on our News section next Friday to read the second part of this very interesting interview!

Alphatrans Ltd moves an OOG shipment consisting of spray dryer

They were in charge of several aspects of the cargo including port formalities, reloading and delivery to the consignee’s warehouse by truck

independent freight agent
OOG shipment Coop Alphatrans

Alphatrans Ltd, a Coop member in Odessa, Ukraine, has recently carried out the movement of a spray dryer. The shipment which came from China was moved from the port in 1×40′ Open Top + 1×40′ Flat Rack and delivered to the warehouse in Ukraine by truck.

The cargo in FR weighed around 12 MT but moving it was challenging because of the odd shape of the shipment. In the words of Dmitriy Balaban, the Managing Director of Alphatrans, “Although the weight of the shipment was not too much, moving it posed a bit of challenge since we had no information about COG. After discussing with the shipper and the consignee, we arranged for the reloading from FR into low bed trailer and safely delivered the cargo to the final destination.”

Congratulations to Alphatrans Ltd for pulling off this project successfully and all the best for their future projects!

Imperial beats the crunch with ten charters from China to South Africa

The logistics service provider supports the health system in Africa by transporting test kits for the public health departments in several cities across the continent

Imperial – a Cooperative member in Malmo, Shanghai and Zurich – has beaten the airfreight capacity crunch with 10 charters of COVID-19 test kits and PPE destined for South Africa.

The project totalling 2,868.19 cbm, and comprising protective gowns, goggles, masks and testing kits – was flown to Johannesburg on one flight from Beijing, one from Guangzhou and eight from Shanghai. Imperial used freighter aircraft of Etihad Cargo, Ethiopian Airlines Cargo and South African Airways Cargo.

air freight services
Cooperative member in Malmo, Imperial beats the airfreight capacity crunch with 10 charters of COVID-19 test kits

The Imperial team sending out time critical, cold chain shipments from China to several countries

Joshua McLarin, Managing Director of Imperial in China, says: “Since the pandemic started, our team has successfully executed many projects involving the shipment of PPE and testing kits.”

“We have faced many challenges along the way including extreme urgency, frequent lead time deviations, delays due to physical inspections by customs authorities, constantly changing export regulations, severe shortages of airfreight capacity and containers, and flight delays. Warehouses and airport terminals have also been extremely congested, complicating urgent deliveries to handlers.”

“In spite of all this, by working around the clock and leveraging all our experience and contacts, we have ensured that the shipments reached their destinations – typically local hospitals and government departments – within the required deadlines”.

air freight services

Congratulations to Imperial and all the best for their upcoming projects!