Forward, Summer 2016 Issue

Executive Director’s

Report

Forward Magazine

Summer 2016

Airforwarders Association

Brandon Fried

AfA Executive Director

our decades ago, the air cargo

business divided itself into three

distinct facets. While a fledgling

Federal Express struggled to con-

vince America that it absolutely, positively

needed envelopes delivered overnight, well

established, old-line freight forwarders

ruled the skies, filling passenger bellies and

airline owned freighters with heavy cargo.

The third facet consisted of a group of

swashbuckling, entrepreneurial air couriers,

willing to do whatever it took to get pack-

ages delivered anywhere at any time when

the more established competitors would

not even try. These companies mostly

depended on airline small package services

and red-eye flights, to provide delivery the

same day or early the following morning.

They were fiercely competitive, exceedingly

creative and tremendously flexible, setting

the stage for much of the way our industry

does business today.

Ray Thurston is one of the swashbucklers,

started one of the most successful same

day air courier companies and through his

forward-thinking creativity, turned Sonic-

Air into one of Inc. 500's "Fastest Grow-

ing Companies" for three years in a row.

Ray's keen sense of detail and meticulous

organizational skills grew SonicAir into

a full-service logistics company offering

warehousing, distribution, sophisticated

supply chain software and consulting to

large multinational corporations. UPS

soon purchased the firm, and Ray became

Chairman of UPS Worldwide Logistics,

now over a $10 billion division of the

company before moving on to more fasci-

nating pursuits.

At AirCargo 2016, on June 8-10 in Phoe-

nix, you will have a chance to hear Ray's

keynote presentation where he plans to dis-

cuss the successes and failures that helped

make him one of the foremost supply chain

industry leaders in the world. Ray will also

share his viewpoint on current issues affect-

ing the logistics industry while providing

insight that you will find beneficial.

The annual AirCargo conference brings

together all the actors in the air cargo sup-

ply chain to discuss trends, challenges, op-

portunities and the future of the air cargo

industry. You will meet leading represen-

tatives from the airlines, surface truck-

ing providers, airport authorities, freight

forwarders and other vendors supporting

the vital freight transportation industry.

Our informative, educational sessions will

focus on delivery industry changes, trends

and how we deal with them in the face of

growing regulatory and legislative compli-

ance demands. The Marriott Desert Ridge

serves as a magnificent backdrop to learn,

network and prosper.

As time progresses, forwarders are begin-

ning to rely on technology as a means to

send vital shipment data to their partners

and customers. In this issue of FOR-

WARD, we address key issues relating to

electronic data transmission of shipping

documents. Mark Connell of AfA member

WiseTech Global shares his insight on

preventing data disasters while Christian

Riege of Riege Software discusses benefits

of e-airbills beyond just saving paper.

Scott Sangster of Descartes furthers the

discussion by explaining data repurposing,

accessibility, and visibility for forwarders.

The AfA believes that its members will see

the benefit of technology investment, as

preloading advanced data and new export

manifest requirements come into play.

Meanwhile in Washington, AfA continues

its monitoring of several issues affecting

forwarders. Many of you have been seeing

our communications regarding Safety of

Life at Sea (SOLAS) Verified Gross Mass

overweight maritime container regula-

tion coming on July 1st. In this issue of

FORWARD, AfA member Rick Bridges

of Roanoke Trade focuses on the require-

ment from a risk management perspective.

While the U.S. Government does not

plan to impose a regulatory scheme, we

will continue to watch developments on

SOLAS as they occur.

TSA officials will be with us at AirCargo

2016 as the agency promises it will have

released its latest change to the Indirect

Air Carrier Standard Security Program by

conference time. Forwarders are urged to

review the document and come prepared