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Where forwarders lose margin - and how to stop it

A profitable quote does not always become a profitable shipment. In this episode of The Loadstar Podcast, host Charlotte Goldstone asks where freight forwarders lose money between booking and delivery, and what they can do to protect their margins. Emma Crumpton, enterprise solutions director at Portcast, explains how detention and demurrage charges, mismatched buy and sell rates, and costs that are never billed back to customers can erode the return on a job. The problem is often the volume and complexity of information operators must manage across carriers, ports and contracts. Ian Powell, tech and solutions director at Metro, brings the forwarders' perspective. He discusses the cost of manual processing and rework, and describes how Metro pilots technology before rolling it out across its operations. The conversation also examines what AI can realistically do with shipment data. Both guests argue that reliable data, clear processes and human oversight matter more than simply adding another tool. For forwarders wondering where to start, their advice is to identify the cause of a margin leak first, then decide whether a process change or technology can fix it.

WiseTech air cargo push challenges independent booking platforms

In a move that could be a blow to air cargo booking platforms, WiseTech Global expects more forwarders to book airfreight directly within CargoWise, as it expands its airline connections and opens the platform to general sales and service agents. ATC Aviation Services, part of World Freight Company (WFC), has become the first GSSA to connect to CargoWise AirlineConnect, allowing users to search, compare, and book services from its represented airlines in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. The connection brings capacity, schedules, and dynamic pricing into the same system forwarders use to manage shipments, with booking confirmations, amendments, cancellations, and status updates feeding into their workflow. Stuart Hayman, head of carrier integration and transformation at WiseTech Global, told The Loadstar the company expected more customers to book directly in CargoWise as its network expanded. "When booking happens inside the execution workflow, data is captured once and carried through the full shipment lifecycle," he said. "That clearly benefits accuracy, speed, and cost, so yes, we expect more forwarders to take advantage of these efficiencies." According to WiseTech, AirlineConnect now provides digital booking access to airlines accounting for 75% of the air waybills its customers execute, up 15 percentage points from a year ago. The figure measures the connected airlines' share of customers' air waybills, rather than the proportion of shipments actually booked through AirlineConnect. GSSA connections could broaden that reach by bringing several represented carriers onto the platform through a single integration. "Many of the airlines that GSSAs represent don't run their own ebooking channels in every market," said Mr Hayman. WFC markets capacity for more than 300 airlines across over 3,500 tradelanes, although the initial ATC connection covers only its airline portfolio in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. WiseTech expects coverage to expand through WFC's network over the coming months, and through other GSSA connections. Access to AirlineConnect is included in the CargoWise Value Pack. WiseTech did not specify whether airlines or GSSAs pay connection or transaction fees. However, Freightos founder and former CEO Zvi Schreiber argued that independent booking platforms retained advantages over a service tied to a particular transport management system. "Freightos Platform has two things a TMS can't easily copy. It's neutral, so an airline connected to it reaches forwarders whatever system they run," he told The Loadstar. "And through Freightos's shipper marketplace, the Freightos platform connects end-to-end, carriers to forwarders to shippers." Dr Schreiber, who is campaigning for Freightos to prioritise platform growth, said maintaining that network advantage required continued investment. "When a well-funded incumbent moves into your market, that's the moment to accelerate, not to take a sabbatical from growth." WiseTech's airfreight ambitions also extend beyond booking. Its July collaboration with Lufthansa Cargo and IBS Software enabled shipment records to be exchanged using IATA's ONE Record standard. Mr Hayman said the projects addressed different parts of the same workflow: AirlineConnect enables forwarders to find and secure capacity; while ONE Record supports shipment data exchange throughout the shipment lifecycle. "We will expand the bookable network through more direct airline and GSSA connections, deepen post-booking messaging and status visibility, and support standards such as ONE Record as airlines adopt them," he said. For forwarders, connectivity can be an important factor in choosing their operating system. New Hamburg-based forwarder Cherry's Logistics selected CargoWise after considering alternatives, with co-founder Marc-Henrik Schmitz identifying "the API connection possibilities" as one reason for its decision. Co-founder Sandra Bufe said its scalability and potential to save time and manpower were also attractions. But Cherry's intends to build its own data and knowledge environment, connecting its TMS and other systems while preserving flexibility over suppliers. "We want to stay flexible in making our own choices," said Mr Schmitz. Mr Hayman acknowledged that forwarders would continue using multiple booking channels as the market moved away from manual processes. "Our job is to make CargoWise the most complete and convenient option, which is why expanding the network through GSSAs like ATC is so important."

Colombia 'absolutely booming', as ecommerce squeezes air cargo capacity

A huge rise in Colombia's ecommerce imports are putting pressure on inbound air cargo capacity, with airlines and operators reporting thousands of tonnes arriving each week and demand for space continuing to grow. "Colombia is absolutely booming," said one airfreight wholesaler that specialises in perishables. "It's incredible the amount of business going into Colombia." The wholesaler estimated weekly ecommerce imports at 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes - a figure supported by LATAM Cargo's market intelligence. He said one customer currently moving around 1,000 tonnes a week wanted to double that volume, but all available capacity was being taken immediately. LATAM's own imported ecommerce volumes on the US-Colombia corridor rose 53% in January-August. compared with the same period last year. Simón Benzaquen, North America sales VP at LATAM Cargo Group, told The Loadstar: "This strong performance was driven by an increase in operational frequencies into Bogotá, combined with the development and expansion of new regional destinations to streamline delivery times for end consumers." Meanwhile, figures supplied by analytics company Rotate indicate that ecommerce demand is growing faster than available capacity. In its latest three-month comparison with the preceding period, Rotate recorded a 16.8% increase in ecommerce demand into Colombia, while overall cargo demand rose 1.1%. Capacity declined 6.7%. Against the equivalent three-month period last year, ecommerce demand increased 11.9%, overall demand rose 5.7% and capacity grew 4.7%. The figures suggest a tightening market for inbound space, particularly for parcel traffic. The wholesaler described a trade that pairs southbound ecommerce with northbound perishables, and said Colombia had become a recurring topic among industry contacts at the recent European cross-border ecommerce event in Liege. "Everybody I spoke to there was talking about Colombia, Colombia, Colombia," he said. LATAM estimates approximately 99% of Colombia's ecommerce import tonnage enters through Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, and Barranquilla. Its market intelligence indicates cross-border ecommerce demand has been growing at approximately 5% month on month this year. Mr Benzaquen said LATAM was developing direct import services into regional gateways to shorten delivery times and improve network efficiency. However, suggestions that the Colombian surge could partly reflect shipments being redirected to neighbouring markets remain unconfirmed. The wholesaler questioned whether some imports might be travelling onwards, to Venezuela or Brazil. LATAM, by contrast, said the import volumes it processed into Bogotá were intended for Colombian consumers. The airline also said it maintained direct access to Venezuela during the temporary disruption to its Caracas service, using recovery flights into Valencia rather than routing those shipments through Colombia. Those flights carried more than 180 tonnes of ecommerce cargo during the interruption. LATAM offers more than 100 tonnes of weekly capacity across Caracas and Valencia, which Mr Benzaquen said fully met current demand. A second weekly Miami-Caracas frequency is scheduled to begin in November, taking capacity above 150 tonnes.