International freight forwarder Fracht US has digitally transformed , improving life both for the company and its customers , says Darwish Adi , VP of IT
FRACHT
International freight forwarder Fracht US has digitally transformed , improving life both for the company and its customers , says Darwish Adi , VP of IT
In what must amount to one of the best-ever summaries of the business of freight forwarding , Darwish Adi , VP of IT of Fracht Group – United States says : “ Basically , we ’ re a travel agent for cargo .”
He adds that , while people can get themselves to the airport , onto a plane and then through customs , cargo cannot .
There is far more to outsourced logistics than this , of course ; there are quite literally thousands of moving parts in logistics at any given time .
Indeed , third- and fourth-party logistics providers ( it ’ s the same thing as freight forwarding ) have evolved significantly even over the past few years , with the pandemic prompting a faster pace of change .
Early in the pandemic Fracht – like all logistics providers – was faced with a shortage of capacity and rocketing prices . It was a tough time , Adi recalls .
“ As a freight forwarder it gave us a huge challenge ,” he says . “ I mean , it ’ s embarrassing to go to customers and say that the same container you moved last week for $ 2,000 now will cost you $ 18,000 .” But latterly , he says , things have improved . “ Availability is up and prices are down . Capacity is improving , ports are less congested and the consumption is there ,” he says , with a grin .
In today ’ s post-pandemic world , Fracht ’ s core business remains “ our ability to
182 September 2023