Freight forwarders speak: the preception of route comptetition via seaports in the European communities Research project —Part II

This paper, in two parts, reports on the perceptionof route competition via seaports in the European Communities Research Project wherein 72 interviews were held with freight forwarders throughout Europe (for the locations of the interviews see Part I, figure 1). This second part of the paper reports on the analysis of the openended tape-recorded responses of the interviewees to six separate sets of propositions they were shown; and there are extensive verbatim quotations. These quotations become longer as respondents warmed to the procedure. They tend to emphasize the increasing symbiosis of the land and sea operations within international transport. Among many vital topics of concern in a freight forwarder's life are costs and time. Not only does elapsed time equate with money expended, but also time limits equate with credit limits; any delay or unreliability results in sudden and enormous escalation of costs. Movement between countries in the mainland European Communities (EC) is more by truck than short-sea shipping. Customs are widely criticized as a cause of delays. The unfair (according to EC rules discrimination against UK forwarders by conferences tend to foster feeder services to mainland ports for British exports. But the opinion is that the power of conferences has declined markedly in recent years with the concomitant growth of independent lines. Freight forwarders may decline in numbers as their function changes. More capital is now required for computerizatio and credit bonds. There is a tendency to provide a more integrated service which would be symbolized by a growth of delivered price trading compared with free-on-board deliveries.