All forwarders
need now to take
steps and come to
the party
Gerry Burgin, GB Cargo Associates
ELECTRONIC
AIR WAYBILLS
terminals. There followed
connections to the other UK
branches of Trans Global to
complete the network. “It was
a job-start-to-balance-sheet
system,” is how Burgin sums it
all up. It gave users the ability
to draw off reports (such as
for credit control) and profi t
and loss reports per job, as
and when required. As such,
it was a million miles away
from existing, paper-based
processing procedures.
Outside interest grows
Thanks to the close-knit nature
of the freight community,
allied to good publicity, by the
late 1980s most carriers were
aware of what was going on at
Trans Global.
“And then BA put in a
request one day; they asked
if we could work with them
to introduce an electronic
air waybill. Fortunately, we
had an excellent IT manager
who worked with the carrier
and this resulted in the fi rst
Host to Host air waybill being
transmitted: that was in 1993.”
BA was so impressed by the
process that it began to talk
to KLM (at that time British
Airways was considering a
possible merger with the
Dutch carrier) and within three
months, Trans Global was also
electronically connected with
KLM. Understandably, this
electronic messaging service
was hailed as a milestone
for the freight sector. (In
retrospect, it would be
tempting to assert that Burgin’s
work behind the scenes was
largely the reason why there is
now a growing adoption rate
of the e-air waybill).
Burgin was keen to spread
the word, of course, and
they cannot afford the change
or see no value in it. This is
a mistake – many Customs
and Government authorities
insist on advance information
for Customs and Security
purposes. Really, all forwarders
need now to take steps and
come to the party.”
The fi ght for acceptance
There are other reasons why
this (now elderly, it must be
said) technology has yet to
win global acceptance. Burgin
reckons that there are around
30 software houses in the UK
which need to get further
involved but that they are
currently reluctant to write
interfaces because of a lack
of guidance and uniformity
on data exchange, and the
interface required.
“There are 17 versions
of cargo-imp out there,” he
explains. “Nearly all of them
are legacy systems and are
simply not fi t for purpose.
Most airlines work with cargoimp
version 16 or 17 whilst
others, perhaps in emerging
economies, are still using 9 or
10. There may be insuffi cient
fi elds on the air waybill for all
the input data. Incorrect air
waybills attract Customs fi nes
at many destinations, which
is another major problem. An
example would be that the
name and address has to fi t
exactly in the appropriate box
or it’s rejected. And today you
can have a situation where an
agent turns up at a transit shed
at an airport with a shipment
or shipments and without a
paper air waybill, assuming
that this information is already
in the system. If it’s not, then
he is turned away and the
shipment misses the fl ight.
Repeat that once too often and
you’ll lose your customer.
“There are other options
available, such as XML. This,
though, is complicated and
expensive – XML does indeed
get around the problems
but it’s not viable for small
forwarders and for a number
of airlines. Currently only
a handful of airlines are
migrating to this platform.
ONE Record, though, has the
potential for the sector to
move forward.”
A brave new world?
So, in his view, why has there
been so much heel dragging
over the implementation of
e-AWB?
“The reason for the
immense delay in introducing
electronic procedures is not
the fault of any one party. All
the stakeholders need to take
this matter seriously, that is,
the airlines, the forwarders, the
GSAs and the GHAs.
“The problem is that many
companies don’t have any
vision or are not looking to the
future,” he adds bluntly. “They
don’t see the need. In the case
of forwarders, many will have
to be dragged screaming into
this technology; they’ve got to
look beyond the complication
and investment.
“As for airlines, they must
make it a planned goal to
achieve one hundred percent
e-AWB adoption within a
planned timeframe.”
Gerry Burgin began his career in cargo
in 1960, working with Baker Britt. By 1977
he was MD and later Chairman of Trans
Global Air. He subsequently became CEO of
Wilson Logistics (now part of GEODIS) and
since 1998 has run his own consultancy
business, Gerry Burgin Cargo Associates.
quickly tackled the doubters.
“I would ask these people:
what’s the advantage? What’s
in it for me? Typically, airlines
would say lower printing
costs (of air waybills), which
I immediately argued against.
Stationery costs were really
negligible. The forwarders
needed to get on board, since
they represented the shippers.
It wasn’t the role of the carrier
or the shipper to instigate this
change. There is no doubt that
IATA needs to keep banging
the drum on this issue.” He
adds that IATA’s recently
launched ONE Record, which
contains elements of data
collection and blockchain
technology, is a step in the
right direction.
“It’s in many ways free,
although of course the
forwarder has to invest
something with their software
supplier. Today, there are
hundreds of small forwarders
around but only a few
medium-sized companies. The
smaller guys either believe that
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