ACU Dec-18 Final LR

UPS increases freight rates to US and Canada
ATLANTA, GA: UPS has increased
by 4.9% its freight rates for all ground,
air and international services within
and between the United States,
Canada and Puerto Rico.
The company said the rate changes
that took effect on December 26,
2018 will support ongoing expansion
and capabilities enhancements while
ensuring UPS is fairly compensated
for the value and high service levels it
provided.
“UPS continues to make investments
in capacity, technology and
reach of our transportation network
in order to support our customers'
growth, visibility, and service needs,”
the company said in a statement.
Last November, UPS, a global
logistics provider and leading
GLOBAL NEWS
advocate for global trade, lauded the
US, Canada and Mexico for agreeing
to sign the US-Mexico-Canada
Agreement (USMCA).
The signed USMCA but is yet to be
ratified is unofficially known as NAFTA
2.0. It is meant to supersede the North
American Free Trade Agreement
( N A F T A ) w h i c h t h e T r u m p
administration believes does not
support the US economic agenda.
“The new USMCA will help to take
time, cost and complexity out of trade
between the United States, Mexico
and Canada,” said David Abney,
C h a i r m a n a n d C E O o f U P S .
“Specifically, the agreement will
significantly improve customs
regulations, spur the growth of e-
commerce through new digital trade
rules and support the participation of
more small businesses in regional and
global supply chains.”
UPS has been a vocal supporter of
modernizing the North America trade
regime and bringing it into the 21stcentury.
Air France KLM Martinair Cargo rolls
out new digital products
THE NETHERLANDS: Air France
KLM Martinair Cargo has rolled out
new digital products following the
success of its online booking toll
myCargo lauched about 2.5 years ago.
The company says it recently added
the option to make instant bookings of
up to 4 tons 24/7 and the option of
booking pharma shipments online.
It also launched an API (Application
Programming Interface) capability that
will enable customers to directly
connect with Air France KLM Martinair
Cargo's “Quote & Book” online
booking tool into their systems,
offering more efficiency gains.
“ We a re v e r y p l e a s e d w i t h
myCargo's degree of adaptability and
its customer satisfaction ratings. We
get a lot of positive responses from
customers. In December, we reached a
milestone in Europe by having 52% of
the quotes requested online. This
means, in practice, that about every 20
seconds a quote is requested online
during a working day,” says GertJan
Roelands, Vice President Europe at Air
France KLM Martinair Cargo.
“We promote our digital approach
with our GoSurfing campaign, which
we recently introduced in Germany
and will be rolling out further in Europe
in the weeks ahead. Another
development driving online sales is
our new program for small and
medium-sized forwarders called
“WHAT COUNTS,” he added.
WHAT COUNTS creates value for Air
F r a n c e K L M M a r t i n a i r C a rg o
customers in three ways. First, it gives
customers the opportunity to save
Blue Credits for the cargo flown which
they can use to buy airline tickets.
Second, it gives them access to
MyCargo, allowing them to book and
manage shipments 24/7. Third, the
GertJan Roelands
WHAT COUNTS approach is largely
based on big data.
“This enables us to send targeted
offers to customers, based on their
specific needs. We began rolling out
this program in the Netherlands last
year, which led to higher customer
satisfaction ratings and increased
sales. That is why we decided to roll out
the program throughout Europe,”
explained Roelands.