US figures shatter records

: Friday, 15 September 2006

US air exports shattered all records in 2005 for shipments, revenue and tonnage, according to researcher the Colography Group.

The results reflected a resilient global economy, the residual impact of a weak US dollar and airfreight’s importance in optimising global supply chain performance and driving down inventory carrying costs, Colography said.

Domestic ground parcel traffic also set records in 2005, continuing its positive momentum.

Air export shipments in 2005 approached 92.4 million, the first time shipments exceeded the 90 million annual mark. Export traffic increased nearly eight per cent from 2004 levels. Revenue of USD9.5 billion and tonnage of 6.2 billion pounds also were all-time records.

Ground parcel shipments broke the four billion barrier for the first time, finishing 2005 at 4.1 billion shipments, paced by a surge in fourth-quarter volumes. Tonnage exceeded 42 billion pounds and revenue surpassed US$26 billion, both all-time records and a year-over-year increase of nearly five per cent for tonnage and more than eight per cent for revenue.

Slightly more than 2.5 billion domestic airfreight shipments moved in US commerce last year, just above the 2.45 billion shipments that moved in 2004. Revenue of US$33.5 billion was US$1.6 billion above 2004 levels. Tonnage rose to 17.4 billion pounds from 17.0 billion.

LTL shipments rose to 131.1 million from 128.3 million in 2004. Revenue of US$22.8 billion was nearly US$2 billion ahead of 2004 revenue, a function of accelerated fuel surcharge pass-throughs. Tonnage of 139 billion pounds rose from 2004 levels of 136.2 billion.

The data was extracted from two of The Colography Group’s publications that cover expedited air and surface transport trends: the ‘US Domestic Surface Traffic And Yield Analysis By Competitor And Market Segment’ and the ‘US Domestic And Export Air Traffic And Yield Analysis By Competitor And Market Segment’.

Among some of the findings from the publications:

• Regional LTL carriers increased their shipment share of the total market to 80.6 per cent from 80 per cent in 2004. By contrast, the national LTL operators saw their share fall to 19.4 per cent from 20 per cent.
• Overnight shipments made up 42.2 per cent of all domestic air cargo shipments in 2005, down slightly from a 42.4 per cent share in 2004. Deferred, or non next-day packages, increased their share to 57.2 per cent from 56.8 per cent.
• FedEx and UPS saw slight declines in air export shipment share in 2005. DHL Express and the US Postal Service, by contrast, saw slight gains. The air export market share held by the six major players remained steady at 76.6 per cent of all shipments
• UPS controlled 68 per cent of the ground parcel shipment share at the end of 2005, by far the largest share. However, its share dipped from the 68.8 per cent reported at year-end 2004. FedEx Ground and DHL Express gained modest share.

He said the review had concluded that despite a difficult implementation and transition period, the focus for the ICS must now be on leveraging the investments made for the future.

“This recommendation is based on the finding that the integrated nature of the ICS and its modern architecture represents a sound base for further improvements.

“Quite clearly a significant proportion of industry experienced problems following the introduction of the imports component of ICS. Customs acknowledges there are things that it could have done to make the implementation smoother.

“The release of the report is an example of our renewed commitment to listen to, and partner with, industry in developing solutions,” said Carmody.

Customs has discussed the findings of the review with key industry representatives. Agreement was reached to form a series of joint working groups to explore potential improvements in trade facilitation.

“Initial working groups will focus on the benefits and feasibility of adopting the US 24-hour load rule for cargo reporting and development of an Authorised Economic Operator program consistent with international supply chain security initiatives,” said Carmody.

“Recognition by other countries of such a program would enable cargo to continue moving in the event of a terrorist incident.

“At the same time, Customs will continue to work closely with industry through an existing advisory group to improve the ease of use of the ICS. The work already underway to remove some of the difficulties with the present cascade reporting requirements will make a major contribution to this process.”

Carmody will chair a senior level steering committee to provide what he claimed would be strategic direction and oversight for the ongoing program of improvements to the ICS.

“This committee will also include industry representation,” he added.