First groupage operator pilots e-waybill system

Helping to buy extra minutes in cut-off time JOY ORLEK AS THE global airfreight industry increasingly buys into the concept of a paperless ‘e-freight’ environment, local moves are gaining ground. The Transit Group has become the first local consolidator to come on board following the introduction by South African Airways of an ewaybill. “We’ve employed five new staff members to process the information, and see it as a worthwhile long-term investment,” says managing member Tim Snell. “There have been glitches on both sides, but we’re working through the problems and see enormous benefits in terms of speed and accuracy.” Simply put, the airlines allocate a range of numbers or the customer requests a number once the consignment is ready for despatch. The information is entered and sent to the airline in advance so that when the freight arrives the airline is already aware of what is coming and merely scans it to confirm arrival. “This is hugely beneficial for the airline which is able to plan better and we hope that it will enable us to buy extra minutes in cut-off time which makes a big difference in the courier industry,” said Snell. For airline customers it involves a fair amount of capital investment in equipment and staff training, but at the end of the day it falls within the International Air Transport Association requirements, says Transit’s Brian Hingley. “With airlines under pressure to save on costs, it makes logical sense.” Iata’s mandate is to introduce e-freight on key trade routes between five early adopter countries by 2007 – a process that is already under way – and to roll out e-freight by 2010 where viable. According to the association, a typical international air cargo shipment is accompanied by up to 38 documents. Across the supply chain it costs an estimated US$30 per shipment to process all these documents. The e-freight initiative is projected to save the industry US$1.2 billion a year.