‘We’ll always be in the people business'

For Warren Erfmann, CEO Africa DSV, there are three defining elements that have shaped the logistics industry as it is today – the advent of the salesman, containerisation and computerisation. He recalls the early days of the industry when clearing and forwarding agents acted only when they received a set of documents, and their job was done when they received confirmation that the cargo had been railed. All the agents belonged to SASAFA (South African Shipping and Forwarding Agents Association), which in its day was an extremely powerful association, and virtually without fail all clearing and forwarding agents applied the tariff dictated by SASAFA. Agency was 7.1% of disbursements, plus tonnage agency, plus B/L fee, plus documentation, plus a disbursement fee of 3%. Compare that tariff to what is being offered out there today! “There were no salesmen and there was virtually no movement of customers from one agent to another. In fact it was an unwritten law that permission would have to be obtained from SASAFA for an agent to take on another’s customer. Can you imagine that happening today?” “The introduction of the salesperson was good and bad,” says Erfmann. “Bad from the point of view that they undercut rates, which regretfully is still endemic in our industry today – but good from the point of view that we suddenly realised that there was something called “service” in our industry. “We finally understood that in order to survive we had to provide a value-added, competitive service ... and we started to think as freight forwarders, not clearing and forwarding agents. “Whatever the future holds we will always be in the people business. Remember people move freight – not trains, planes or ships – they are merely a means of conveyance.” INSERT & CAPTION It was an unwritten law that permission would have to be obtained from SASAFA for an agent to take on another’s customer. Can you imagine that happening today? – Warren Erfmann