Air Freight Forwarding Companies Involved In Price Fixing

A worldwide investigation has been launched into alleged fuel price fixing by the air freight forwarding industry. Eleven major freight carrying airlines are being accused of trying to fix fuel price surcharges for freight forwarding flights. Amongst the airlines being accused of price fixing are British Airways, United Airlines and Lufthansa.

The airlines are being sued for fuel price fixing by a Tanzanian firm which had used KLM as a freight forwarding company to transport wood carvings to New York. The company, Sisimizi which is based in Dar-Es-Salaam in Tanzania, is seeking unspecified damages from a number of major airlines which act as freight forwarding companies. The complaint about fuel price fixing by leading airlines was filed on February 28 in US District Court for the Northeastern District of Illinois.

According to Julius Maldutis, the president of consulting firm Aviation Dynamics:

"This is going to be a very big issue because all the airlines increased the price of their cargo business concurrently".

According to recent reports, Lufthansa has offered to cooperate with US federal prosecutors who are investigating the claim that price-fixing is taking place in the global airline freight forwarding industry.

Legal experts claim that by offering to co-operate with the authorities, Lufthansa could protect itself from possible criminal charges. This is most likely to be the case if it provides evidence against other air freight forwarding companies.

The investigation into allegations of fuel price fixing became public in February this year. At this time, authorities in Europe, Asia and the United States raided offices of a number of the world's major airlines. They also requested information from other air freight forwarding companies. The crux of their investigations rests on the claim that air freight forwarders conspired to fix fuel surcharges and other fuel related costs. A number of airlines have been asked to provide evidence and most have said that they are co-operating with these requests.

GBS Freight is a freight forwarding company with over twenty years industry experience.

Cleaning Air Cargo Containers

If you own a pressure washing business, janitorial service or truck washing business you owe it to yourself to look into the cleaning of air cargo containers. The cleaning of air-cargo containers is a necessity and it is a consistent business. These containers must be cleaned off to protect the contents inside. In our company we have established an industrial division from our car and truck washing business, The Car Wash Guys, which specializes in unique type cleaning. The Car Wash Guys industrial division specializes in steam cleaning of air cargo containers, ground equipment and loading docks. If you wish to get into this lucrative line of cleaning there are some things you will need. We maintain excessive insurance liability coverage to work on airports, excessive worker’s compensation insurance, business licenses and state and county wastewater permits.

Although this sounds like a lot of paperwork it is not as difficult as it sounds and due to all these requirements it means these barriers to entry deter competition. Luckily for some businesses the government’s intense bureaucracy helps you beat your competitors. Of course, we know that “price is king”. Unless we have the lowest price or a very fair price, all the credentials in the world are meaningless. So here are some suggestions on cleaning prices for Cargo Containers:

Small – On maintenance program $2.00 each

Small – Very dirty $5.00 each

Large – On maintenance program $5.00 each

Large – With corrosion and dirty $10.00 each

Loading Docks Steam Cleaning is also a great business in that in a given industrial area there may be over 500 loading bays available for cleaning. We suggest a low cost high volume pricing strategy:

One Stall $10.00 each

Multiple Stalls $8.00 each

Ground Equipment at airports is parked all over the ramp, many pieces of equipment and if you charge by the unit you may find yourself cleaning hundreds of pieces of equipment in a single visit.

Small Units $3.00 each

Pick-ups/Vans $ 8.00 each

Bobtails/Scissor Trucks $15.00 to $25.00 each

Yes, those are low prices, but that’s how you secure large accounts, which will lead to more work around industrial areas and airports. Before your pressure washing company or cleaning service will be chosen to do such accounts you must convince your potential customer that you believe in:

Strict adherence to scheduling

Consistency of quality

Image of equipment and crew

Safety procedures

These are nearly as important as price. We really believe that because in the service business you either give good service or perish. So for twenty years that’s what we’ve done. I hope you’ll take this advice and follow it, as it uplifts the industry the more professional companies there are out there and together we also add a safety net to the new Homeland Security paradigm. Think on this.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington