Pilot project will focus on selling transportation on services from China to the United States.
The container carrier CMA CGM is selling transportation from China to the U.S. on the online Freightos freight marketplace.
Freightos said, “CMA CGM has become the first ocean carrier listed on Freightos. Online bookings, guaranteed pricing and secured capacity will be available on all of CMA CGM’s China-U.S. voyages.” Shippers will be able to book a single or multiple containers through Freightos.
Zvi Schreiber, the chief executive officer of CMA CGM, said, “CMA CGM will be free to offer more or less capacity based on their own revenue management consideration in real time.”
He added, “Launching at this scale is a true testament to the success of this pilot and CMA CGM’s commitment. Other lanes should follow soon.”
The companies said the agreement reinforces CMA CGM’s “position as a digital leader within the industry and takes yet another step towards its customer-centric strategy, offering importers and exporters of all sizes direct access to instant pricing, routing and concrete sailing information in seconds, as well as guaranteed capacity.”
CMA CGM rates may be found free of charge on the Freightos website.
“This development represents a real change for the industry because for the first time, global shipping on key trade lanes functions like passenger travel or ecommerce, where customers can obtain guaranteed prices within seconds,” the companies said.
CMA CGM also uses the New York Shipping Exchange (NYSHEX) to sell freight services. NYSHEX, which first went to market in August 2017, says carriers and shippers have used it to contract for the movement of more than 20,000 containers. The other carriers that are members of the exchange are COSCO, OOCL, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Maersk Line.
Freightos said it is different because on NYSHEX “carriers and shippers transact privately and bilaterally. Freightos is publishing CMA CGM rates for the first time, including a clear two-way commitment (guaranteed capacity, guaranteed price and payment) available publicly to all shippers and NVOCCs.”
Kimberly Cockrell, vice president of sales and marketing at NYSHEX, said, “Ocean carriers have been selling cargo through their websites for years now. There are additionally a few third-party entities posting ocean rates such as digital NVOCCs as well as tender management platforms.
But, Cockrell contended, “NYSHEX is unrivaled in the guaranteed ocean contracts space.
“The way it works is ocean carriers upload offers for particular departure windows as far as six months into the future on our platform, and shippers can join the exchange for free and view/purchase those offers,” Cockrell explained. “The equipment, space and fixed rate are guaranteed. The contract is a bilateral agreement between shipper and carrier. NYSHEX acts as the neutral accountability mechanism to ensure both parties execute on time and in full. If either party fails to execute against the contract, there are penalties paid out to the aggrieved party.
“To date, 98 percent of all of the volumes contracted through NYSHEX have sailed on time and in full. Our shipper members report significant cost savings and far greater supply chain reliability, and one of our carrier members has even seen a double-digit decrease in the number of downfalls overall on the transpacific trade lane,” she said.
“NYSHEX exists because, for many years, ocean carriers have been unsuccessful in implementing truly guaranteed contracts on their own. This is because shippers and carriers truly need one another. There is and will always be pressure from one party for the other to forgive their default and not levy the preset financial penalties,” Cockrell said. “If the aggrieved party does not concede, even though the other is in the wrong, it can serve to damage the relationship. NYSHEX is the neutral accountability mechanism that keeps everybody honest. Both parties know what they are entering into.
“The binding nature of our guaranteed forward contract is what sets us apart from anyone else in the industry and, ensuring better business practices and accountability in the industry we love will always be our North Star.”
CMA CGM first ocean carrier listed on Freightos
