What's My Issue With Flexport?

Next year will be my 50th year in Freight Forwarding. It's an industry that I respect, and it has provided me with a great living. It's the reason that I moved from my native England to the US. It's also an industry who have toiled for decades and, in some cases, centuries, to build fantastic global infrastructures and very profitable businesses.

Flexport came along as the new kids on the block. There's nothing wrong with that because new Freight Forwarders are the rule rather than the exception. Every year there are more of them coming into existence and that's great for the industry. Competition drives competition. Competition is healthy. The difference with Flexport is that in my opinion, they are brash and braggadocious. They've been heavily backed by investors which has enabled them to become a marketing machine. That's okay, too but what isn't okay is telling the world that Freight Forwarders are archaic, antiquated and still using stone, chisels and abacuses. Meanwhile, they have been selling at or below cost because they just want to inflate their top line to appease investors. My view on that is top line is for vanity; bottom line is for sanity and cash flow is the reality.

"What Flexport doesn't have is the network, the global infrastructure, the scale, the buying power, the history or the people. Ultimately, in this business, it's the people who make the difference."

Here's the deal. Flexport are using the same Airlines, Steamship Lines, Rail Carriers and Truckers as every other Freight Forwarder. They are bound over by the same rules and regulations as everyone else. They have their own technology but so do virtually every one of their competitors. For those who don't have bespoke technology, there's amazing technology that can be bought off the shelf. What Flexport doesn't have is the network, the global infrastructure, the scale, the buying power, the history or the people. Ultimately, in this business, it's the people who make the difference.

Several years ago I asked Flexport what they were doing that was different to any other Freight Forwarder. They didn't or couldn't answer that question then and they haven't or can't answer that question today.

In a very unofficial capacity, I'm the voice of the Freight Forwarders and the industry they've shown and continue to show little or no respect for. And since I'm part of that industry, and Freight Forwarding has been flowing through my veins for nearly 50 years, I'm not going to let them bash, mislead, bamboozle or bullshit their way into a place of any significance without challenging them every time I get the chance.