Maersk is trying to change the game, and anyone I talk about says the same thing – in the long run, Maersk doesn`t want cutting-edge business. “It all starts with Vincent Clerc [head of the WMPA for the sea and logistics] – as a legal entity, you should not be both a supplier and reserve capacity with other shipping companies. I don`t see that other carriers like it. This is an aggressive strategy and at some point there will be no turning back. According to German media, CEO Søren Skou personally participated in the decision to terminate the contract with DB Schenker. “But the world is not ready to do it – that`s not how freight management and delivery works, because every customer has individuals who have different perspectives, requirements and approaches – even if everything is ultimately the same – but without differentiation. A deal between two logistics giants was terminated after Maersk decided not to tolerate DB Schenker`s attempts to pinch customers at its transport company Damco. “Schenker has severed its relationship with Maersk or vice versa due to the fact that Schenker has launched a campaign for Damco customers under the Maersk logo and the words #alltheway.” The days of real neutrality are clearly dwindling and we should be concerned about what this is going to do with competition and, above all, with the obvious conflict of interest that is at stake. Nasarka has never been able to work with carriers, they seem to be “pond runners”, as ponl once described it, and simply remove the value of the Maersk brand. The truth is that the brand alone is not worth paying for the supply chain to generate added value and for customers to pay to identify and recognize that value in the benefits they derive from their own product or service, which they can in turn add to their own customers. An interesting development. I wonder how many other “separations” are actually possible.

There is only such a capacity and most of them are controlled by the top 6 carriers. The best strikers must be careful not to engage with one line against another too much (and this move points in that direction). Could the same happen with CMA Logistics and CMA, which are moving away from their best NVO partners due to new carrier strategies? Carrier Forwarder hybrids could cause changes in the way the industry does things….