The popular series continues with cargo.one’s Founder & Co-CEO, Moritz Claussen, joined by another valuable voice from the air logistics world. cargo.one:one uncovers rare and revealing insights – bringing you guests’ best advice and formative experiences. Subscribe today!
cargo.one:one continues with candid personal reflections from a well known ambassador and advocate for freight forwarders worldwide – Dan March, CEO of WCAworld. With decades of diverse experience gathered across the industry, Dan explores his fascinating journey into aviation and air cargo, and the initiatives and evolutions that give him most pride and hope for the future of freight forwarding.
Dan March is quick to admit, “aviation is in my blood”. A shared family passion for flying and an apprenticeship with the British RAF meant Dan could fly a plane before he could drive a car. After completing a geology degree and enjoying the worldwide adventures that entailed, Dan used this background to enter a career in aviation journalism.
Enjoy the full length episode, here:
After a number of years reporting on military and commercial aviation, Dan segwayed into senior editorial roles covering the air freight industry, such as with Air Cargo News: “Spending 15 years plus as a journalist sets you up for always looking for what's underneath every decision, what's the reasoning, what's real. And I think it helps you read people quite well as well.”
Evolution of the freight network
Upon joining WCAworld in 2010 as its Communications Director, Dan set about raising its profile globally. Becoming its CEO in 2015, Dan oversaw the building out of office teams in Dubai and Shenzen, and several locations in Africa. Dan explains the transformational value of WCAworld membership: “The key plank of WCA's growth and success has been our auditing process and then the financial protection we offer enrolled members…You can select a fellow member in Africa, in Algeria or Nigeria or in Belize…you know that we've audited them and you know that you're gonna get paid…So it leads to a lot of trust.”
Over the years, Dan would oversee a raft of structures, resources and innovations from WCAworld including a payments platform that saves its members thousands of dollars in fees each year, an insurance offering, and speciality networks for perishables, pharma, and time critical, as well as a successful live events program. Dan travels the world meeting his membership – away from home for an incredible 190 days last year. But he admits that the face to face connections are “not only good for business, it is life enriching”.
“They've been predicting for 20 years that the smaller forwarders would get knocked out of the market…And I think that some of the structures we put in place have allowed that smaller section of the market not only to survive, but to actually flourish.”
Dan March
Supercharging the ‘local hero’ forwarder
Dan is fiercely passionate about the value that WCAworld members deliver: “So you connect and go to your customers with the global reach of a multinational, but with the personal touch and the personal service that only small forwarders can bring”. He is equally upbeat about the competitive ability of SMB forwarders today. A smaller forwarder, part of a robust global network like WCAworld, can in fact deliver “a reach…larger than a multinational” with “more locations at your disposal than a multinational”.
While the market can be tough, Dan points to the agility and resilience of SMB forwarders as a competitive weapon: “Small forwarders are very nimble and agile…That’s an advantage for our members – they can adapt and change very quickly, which for a multinational may not be so easy to do”. Dan is also confident that smaller forwarders will continue to benefit from cross border ecommerce and consolidated shipments: “I don't think the ecommerce boom can ever be put back inside the box now, whatever you do with tariffs”.
As a protective advocate for his members, Dan is always championing their cause at the highest levels of the industry. He admits, “I would like to see a much more respectful relationship between carriers and forwarders, especially on the ocean front, but also on the air side”. However, Dan is always mindful that any direct involvement that WCAworld had with rate setting would end up benefiting members unevenly: “If we leveled the playing field on rates for everyone, then the people who worked hard to build that advantage are suddenly disadvantaged”.
A bright, tech-enabled future
In considering the challenges and opportunities for forwarders, Dan points to the key role that digitalization continues to play in enhancing the freight forwarding sector: “There's a strong evolution, not a revolution, but an evolution going on in the business in terms of adopting, first of all, digital technologies and much more capable systems.” He is confident about the ability of smaller forwarders in particular to leverage competitive gains from digital freight: “The good thing is that forwarders, small forwarders are very nimble and agile. So they can make this, they can spot trends and make decisions quickly.”
“I would put technology, digitalization and the adoption of AI as one of the key challenges they have to get right in the next five years…to remain relevant. It's an opportunity as well as a challenge, that's for sure, for everyone.”
Dan March
With all the resources and guidance that WCAworld members can rely upon, the next few years will be an exciting period. Dan is more motivated than ever to ensure that WCAworld forwarders are at the very forefront of driving standards and great customer experiences: “I've always been one for the underdog. The fact we managed to provide some assistance to those SME companies to fight the big guys is something that I love.”
Who is Dan March’s favorite pick for a future guest for cargo.one:one? Tune into Episode 8 now to find out! 🤩
cargo.one:one features many more exciting guests in the series. If you enjoyed this episode, stay tuned to our blog or subscribe using your favorite podcast platform including Spotify, Apple podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Castbox and more.
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