In our popular podcast series, cargo.one Founder & Co-CEO Moritz Claussen hosts candid chats with visionary leaders from all across the air logistics world, uncovering their formative experiences and most prized advice. Subscribe today!
cargo.one:one thunders down the runway once again with a full payload of sharp insights, sage wisdom, witty takes, and friendly advice from a hands-on leader steering an industry giant – Henk Venema, EVP & Head of Global Airfreight at DHL Global Forwarding. Only a few weeks since starting his new global role, Henk shares from his 20 years of diverse logistics experience, and is the ideal guest for this episode!
Growing up in the Netherlands, Henk admits the influence of logistics was percolating – several members of his mother’s family and also a neighbor ran trucking and warehouse businesses that would provide early inspiration. Henk took the plunge after his Bachelor’s degree, joining UK forwarder Exel in Eindhoven. He recalls a prophetic first chat with the station manager: “He said, if you're still here by summer, you're going to work in logistics forever. Guess what happened? He was right!”
Flowers, microchips and anything in-between
Henk steadily learnt all the aspects of air forwarding, with Exel being acquired by DHL after about a year. Henk went on to join both UTi Worldwide and GEODIS in senior product development roles: “I was brought up in air freight and I've been lucky enough to do everything that you can do in air freight.” A return to DHL in 2016 would bring a series of senior remits including global carrier management, in which he set up DHL’s own flight operations, then CEO Benelux, and from 2023 until 2025, CEO Western Europe.
Enjoy the full length episode, here:
Decades at the heart of freight forwarding has equipped Henk with punchy perspectives on the evolution of market needs: “In the past people were more focused on capacity and price…in terms of product development, think in the end, it turned way more integrated, way more end-to-end, with way more visibility on top.”
Henk breaks down why integrators today can control their proposition so effectively: “The power of the integrator is that…they're integrated. They control their end to end IT platform, they control their own handling, they control their own trucking. So they control everything and that makes them very powerful in the way they can present that to a customer and they can control their end to end value proposition.”
“It was a secret love for the past seven years, I must say…When then in the end, the request comes to return to air freight, then you automatically say yes.”
Henk Venema
Henk shares frank and practical advice on where industry operating standards can always improve across the industry ecosystem. For example, he notes that “the total service proposal of an airline stands and falls with the ground handler” and points to the “very hands-off mentality” within airlines regarding the ownership of the ground handling product within their own portfolio: “So if you want to have a long and stable product where the ground hander is an integrated part of that product, I think that the industry needs to start treating them different and needs to start engaging with them different.”
Henk is mindful that the customer experience should always be paramount: “I find it appalling that nowadays we still need people to pick up the phone to trace a shipment, right? …There are still airlines out there that don't submit milestones electronically.”
Forever an air freight champion
Henk is a well-known and strong advocate for the vital function of the air mode within supply chains and the resilience it delivers globally: “I think what has changed a lot over the years is the cyclical part…the geopolitical environment became unbelievably dynamic….If you don't do air cargo for a week, then the whole world will know exactly what air cargo means to them.”
In 2017, he became the Chairman of IATA’s Cargo iQ group to oversee its push for performance management standards for the entire industry. Henk reflects: “It is remarkable to see that there's a large willingness out there to get things done, but the execution speed is low. However, that should never lead you to give up hope because, honestly, I got a lot of energy from leading Cargo iQ.”.
In recent years, Henk has worked with Air Cargo Netherlands, speaking out on the issue of slots into Amsterdam Schiphol. Henk is mindful of the complex and “juicy cocktail” needed to fulfill the many economic, environmental, and political interests, and admits “the industry also needs to help itself”, pointing to areas such as “diversifying the landing fees for cleaner aircraft” as an "ideal sign for the industry to show to the people around the airport…we hear you and we're trying to think along.”
With his new global air freight role for DHL Global Forwarding, Henk is well-positioned to apply his flair for crafting and delivering top class air forwarding: “The solutions that the market wants to see nowadays are way more integrated door-to-door solutions with a high level of visibility on top and predictability. And that's basically where IT combined with AI, but also just good system backbones, will make the difference in my view for the bigger flows.”
“Forwarders need to start making their mind up whether they think that one or two cents left or right is important or the end-to-end quality of the supply chain.”
Henk Venema
The imperative for excellence
Thinking about the path of digitalization, Henk admits: “I could not be doing this job if I would not be a fan of digitization, to be very honest. It is out there and you would be a fool to ignore it.” Henk ties together “scarcity on the labor market” with the potential for AI to be doing more administration and heavy-lifting in freight forwarding, leaving human experts free to add more value than today: “We need everybody to do useful things.”
In order to fast track real AI results, Henk would prefer stakeholders to “stop using AI as the container word” and rather start converting its real-world applications into “practical science”. He explains: “Whether it comes to dealing with customer requests…to processing documents that are now being processed manually in the customs arena…to finding capacity and routings, I think that there's very practical deployment ways”.
“Freight forwarding is still a people’s business…Let's make sure that we use the people where we can really deploy them where they are best and that is in interaction with other people – and let AI do the stuff.”
Henk Venema
Henk continues to be an energetic and inspirational leader. Over the years, he has learnt that the best team results stem from strong relationships, and directional leadership must be paired with attentiveness and open communication. He believes that as an employer nowadays, forwarders should be "way more active, not just on the pay or the type of work you provide but also in development, in perspective for the future, in keeping people engaged and interested and motivated."
He admits that over his career he has adapted from “spending 80% of the time on the plan and 20% on talking about it” to nowadays “spending 20% of the time on the plan and 80% on talking about it”. He reflects: “You can run in front of the troops, but don't forget to look back and see if they're still there…there's no point in running so far ahead that you lose everybody along the journey.”
In his new global air freight role, Henk is no doubt well positioned to inspire and catalyze valuable collaborations and growth. His customary high energy, openness, directness, and hands-on style make Henk both a highly successful forwarder and a valuable asset to reform the wider industry. Typically self-aware, he jokes: “Sometimes you need to be very much aware of your Dutchness...It is an absolute asset, when used with care, I'd say.”
Want to know who Henk nominated to join a future episode of cargo.one:one? Tune into Episode 13 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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