Dear Business Partners,
It is not easy to say good things about the past year – 2009 has been difficult for most of us in the freight industry. For most of the year, freight volumes were very low. Then, towards the end of the year, the combination of capacity cuts and a rapid increase in demand resulted in space problems and sudden rate increases. The extent of this development has taken most of us in the industry by surprise.
However, despite the generally gloomy environment, there have been a few positive developments to report:
- On Time opened an additional office in Indonesia – our Surabaya branch office opened in July, increasing our coverage of the Indonesian market.
- We started the implementation of our new SAP accounting software. This software will be fully implemented in January, and it will help us make our accounts operation more efficient.
- Most On Time’s offices SOLD more in 2009 than they did in 2008. Although the total tonnage figures are lower at most stations than they were in 2008, the percentage of business sold directly by our stations has actually increased. We are by far not where we want to be in terms of direct sales, but we are making progress.
- We have started to develop the On Board Courier business as a separate On Time business unit. At this point, only three offices are participating in this project, but it will be rolled out across the group in 2010. Other business units, such as aviation, will follow.
- On Time is revamping its Indian set-up. As of January, we are going to be operating as a 100% On Time owned company in India.
Generally, we are optimistic for the new year – while volumes are obviously not going to remain at the current high level throughout the year , the last few weeks have at least shown that there is still some life left in the market. Overall, we expect the year to be better than 2009.
Although we have had to make some adjustments, we have not reduced headcounts drastically during the economic crisis (as some competitors have done). Instead, we are making use of our resources to improve the quality of our service, and to do more sales so that we can contribute more business to our partners.
In the new year, we are going to focus our energies on operating in a more efficient manner; and we will be continue to expand our coverage of the Asian markets, in order to ensure that On Time is the best option in Asia for our agents and customers. We will start in January with the opening of a new office in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Details will be announced separately very soon.
We wish you a successful and happy New Year, and also a prosperous Chinese New Year of the Tiger!
Spencer Lam Hardy Haenisch
