Analysis: Ocean Carrier Booking Responsiveness

INTTRA, the world’s largest multi-carrier e-commerce network for ocean shipping, announced the results of its Ocean Carrier Booking Responsiveness Analysis which provides the first global benchmark of the amount of time it takes to book a container shipment with leading ocean carriers electronically. The exclusive analysis sheds light on a crucial element of e-shipping—the speed in which a carrier responds to a customer’s electronic booking request. With this analysis, INTTRA ranks the top five ocean carriers leading the way in responsiveness via e-booking.

E-shipping is the most efficient, cost-effective way to manage global shipments when compared to a manual approach. Yet, the time it takes for ocean carriers to respond to electronic booking requests still exceeds other support channels, such as phone or fax—offering a differentiating advantage to those that can offer e-booking in the fastest manner. 

In its analysis, INTTRA measured carrier responsiveness across all major trade lanes on its multi-carrier e-commerce platform by looking at electronic booking times from the moment a shipper enters a booking request to the carrier’s first definitive response time. This revealed the Top Five ocean carriers leading in responsiveness for electronic booking across the globe (1), which are:

1. MCC Transport

2. Safmarine

3. United Arab Shipping Company (UASC)

4. Maersk Line

5. Hamburg Sud

Notably, three out of the top five carriers on INTTRA’s list are A.P. Moeller-Maersk carriers, with the top carrier, MCC Transport, delivering a responsiveness score that is 64 percent faster than the median figure —representing a significantly quicker response time than the total of all ocean carriers measured. The median industry responsiveness time on the INTTRA network, measured across the major trade lanes, is 113 minutes.

“The time it takes for ocean carriers to respond to electronic booking requests is a critical factor in e-shipping adoption,” said Sandra Moran, Chief Marketing Officer, INTTRA. “Too many shippers still rely on manual means, such as phone calls, when booking with a carrier, which does not deliver the same level of savings, shipment data quality or efficiency derived when booking electronically. This is why INTTRA has chosen to spotlight this issue, and recognize MCC Transport and the top five carriers that are vastly outperforming the industry in responsiveness for e-booking.”

“As the shipping industry gains new efficiencies through process automation, we recognize that responsiveness— and the speed in which shippers can book with a carrier electronically — is a critical factor driving customer satisfaction,” said Naresh Potty, Chief Commercial Officer, MCC Transport. “It has the added benefit of reducing costs for both us and our customers, and is part of our strategy to deliver consistent service levels across all our customer intake channels. INTTRA is well-positioned to target this issue, and help MCC Transport continue to lead in driving greater responsiveness throughout our global operations.”

Responsiveness Across Regions

In addition to spotlighting the top carriers across all global trade lanes, INTTRA shared details on responsiveness for four regional trade lanes, including Asia, North America and Europe. INTTRA’s analysis revealed the top carriers in these major trade lanes:

• Trans-Pacific Eastbound trade lane (Asia to North America): 1. ZIM; 2.Maersk Line; 3. UASC. Top responsiveness measurement: ZIM is 44 percent faster than the median time.

• Trans-Pacific Westbound trade lane (North America to Asia): 1. Maersk Line; 2. MSC. Top responsiveness measurement: Maersk Line is 30 percent faster than the median time.

• Asia to Europe (Westbound trade lane): 1. UASC; 2. Maersk Line. Top responsiveness measurement: UASC is 47 percent faster than the median time.

• Europe to Asia (Eastbound trade lane): 1. Maersk Line; 2. UASC; 3. COSCO Container Lines. Top responsiveness measurement: Maersk Line is 25 percent faster than the median time.

The fastest trade lane amongst the major trade lanes is Trans-Pacific Westbound, with 81 minutes as the median first response time; The Asia to Europe Westbound trade lane was the slowest, coming in at 158 minutes as the median response time.

(1) Based on INTTRA research measuring carriers with at least 1 percent of global container shipping volume on the INTTRA network; July 2014 research.