At the British International Freight Association (BIFA) Annual Awards Lunch in London last week, the global freight insurance specialist, TT Club was itself presented with an honorary award in recognition of the Club’s twenty-five year support of the event. In addition the Club sponsored the European Logistics Award and played its part in selecting the winner from a wide-range of entries.
Brian Sullivan, TT Club’s Development Director in accepting the award said, “TT’s long-standing relationship with BIFA is based on a mutual interest in encouraging best practice in the international freight and logistics industry. BIFA’s promotion of a strict code of conduct and the adoption of Standard Trading Conditions by all its Members is very much in line with TT’s advocacy for clear and precise contractual arrangements in the transport of goods internationally. This provides a well defined understanding of liability in the event of loss damage or personal injury.”
Presenting the Award BIFA’s Event Organizer, Becky Thurtell said, “We are most grateful to TT Club for its ongoing support of the BIFA Freight Service Awards. The Club have provided sponsorship for one of the competition categories since 1990, making this their 25th year of continued support. It is only with the endorsement of industry leaders such as TT Club, that BIFA is able to produce such a high profile ceremony. On BIFA's behalf, I was delighted to present Brian with a Special Award trophy as a token of appreciation of TT Club's association with our flagship event.”
This year, as in the past TT Club sponsored the European Logistics Award, which was won by Freightex. The winner specialises in managing European, cross-Channel road freight. Its large carrier network, which includes a dedicated fleet, provides a full range of vehicle types.
The judges selected Freightex for, in part, its aptitude for using technology at the sharp end to change its distribution model so as to provide an optimum solution to the logistics challenges presented by customers. Equally important was the contribution made by the company’s own people, which was significant in the scale of the project.
TT Club’s Sullivan, who was part of the judging panel commented, “Freightex showed strongly the characteristics that are distinguishing successful companies in the sector these days.
Innovative IT solutions are employed in a tailored fashion to improve efficiency but critically, the human touch has not been abandoned. In fact an emphasis on stable personal relationships and effective customer service is crucial to such success.”
In providing liability, cargo and property cover to freight forwarders and logistics companies for nearly fifty years, TT Club has consistently emphasised the importance of risk management or loss prevention to both minimize an operator’s claims but also to improve the efficiency of its operation. The creative use of technical advances in IT-driven processes is becoming almost a given in supply chain management, those transport companies which are marrying these skills with a genuine commitment …. not just lip-service …. to customer relations, are trending among the most profitable.
“As ever, the freight transport industry continues to feel pressure on rates, distracting customers on occasion from the worth of a myriad of value-added services that logistics operators are seeking to provide in order to distinguish themselves in a crowded market. Perhaps the ‘human touch’ can become a modern day panacea for the operator searching for that elusive competitive edge,” concludes Sullivan.
