Company Profile
C.T. Freight was established in 1981 by Clive Thomas, who is owner and CEO of the company. They are the largest independent freight forwarder in Australia and have branch offices across Australia in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Cairns, as well as branches in New Zealand, Singapore, and Los Angeles. They offer all facets of International Forwarding and Logistics, for both import and export, as well as 3PL services, Warehousing and Distribution. They own freezers and coolroom facilities at each office and operate freight terminals at Sidney and Melbourne, which can provide all-round services to sea and air freight forwarders. C.T. Freight is a top five airfreight IATA agent in Australia, was ranked third in the 2006 year result and spent over $34 million US with IATA in 2007 alone.
C.T. Freight and the Australia Air Industry
Air transport accounts for around 50% of C.T. Freight's total income and they are number one with airlines such as Emirates and British Airways. The majority of the air cargo they deal with is perishable goods, but they also handle every other kind of freight including hazardous and project cargoes. At present they are involved in forwarding project air cargo from Australia to Zambia in Africa, and Louisiana in the USA. Their business is very diverse and they can handle any air cargo to and from Australia.
The Australian & Chinese Freight Forwarding Market
The Australian freight forwarding market is more mature than the Chinese market, as it has developed over the last 100 years, whereas the Chinese freight forwarding market realistically began to develop only 20 years ago. The volume of cargo being shipped from china to the rest of the world is much greater than that from Australia, but this is to do with the difference in population. Even though Australian is about 85% of the size of China, there are only around 21 million people living there. In other words, the population of the whole of Australia is about the same as the population in Shenzhen or Shanghai.
The cooperation between China and Australia is very strong and it's getting stronger every year. The resent meeting between the Australian Prime Minister and the Chinese President can only strengthen this relationship. China has been very important to the Australian economy and despite the large difference in population, and Australia is ranked the seventh largest trading partner with China. The Australian economy is growing at a faster rate than any other western country, and this is directly attributed to the business relationship between the two countries. Mr. Wood's reason for coming to China was to meet his agents and partners face to face, in order to find out each others needs, learn from each other, and come up with solutions on how to create even more business.
How GCP membership has helped C.T Freight
Mr. Wood was in contact with Alfred Hao, from the Overseas Department at JCtrans, for several months before becoming a GCP (Global Credit Pass) member. The vast number of members in the JCtrans network was what first attracted him and his company. JCtrans gave his company an invaluable way to stand out above other international freight forwarders due to GCP status, and reassured potential partners that his company is creditworthy due to the third party publication of a credit report. His company is already doing business with several Chinese freight forwarders and the fact that C. T. Freight is a GCP member has improved communications with these members and made their business run much more smoothly.
Communication is Important
Mr. Wood said that the language barrier is the biggest problem for him when conducting business in China and he wishes that he could speak Chinese. However he told us that all of his partners in China have been very helpful. Communication is the most important factor in this business and it is essential that both parties are upfront and honest about their needs and requirements. In return for the assistance he has received from his partners, he is also happy to help them in any way possible to strengthen their relationship. A recent example of this was when a JCtrans member from Qingdao contacted him who required an agent in Poland. Mr. Wood then contacted his partner in Poland and was able to put them both in contact and they were able to secure a deal. Mr. Wood said that companies need to help each other, if he can make other people's business easier, they can make his business easier, and this creates mutual benefits for both companies. |
