It is quite popular to consider cooperation with a company that has been on the market for many years should be safer and more reliable. Some freight forwarding companies which operate merely several years on the market, present itself as solid partners with a stable capital. Is cooperation with such companies riskier?
Of course, it cannot be assumed in advance that these companies are risky. Longer market activity translates, at least theoretically, into greater experience, which is important in the TSL industry. The experience means better skills in dealing with every situation, as well as a more extensive network of contacts, facilitating the organization of transport and enabling the negotiation of favourable rates and conditions for the customer.
However, this is only the theory, because
- Cargo forwarding for many companies is sometimes a side activity, which they put less emphasis on. This is the case with e.g. production plants that focus mainly on improving their product and technological process, thus treating freight forwarding only as a second-plan activity that can always be assigned to a subcontractor. Some firms also carry out many other side activities besides freight forwarding or even deal with any activity that is likely to bring profit. The quality of services provided by the latter companies is usually very low.
- The company’s long-term market presence does not have to translate into its market experience. The management often does not analyze the company’s operations, does not draw conclusions from the mistakes made and does not build stable relations with its contractors. A customer is usually lured by lowering the price because the company puts a price as the decisive factor for the attractiveness of the service offered. This strategy means that the forwarding company operates on ever lower margins and is not effective in the long run because there will always be a company that will be willing to offer the same forwarding service even cheaper. Besides, you can’t lower prices forever.
- Regardless of the long-term presence on the market, the company does not employ experienced employees. This may be due to the lack of vision for the company’s development as well as the desire to cut costs. Despite the considerable theory and practice regarding human capital management, the majority of Polish companies share the opinion that investment in employees and their competences is an unnecessary expense. The popular attitude of the local companies is that the more experienced employee the more expensive employee. Therefore, it is not worth improving employees’ qualifications, organizing training for them and pay twice: for the training and the salary bonus for the experience. However, in the TSL industry, contact networks are usually assigned to employees, which is the result of the interpersonal relationships in this business and its hermetic nature. With the departure of an experienced employee, the company usually loses part of the contact network assigned to the leaving employee. Inevitably, contact networks of employees with little experience in the industry will be small.
The above-cited arguments show that the long-term market presence does not always translate into the company’s experience and competence. Much more important is the experience of the company’s management and employees. It should be added here that Deneb employees have specialized education, certificated of the professional competence and many years of experience in the TSL industry. Furthermore, Deneb actively invests in its employees’ qualifications.