CEVA targets smaller shippers with online booking and management tools

CEVA Logistics launches a platform that provides instant booking functionality and is manageable by shippers themselves, a step up based on the instant pricing feature they have launched since September 2019.

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The platform, called "myCEVA", will initially be provided for full container and bulk shipments on routes to and from the United States, China and India. That accounts for about 11,000 locations including major ports and the CFS (Container Freight Station) warehouse, CEVA company said in a statement.

Users of "myCEVA" may receive instant quotes or use prices under their contracts with CEVA, but the owner is not necessarily a current customer of CEVA to access the quote tool. time. The platform also provides users with a single place to access all digitized shipment documents and a designated customer service representative.

Products will be delivered to importers and exporters in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam and the United Kingdom by the end of the summer, and more broadly to Europe, Southeast Asia, and China. East and Latin America in the fall, CEVA company said.

The platform will eventually include all modes of transport, although initially only for sea freight.

Develop wider digitalization

Digitizing for customers who want to experience self-service, is in line with the wider shifts in global third-party logistics (3PL) to provide shippers with pricing, booking, and tracking.

Those capabilities, when provided by existing large 3PLs, are largely intended to help reach segments of customers who are looking for more Logistics services. Traditionally, a large 3PL such as CEVA has focused on mid- and large-size shippers accounts based on a relationship and includes a portfolio of services, such as origin management or industry-specific services.

It is not yet clear whether such capabilities will make a change in shopping behavior for large shippers. However, providing digital stores for quotes, reservations and tracking allows CEVA to pursue smaller shippers with less specialized needs. According to CEVA CEO Matthieu Friedberg "digitize as a cornerstone of our strategic transformation and transformation plan.

Friedberg, formerly senior vice president of sales and agency networks at parent company CEVA CMA CGM, was appointed head of CEVA in January in a regulatory shock.

The expansion of CEVA's online tools is accompanied by the broader digitalization ambition of CMA CGM. The Marseille-based container line began offering instant online quotes through its website in April 2019, a few months after digitizing quotes through freightos exchange Freightos.

CMA CGM has been actively investing and testing container technology companies, such as Traxens container sensor visibility provider, also based in Marseille.

Looking broader, the breadth of self-service tools around container shipping is growing, with all companies from mid-sized non-ship carriers like Dallas-based SeaLink International; to shipping lines; Global container terminal operators such as DP World also offer instant quotes and visibility. In the middle are neutral exchanges, such as Freightos and SimpliShip, offering prices for a range of property and non-property carriers.

Phaata (According to JOC)