ABSTRACT

Companies which export goods will often have transportation and shipping departments whose job it is to assess comparative costs between the various alternative methods of transportation. In many of these companies the shipping function has been outsourced to external, independent logistics companies, such as DHL. The object is to find the most suitable means of transport giving an acceptable total cost "door to door". During a market slump the shippers will then be compensated for market prices by a regular and dependable service with fixed schedules. The loyal shippers will also receive compensation during a high market period, when the liner companies will abstain from applying open market freights, maintaining the stable freighting conditions. Owners have a number of different alternatives when calculating on each individual open-ship position, and it is normally fairly easy to calculate what employment for a specific ship will give the best revenue, for example, per day.