Policies and Practices of the Logistics and Freight Forwarding Industry in the Philippines

Abstract

Logistics and freight forwarding is one of the many industries which support the country’s cargo trade, shipping, manufacturing and production industries. As such, its growth and development has been associated with the growth of trade and transport-related businesses.

 The study assessed the strengths and weaknesses and the current benchmarking policies and business process of the selected small, medium and large logistics and freight forwarding companies in the Philippines and related these to their current resources for the purpose of developing a framework of benchmarked policies and business process that would guide them in competing well in a highly competitive business environment and sustaining the growth and development of the industry.

 The study applied the descriptive research design because the description of data, interpretation thereof and corresponding discussions were done based on “ present time.

 The policies and practices of these companies were derived from 56 logistics and freight forwarding companies operating in Metro Manila, Philippines. They constituted about 20% of 281 population of companies accredited and listed in the Philippine’s Shippers Bureau or PSB. The companies were randomly selected.

 The policies and practices of selected logistics and freight forwarding companies in the Philippines in four areas were on the Implemented level only. There were significant differences in the responses of the three groups of respondents as regards the implementation of each key policy area. The high quality of service reliability, assurance, tangibility and responsiveness was excellent. The service timeliness and service factors were good. There were significant differences in the view of the three groups of respondents in the delivery of services.

 Problems identified by the groups of respondents in managing logistics and freight forwarding services all were in the “Prevalent” level”, with the corresponding ranking: No. 1 Freight Forwarding and Transportation, followed by 2 Removal and Relocation Services, 3 Project and Cargo Handling Services and 4 Value-Added Services

 The four key policy areas had weaknesses due to a host of problems encountered in managing them. The delivery of service performance factors failed to reach the excellent level in terms of timeliness and cost of service. The Quality of Service was excellent or strong and supported the key policies of the companies. The weaknesses in the policies and business factors performance served as the justification for policy enhancement.