On August 26th we have interviewed with Mr Bradley, the president of ICON. Icon Freight Services is the leading Freight Forwarders, Consolidators, Transport and Customs Clearing Agents in Australia.They could handle the freight from anywhere in Australia and protect both our client and overseas agents interests in Australia.

JCtransnet: You are a comprehensive logistic company and which one is your characteristic business?

Bradley: Icon's strengths lie in offering top quality traditional Freight Forwarding and Customs Clearance services combined with services such as Metro & Interstate Transportation, Warehousing, Packing / Unpacking, Insurance and Consultancy. Icon Freight Service specialty is definitely in sea freight shipping. Having 20 Years experience both in Australia and SE Asia with one of the biggest shipping companies in the world has allowed me the opportunity to truly have a sound understanding of the shipping industry which I am able to pass this knowledge on to our clients to ensure they are getting the best possible service at the most economical prices. Due to the growth of our business and the needs of our clients, we have employed staff who are experts in the field of Airfreight to ensure we can offer the full logistics package to our customers and agents.

JCtransnet: As we know financial crisis attack the whole world,would you please talk about the logistic climate now in Australia?

Bradley: The impact in Australia of the global economic downturn was perhaps a little later than what the rest of the world experienced. Consumer confidence has been well down in the first half of this calendar year which has baldy affected imports into Australia, however, the weakening of the Australian dollar against the US dollar earlier in the year witnessed exports continuing to remain strong. With most companies extremely conscious of their cost structure, importers have been reluctant to hold stock tying up their cash flow, which has also contributed to the downturn in imports. With the downturn in business, we have seen contractors a lot more aggressive in their pricing to secure more support and in some case we have seen some transport companies, warehouses and freight forwarders forced to either reduce their staffing levels to survive in the current tough climate and in some cases we have seen companies forced to close their doors due to the downturn.

JCtransnet: Does the crisis has a struck to your performance?

Bradley: The financial crisis has had an impact on our financial performance due to a downturn in over all volume of cargo. It has not necessarily been a loss of our client base, but more so the dramatic reduction it our client volumes due to the economic environment resulting in reduced sales. We have also seen a reduction in margins to enable us to compete in the market place with all logistics companies dramatically reducing margins to try and recover lost volume and keep their support levels. All companies appear to be working harder for lower rewards which are simply a sign of times.

JCtransnet: What is your strategy under crisis?

Bradley: Under the current financial crisis our strategy has been to ensure that we minimise our costs where possible, pass on savings from our service providers to our clients to assist in their bottom line results but most importantly ensure that we maintain the very highest level of customer service to our existing client base are given no reason to look elsewhere for their logistics requirements. Although we all face the same crisis, it also allows the prospect for opportunity as although the market place remains extremely competitive, it is also an opportune time for companies to review their service providers to ensure that they are getting value for money. Our dedicated staff strives to ensure that we provide a level of service which will ensure our clients continue to come back time and time again.

In addition,one of the keys which have enabled us to survive this current financial crisis is to have good reliable agents who are working as hard as my staff to ensure that we can create mutual business for both our benefits. Being a member of JC Trans has enabled us to expand that agency base and ensure that were are working with very good, reliable and trustworthy agents which we are very thankful for all the support and assistance received from JC Trans and their extended family of agents.