Now
we are in the gone-fishing, lazy, hazy days of summer,
and a voice rises from the baseball movie Field
of Dreams that whispers:
“If you build it,
they will come.”
Cargo Network Services
(CNS) has just announced an air cargo conference for
early October, calling it the “U.S. Air Cargo
Industry Affairs Summit” (USACIA). It will be
held in Washington, DC, October 3-5, 2016.
CNS President Lionel
Van Der Walt writes:
“CNS has joined
forces with eight notable Industry Associations to bring
attendees from across the nation’s supply chain
to meet face-to-face with key government officials.
“Executives of
the trade involved in government compliance and regulatory
affairs will have the forum to discuss important issues
and showcase the positive impact air cargo has for the
United States.
“Our Association
partners include Airforwarders Association (AFA), Airlines
for America (A4A), Cargo Airline Association (CAA),
Express Association of America (EAA), Express Delivery
& Logistics Association (XLA), International Air
Transport Association (IATA), National Customs Broker
and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA), and
The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA),”
Mr. Van Der Walt said.
Information
Please
OK,
so new CNS President Lionel does not sit still and is
out shaking things up amongst the industry icons.
First out of the block
was the CNS Partnership Conference in Nashville this
past May, which was generally regarded as a success.
That was followed by
an announcement of a “CNS Innovation & Technology
Conference” that was supposed to take place in
Dallas, Texas, June 27-28.
However, without any
warning, a posting on the CNS website now states:
“This event has
been postponed. New dates and details will be posted
soon.”
So before you say, “who
needs another trade show?” take a deep breath.
For those inclined to Oktoberfest in DC, here is an
address to get some more specific event details and
the agenda:
http://www.cnsc.net/events/Pages/usacia-2016.aspx
Lots
of Luck
While
wishing CNS well with what appears at first look to
be a sincere attempt, we also gently wonder, why the
rush?
CNS, which counts freight
forwarders as a major part of “The CNS Partnership,”
has in fact scheduled an event for the same timeframe
as FIATA. The world organization of freight forwarders
is holding their Annual World Congress and 90th Anniversary
Celebration in Dublin, Ireland.
Looking over the list
of supporters of USACIA, Airforwarder President Brandon
Fried is not active with FIATA and headquarters AfA
in Washington (as does Airlines for America), so we
suppose it makes some sense to add voices to their lobbying
efforts on behalf of transportation.
Election
Year Event
2016
is also an election year in America.
Maybe that has something
to do with securing various government department heads
or their lieutenants as speakers, but as of right now
most speakers at the first USACIA event are listed as
“invited.”
Beyond all of that, with
all due respect, we must cast a weathered eye as to
what is to be believed from a politician or outgoing
head of department given that it will be one month before
the national elections. How can we be sure it’s
not about maintaining their legacy?
We can only hope that
USACIA works and perhaps offers a breakthrough moment
at one or more of the sessions. We will of course provide
event updates as they occur.
Geoffrey
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