At NYSHEX (New York Shipping Exchange), we’re all about getting the smartest minds in a room to solve container shipping industry challenges.  That’s why, in addition to our Board of Directors, we have a Member Council, composed of BCO shippers and NVOCCs, as well as an Emeritus Board. 

Over the past month we have hosted  2019 kick-off meetings with both groups at our New York City headquarters.  Having stellar representatives on both the Council and Emeritus Board enable us to deepen the value we bring to NYSHEX members and the industry! 

Our Emeritus Board is like the Seal Team 6 of shipping.  They are former CEOs of logistics and logistics tech companies, supply chain leaders from Fortune 100 companies, and entrepreneurs who have launched companies in the industry.  They advise us and serve as NYSHEX ambassadors in the industry. 

Container shipping accountability?

The fundamental commonality of many of our Emeritus Board and Member Council stories is that a deep distrust between shippers and carriers have formed over time.  They believe that an ocean contract isn’t much of a contract at all.  Nonbinding and unenforceable, they serve no one, and yet they determine the way all of us do business.  As a result, no one is accountable and nothing’s reliable.  No one party is to blame, but rather, both.  All attempts to fix the problem, by both carriers and shippers, have failed so the industry simply tolerates the status quo.  

Let’s face it, ocean freight contracting is broken.  And this brokenness impacts all of us in the industry through added costs, lost business opportunities, frustration, headaches, feelings of resignation and a general distrust of one another.  As I listened to their stories, the sense of frustration was palpable.

Restoring trust.

Our Emeritus Board and Member Council invest their time, energy and passion into supporting us on a pro bono basis because they see that NYSHEX can restore trust and eliminate pain points.  NYSHEX is succeeding where no single carrier or shipper has been able to by serving as a neutral third party to enforce contracts and unite container shipping industry participants.

Our technology and compliance processes manage and govern contract performance to ensure both parties to the contract are performing. By offering contracts that are adhered to and are binding, we’re improving accountability and that’s boosting reliability.  To date, over 98% of containers purchased through NYSHEX have moved as contracted. 

We have plans in 2019 to deepen our value to the industry in a big way.  We shared those plans with our Emeritus Board and they were excited to hear that we are expanding our quest to fix what ails container shipping.