QCS freight volumes climb

FRANKFURT-based forwarding agent QCS-Quick Cargo Service saw steady growth in 2010 with a 22.7 per cent boost in airfreight exports and 12.5 per cent rise in imports.

Its cargo throughput surpassed the global average of 14.6 per cent in airfreight and helped to secure a 51 per cent turnover totaling €45 million (US$61.5 million).

The general upswing of the transport sector since the last quarter of 2008 helped the company’s performance. The leap in revenue was caused also in part by the carrier’s fuel and security surcharges, which both went up recently. These costs are passed in full from the airlines to the agents, who, after paying the charges, request clients to recoup the expenses.

“The carriers force us to act like a bank without rewarding our efforts, despite our service commitment and the one-sided risk of not getting any refund if a client goes broke or is unwilling to pay us the full amount the airlines demanded from us,” QCS president and owner Dieter Haltmayer explains. “The only comment you get from the carriers is “we feel very sorry for you that you didn’t get back your expenses”.

QCS will also open a new office at Berlin’s Tegel airport. The branch will be responsible for managing the air and ocean freight business in the eastern parts of Germany and the neighboring states of Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In addition, Hamburg’s station will be enlarged and moved from the airport to an industrial park close to the airport.