If the World of Metrics wasn’t already confusing enough for you, just look at below.

The British ton is the long ton, which is 2240 pounds, and the U.S. ton is the short ton which is 2000 pounds.

Both tons are actually defined in the same way. 1 ton is equal to 20 hundredweight. It is just the definition of the hundredweight that differs between countries. In the U.S. there are 100 pounds in the hundredweight, and in Britain there are 112 pounds in the hundredweight. This causes the actual weight of the ton to differ between countries.

To distinguish between the two tons, the smaller U.S. ton is called short, while the larger British ton is called long.

There is also an third type of ton called the metric ton, equal to 1000 kilograms, or approximately 2204 pounds. The metric ton is officially called tonne. The SI standard calls it tonne, but the U.S. Government recommends calling it metric ton.

I have over 20 years experience in this industry. Dating back to when the most common method of communication was FAX and everyone was just getting used to email and sending documents in an attachment.

Over the period of decades I have witnessed many disruptive companies emerging out of nowhere. Some were successful others don’t. However there was a common trend, as given the nature of our industry we have a very limited tricks up our sleeves to grab the market share.

First and foremost is pricing. Especially for SME importers and exporters. They all sold at cost or below to grab these SME, and build up clientele. Large sized clients differ in their demand of services, so they gradually come along as you build up your brand in the market. Pricing is a priority for them but not the topmost.

Once they had acquired sufficient market share or enough to afford the increase in their pricing, they made appropriate changes to their offerings.

Nothing I have said, is unfamiliar with anyone who has been in this industry for a couple of years. It’s a common tactic followed by every company who wanted to grab a large market share in a relatively shorter period of time. It’s been true since Adam and almost in every industry. Amazon, Uber you name it

The 747-400F (Freighter) is an all freight version of the 747-400. While using the updated systems and wing design of the passenger versions, it features the original short upper deck found on the classic 747s to reduce weight. The 747-400F has a maximum takeoff weight of 875,000 pounds (396,890 kg) and a maximum payload of 274,100 pounds (124,330 kg). The -400F can be easily distinguished from the passenger -400 by its shorter upper-deck hump and lack of windows along the main deck.

The model’s first flight was on May 4, 1993, and entered service with Cargolux on November 17, 1993. Major customers included Atlas Air, Cargolux, China Airlines, Korean Air, Nippon Cargo Airlines, Polar Air Cargo, and Singapore Airlines.

The 747-400F has a main deck nose door and a mechanized cargo handling system. The nose door swings up so that pallets or containers up to 40 ft (12 m) can be loaded straight in on motor-driven rollers. An optional main deck side cargo door (like the 747-400M Combi) allows loading of dimensionally taller cargo modules. A lower deck (“belly”) side door allows loading of unit load devices (ULD) up to 163 cm in height. Boeing delivered 126 Boeing 747-400F aircraft with no unfilled orders as of November 2009. The last -400F was delivered to Nippon Cargo Airlines on August 2, 2008.

A 2008 747-400F value new was $101 million, a 2003 aircraft was leased $400,000 per month in 2019 for a $29 million value while a B747-400BCF was priced at around $10 million.

Uber’s share price sank today after the company reported a $5.2 billion loss in the second quarter—yes, that is billion with a “b”—on sales that fell short expectations. The massive loss, revealed after the market closed yesterday, was partly expected. Uber went public in May, and a $3.9 billion stock-based compensation bill came due in the second quarter. But the actual loss proved nearly 50% greater than the $3.6 billion figure analysts had pencilled in.

I literally dropped my jaw, when the news first broke out. They have never been profitable since their inception. And now they have set a new record of a quarterly loss by their own standards. For myself and everyone else not-in-the-billionaire-club yet, I will break it down, that how large $5 Billion a sum of an amount is.

1.5 M x 40 HC (@ Avg. $3500/ea)
20    x Boeing 747-400F (@ Avg. $250M/ea)
5     x 21000 TEU Container Ships (@ Avg. $950M/ea)

All startups nowadays tend to overly focus on storytelling. They try to make a story just out of everything they do. Which is pretty cool actually.

However it’s totally irrelevant, if you can’t make people believe in too. It’s just not a strategy. It’s an art which was mastered by Steve Jobs.

Everyone believed in his narrative. Partly because he himself was deeply involved in the product building and partly so he tried to keep it as realistic as possible. So his choice of words and it’s delivery before the audience looked spontaneous. And everyone believed whatever he said.

So the best person who should tell a story is the one, who himself/herself is deeply involved in the product and just not reading the script., and let him/her write it too.

DSV can’t hold its breath to takeover Panalpina which significantly is going to boost their airfreight volume to 1.5 Million tons per year. They are planning to complete the takeover in Q3 instead of Q4 as previously reported.

➡️ Top 50 Ocean Freight Forwarders 2019

Kuehne + Nagel is not only at the top, but also it has a massive lead of over 1.3 Million containers to the runner up.

➡️ Top 50 Airfreight Forwarders 2019