Joost van Doesburg, the very outspoken leader of the European Shippers Council (ESC) has decided that seven years is enough.
He leaves the ESC at the end of October to take up a new role as public affairs manager for the Dutch pilots union.
No doubt, the Dutch pilots presently need some positive PR and bringing Joost into their camp may certainly help boost morale there.
He is known for his outspoken ways and does not play with his words.
This attitude was surely beneficial for the ESC in his seven year tenure. However, he did not always make friends among shippers and carriers. Mostly however, his direct way of approaching issues
was welcomed by the industry.
What’s a few enemies when one has so many friends.
Who will follow in his shoes?
Van Doesburg will vacate his post at the end of this month, but so far there has been no successor appointed.
Running the ESC is by no means an easy job.
“Dancing at many weddings at the same time” might be a more realistic way of describing the workload involved.
Joost van Doesburg youth and lack of fear in speaking up on the problems facing the industry were beneficial for those who listened.
But, did he really get the support he needed in order to actually get things moving and shape the industry for the future?
The industry is undergoing a crisis
He believes, and he is right, that our industry is in a crisis, more of a structural one where the shippers are getting more and more worried about the lack of coordination among players within
the supply chain.
He surely tried hard to better relations between the shippers and the carriers serving them, but probably realized that that relationship still centres around price and nothing else.
The European Union becomes more disjointed day by day
The last thing we need in the air cargo industry is that the European Shippers Council becomes just as disjointed.
One cannot blame Joost for furthering his career and taking up a new challenge.
Good luck to him
His successor will have to have large shoes and in our view be just as vocal as he was with shippers, agents and airlines alike.
Poor success rate
We have enough organizations in the industry who claim to represent the interests of all in the supply chain.
The success rate is nothing to write home about.
Hopefully the ESC will find a worthy replacement for Joost van Doesburg; one, as he was, who will not shy away from what has to be done.
John Mc Donagh
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