On October 5, 2022, CIFFA’s Executive Director Bruce Rodgers and Director, Policy and Communications Julia Kuzeljevich presented to the House of Commons Standing Committee regarding Anticipated Labour Shortages in the Transportation sector.
CIFFA was one of three witness groups. Also participating were:
Each group presented an opening statement which was followed by a government Q&A period.
CIFFA thanks its Board of Directors for providing input and content to be addressed.
The questions primarily related to driver shortages and underground economy through Drivers Inc.
We were able to table the following points: supply chain challenges, off-shoring activities, the National Occupation Classification system and the need for a comprehensive National Trade Corridors strategy.
The following text is CIFFA’s written submission as sent to the Clerk:
Remarks of the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association To The House Standing Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities
October 5, 2022
Thank you Mr. Chairman for inviting Bruce and me to speak on this critical issue.
Monsieur le président et mesdames et messieurs les membres du Comité, au nom de l’ATIC, l’Association des transitaires internationaux canadiens, nous vous remercions de nous donner cette occasion aujourd’hui de nous adresser à vous.
Before we start, we’d like to compliment the committee for your diligence in chasing these issues, which are so serious and so complex. It means a lot to all of us in the industry that you are looking for any solutions government might provide.
The Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA) represents some 300 regular member firms from the largest of global multi-national freight forwarding firms to small and medium sized Canadian companies. CIFFA member companies employ tens of thousands of highly skilled international trade and transportation specialists.
Our members are the front line of Canada’s supply chain, managing the majority of freight shipments. But it’s important to note that we also represent Drayage operators – these are the truckers serving the ports and container terminals where you have seen such congestion in recent years, and the Freight Brokers – who manage the movement of cross border trade.
The human resource problems in the supply chain are critical and are NOT getting better. Many of the problems are tied up with the frustrations of the supply chain itself.
People used to make their money on speed and volume. Today that’s impossible in many areas.
We have a short, less than 2-minute video, which one of our members recorded that illustrates a small but contributing part of the problem. A copy has been sent to the clerk.
In the video you would see 65 trucks, lined up waiting to get into the one of the Rail yards in Vaughan, Ontario. This is the equivalent length of approximately 40 football fields. These trucks are trying to return empty containers which are required to facilitate export trade.
It’s important to understand that these drivers make their money by moving containers between the rail yards and importers and exporters. As they sit idle they are losing money. It’s hard to recruit new drivers when everyone can see how hazardous a business it’s become. Rising fuel and insurance costs only add to the problem.
The CIFFA member who recorded this told us he had 8 drivers in this line, and none got into the yard that day. Their drivers waited in excess of 5 hours, only to have the gates closed due to Terminal congestion.
By the way, this congestion in Vaughan is actually connected to Canada’s West Coast. Government put significant pressure on the rail providers, terminals operators and the port of Vancouver to clear the backlog and ships at anchorage. The rationale was to facilitate the export of grain. We all understand that priority, but the improved flow in Vancouver doesn’t indicate we solved the problems; we just moved them further inland, to Toronto and Montreal.
So, unfortunately, our first “suggestion” for addressing workforce shortages is to fix the terrible problems affecting the supply chain.
As Parliamentarians you’ll make your own decisions about how interventionist the government should be. Our laissez-faire, market driven system has worked well for decades, but the transport sector is having trouble resetting itself.
The chronic uncertainties that are frustrating consumers are also squeezing the workers and the problem is not getting better.
And in the video there were no porta-potties along that line. A problem for all drivers, but especially for women.
Thanks to the committee again for your attention to this issue and we welcome your questions.
CIFFA is pleased to have partnered with National Post and mediaplanet on a Supply Chain Resilience campaign.
Recent events have highlighted weaknesses in the supply chain. CIFFA acts as the voice of freight forwarders, freight brokers, and drayage operators.
Canada’s supply chain — deemed fragile at best before COVID-19 — has become even more so in the past two years. “COVID-19 was the catalyst to really expedite all these challenges,” says Bruce Rodgers, Executive Director of the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA). “Under the current situation, a disruption at any of the points along the chain means significant breakdowns and failures everywhere, where one day of disruption will take roughly a week of recovery.”
Weather issues, labour disputes, rail blockades, and changes in consumer purchasing habits are some of the factors that have compromised the stability of our supply chains. Another is the irregular and unpredictable steamship schedules, making it hard for importers to gauge when products arrive. “This causes them to order in advance to ensure well-stocked shelves. Then when the ships do arrive, it creates a surge of volumes which causes an overflow in the warehouses, which in turn creates further congestion down the line at the rail yards and ports,” says Rodgers.
Advancing the interests of freight forwarding community
The Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association — established in 1948 — works to advance the needs and interests of the supply chain community across three pillars — membership, education, and advocacy.
There are two membership categories — regular members and associate members. The regular membership category, which comprises freight forwarders, was recently extended to include drayage operators who move shipping containers from ports and terminals and Third-Party Logistics (3PL) load brokers, to ensure a stronger voice and broader reach. Associate members are any companies or entities connected in some way to freight forwarding and movement of goods, such as insurance companies, legal firms, IT-related organizations, port authorities, rail providers, carriers, trucking companies, and customs brokers.
CIFFA’s education pillar has formed the cornerstone of the Association since its inception. “We have a very strong reputation under the CIFFA brand for quality educational products for the logistics industry and a consistency of delivery,” says Julia Kuzeljevich, Director of Policy and Communications at CIFFA. The Association’s programs have evolved and expanded continuously year-over-year and were recently updated with on-demand and virtual offerings to support remote learning. In addition to learning the latest industry news delivered through CIFFA’s eBulletin and access to The Forwarder print magazine, members benefit from special pricing on events, education, and training initiatives.
Through the advocacy pillar, CIFFA is raising awareness of the issues and lobbying for improvement in the industry. “We have developed strong relationships with our external stakeholders such as the ports, terminals, rail providers, and partner organizations, and we regularly participate in and present at industry conferences and committees,” says Kuzeljevich.
“…cargo doesn’t complain, so we’re the voice of cargo and will continue to raise awareness of Canada’s supply chain challenges and strive to improve for the benefit of industry.”
A holistic approach needed to solve problems
CIFFA has also been expanding its outreach with the federal government. “We’re trying to make them aware of the bigger picture because looking at the problems in isolation just creates further problems down the line. You need to take a holistic view of everything that’s being affected through the supply chain challenges to come up with a solution,” adds Rodgers.
And while the supply chain challenges are global in nature, Rodgers explains that we can’t solve them as a country if we don’t look internally. “As I like to say, cargo doesn’t complain, so we’re the voice of cargo and will continue to raise awareness of Canada’s supply chain challenges and strive to improve for the benefit of industry,” says Rodgers.
Author: Anne Papmehl, ca.editorial@mediaplanet.com (View Article)
NOTE: The following applies only to provincially-regulated employers in Ontario. It does not apply to federally-regulated employers in Ontario.
In 2022, the Government of Ontario passed Bill 88, Working for Workers Act, 2022. Amongst other things, the Bill amended the Employment Standards Act to require provincially-regulated employers who have 25 or more employees in Ontario as of January 1 in any year are to have a written policy with respect to electronic monitoring in place by March 1 of that year. As a transitional provision, provincially-regulated employers who have 25 or more employees in Ontario on January 1, 2022, will have until October 11, 2022, to have the policy in place.
The policy must include all forms of employee monitoring that is done electronically by the employer.
Employers are to provide a copy of the written policy to all employees within 30 days of preparing the policy or, if an existing written policy is changed, within 30 days of the changes being made to all employees. The employer must also provide a copy of the written policy to any new employees within 30 calendar days of the date of hire.
As a CIFFA member, you have FREE access to a Gallagher HR Online account. Login today to access the Electronic Monitoring policy template.
If you are having difficulties logging into your account please contact the Humaniqa Help Desk by email at info@humaniqa.com or phone at 1-855-237-1066.
The following article was contributed by CIFFA member Humaniqa.com
TORONTO, September 16, 2022.
For over twenty years, FIATA and the TT Club have been organizing the annual Young Logistics Professionals Award (YLP Award), formerly the Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year Award (YIFFYA). This competition provides valuable opportunities to young professionals in the freight forwarding and logistics fields.
In January 2022, CIFFA selected Karina Daniela Pérez Pérez as the Canadian winner of the YLP Award. She subsequently entered the regional round of the YLP Award, was announced as the Americas regional winner in July 2022, and became one of four contestants to compete for the global YLP Award at the FIATA World Congress in Busan, Republic of Korea in September 2022.
After defending her dissertations and, following a review process by FIATA and the TT Club, Karina was announced the global winner of the YLP Award on September 16, 2022.
Karina’s dissertations detail the transportation of two key products for the Canadian economy – an importation of over-dimensional generator engines from Germany to Northern Ontario for a mine expansion project, and an exportation of dangerous goods from Canada to Peru, both focusing on the environmental aspect of the move.
The prize to be awarded to the winner principally consists of practical and academic training, including a week based at one of the TT Club’s regional centres in London, Hong Kong or New Jersey plus a week in the TT Club’s Head Office in London. Additionally, a one-year subscription to the International Transport Journal (ITJ) is provided to all four regional winners.
Karina started her post-secondary education in Mexico, where she received a scholarship to study a semester abroad at Bishop’s University in Quebec, Canada. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Biotechnology Engineering from the Instituto Politecnico Nacional. She continued her education in Canada and graduated with High Honours from Seneca College’s International Transportation and Customs Program. Karina was one of only a few students selected for the co-op program during which she gained experience handling import and export shipments via truck to and from Canada, USA and Mexico and went on a business trip to Queretaro, Mexico while working for First Frontier Logistics Inc. Karina has also completed the Authorized Cargo Representative and Customs Automation Certificate Descartes MSR Customs course, as well as the CIFFA International Freight Forwarding Courses and received the FIATA Diploma. Her passion for the logistics industry began in her hometown of Zamora, Michoacan, Mexico, whose main economic activity is the exportation of fresh and frozen fruits. She currently works as an Inside Sales Representative at DSV Global Transport and Logistics. Karina has also been part of the Air Import and Export Department, where she has won the data quality challenge award of excellence. She has volunteered with the Trade Commission of Mexico and the Daily Bread Food Bank.
For more information on CIFFA’s Young Logistics Professionals Award, visit https://www.ciffa.com/awards-and-scholarships/
BILL S-211, an Act to enact the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and to amend the Customs Tariff, had a first reading November 24, 2021 in Canada’s Senate.
The Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act imposes an obligation on certain government institutions and private-sector entities to report on the measures taken to prevent and reduce the risk that forced labour or child labour is used by them or in their supply chains.
The Act provides for an inspection regime applicable to entities and gives the Minister the power to require an entity to provide certain information. This enactment also amends the Customs Tariff to allow for a prohibition on the importation of goods manufactured or produced, in whole or in part, by forced labour or child labour as those terms are defined in the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act.
The Act states the following:
Whereas forced labour and child labour are forms of modern slavery; whereas Canada, as a party to the eight fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization on fundamental labour rights — including the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, adopted in Geneva on June 28, 1930; the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957, adopted in Geneva on June 25, 1957; and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999, adopted at Geneva on June 17, 1999 — is determined to contribute to the fight against modern slavery; child labour means labour or services provided or offered to be provided by persons under the age of 18 years and that:
(a) are provided or offered to be provided in Canada under circumstances that are contrary to the laws applicable in Canada;
(b) are provided or offered to be provided under circumstances that are mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous to them;
(c) interfere with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school, obliging them to leave school prematurely or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work; or
(d) constitute the worst forms of child labour as defined in article 3 of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999, adopted at Geneva on June 17, 1999
The definition of child labour was revised because the original definition was over-inclusive and difficult to manage (there are no uniform labour laws in Canada, and it may be inappropriate to apply Canadian norms abroad). The old definition was also under-inclusive because it only referred to the worst forms of child labour. For this reason, the new version of the Bill will limit the application of Canadian laws to Canada but will add new subsections (b) and (c), inspired by the ILO definition of child labour.
The purpose of this Act is to implement Canada’s international commitment to contribute to the fight against forced labour and child labour through the imposition of reporting obligations on:
(a) government institutions producing, purchasing or distributing goods in Canada or elsewhere; and
(b) entities producing goods in Canada or elsewhere or in importing goods produced outside Canada
The Bill has passed first and second readings, which means that it is now going to committee stage before the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights.
Like earlier versions of this Bill, the goal is to improve transparency in supply chains. If adopted, businesses subject to the Act would be required to file and publish annual reports on the steps they are taking to prevent and reduce the risk that forced or child labour is being used in their supply chain.
According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, in an analysis of the Bill, the revised Bill provides greater certainty and clarity for business in several respects.
Some elements of these improvements are the following:
Other elements of note include:
A February 2022 whitepaper from DHL discussed the topic of circularity, and its role in fashion and consumer electronics.
At its heart, circularity describes a departure from the traditional produce-sell-use-waste paradigm toward more sustainability.
A circular economy could be thought of as a design for an ecosystem that builds on sustainability, visibility, and multidirectional flows. To move away from the traditional paradigm, production volumes and materials need to be optimized, product life cycles must be extended, new models for product use have to be developed, and solutions for end-of-life recycling need to be found.
According to research, this shift in the supply chain paradigm has the potential to cut emissions by up to about 40%, and it is more cost effective than any other approach to decarbonizing the supply chain.
Circularity can also positively impact other environmental and social issues, such as waste, land use, water use, and poor working conditions.
Because of its potential, circularity has received substantial attention across stakeholders and industries as a leading and holistic solution. Fashion and consumer electronics are at the center of the conversation and predestined as frontrunners in the solution given the characteristics of the products, consumption behaviors and usage-waste cycles within these industries. Since increased circularity builds on an increasing number of multidirectional flows of goods, logistics service providers are the needed enablers and accelerators of the transition.
As such, this particular stakeholder group is positioned to take on the task of redesigning these flows in highly efficient, user-friendly ways.
According to the whitepaper, the fashion and consumer electronics industries drive a large share of GHG emissions and other environmental impacts (including resource, land and water use, as well as waste).
Together, their carbon footprint makes up approximately 6% of global emissions. Consider that currently, around 20% of garments produced are never used, and smartphones are often exchanged after just 2–3 years.
Therefore, the positive impact that circularity in these two industries could have is pronounced, and industry front-runners are actively participating in the paradigm shift toward circularity.
WHY FASHION AND CONSUMER ELECTRONICS ARE IDEAL CANDIDATES FOR CIRCULARITY
Manufacturing in both fashion and consumer electronics requires vast amounts of often nonrenewable resources (including raw materials and energy inputs) and is the source of significant emission levels.
Compared to leading sectors such as automotive parts, for example, the reuse, refurbishing, and recycling processes in fashion and consumer electronics are less advanced and widespread.
Fashion and consumer electronics have high reach and relevance to almost everyone. Some sectors are relatively niche, others have larger consumer bases – and then there is fashion and consumer electronics: almost every consumer is active in these two retail categories in both their private and professional lives.
The supply chains of these two sectors are very complex and globalized. They cross many continents and companies, necessitating sophisticated coordination in the supply chain for maximum impact.
Fashion and consumer electronics have high visibility and multiplier effects. The industries are often in the focus of media attention and play a prominent role in the public dialogue. A move toward circularity in fashion and consumer electronics could therefore have broad signaling effects beyond the two industries, with both potentially serving as role models and helping other industries become more circular.
While fashion and consumer electronics represent particularly large opportunities in circularity, many of the circularity challenges are universal. Hence, the insights presented here can potentially be applied to other sectors, and industries across the board could certainly mitigate their environmental impacts by making circularity a bigger part of their product life cycles.
The global fashion and consumer electronics industries have a sizable impact on climate change. A conservative estimate for the fashion sector suggests that it is responsible for about 4% of annual global GHG emissions (up to 8%, according to other sources) and that the consumer electronics sector’s share of GHG emissions is approximately 2%. Combined, these sectors represent twice the share of GHG emissions of the aviation industry (3%).
At current consumption levels and under current approaches to managing the life cycles of these products, emissions from these industries would grow by 60% until 2030 and account for around 20% of the UN GHG emissions target for 2030, which is set at half of today’s emissions.
The fashion industry depends on non-renewable resources as well, as synthetic fabrics (such as polyester) are often produced using fossil fuels. Another major issue is the extensive land use required by these industries. Fashion clearly has the largest impact, requiring 40 million hectares, mostly for cotton farming. This means that an area larger than the size of Germany and Switzerland combined is used.
Waste from fashion products is often landfilled or incinerated – about 75% of the produced volume – causing additional emissions.
For example, in fashion, 71% of carbon emissions occur in the production phase, while around 20% of emissions are caused during product use (especially by washing).
The 5 Rs of circularity – reduce, repair, resell, refurbish, recycle – provide the critical dimensions along which circularity can be achieved.
REDUCE:
There is significant overproduction, especially in fashion (20-30%). “Reduce” is the circularity “R” that refers to production, and it does so in two ways. First, it aims to reduce the overall volume; fewer new products need to be manufactured when the lives of existing products are significantly extended, production is increasingly on demand and overproduction is limited. Second, circularity also means that the profile of product inputs changes, where a shrinking share of inputs are raw/virgin materials and the negative impact of resource and materials use shrinks accordingly.
REPAIR:
Fixing damaged products whenever possible, either via do-it yourself home repair or via professional repair services, is a clear intervention toward extending the life and maintaining the value of many consumer goods. Several fashion companies are already piloting offerings for fashion repair in combination with consumer education (for example, Patagonia’s free repair offering to end consumers). In consumer electronics, Apple recently announced an offering of spare parts for common phone and laptop repairs to consumers, albeit limited to selected models. Government legislation known as “right to repair” reinforces this activity by ensuring that goods – particularly household appliances – are manufactured with ease of repairability in mind.
RESELL:
The average time a fashion product is used is little more than 3 years. That length of time is just 2 to 3 years for smartphones. Reselling is the opportunity for a product owner to sell products that are still highly functional but that they no longer wish to use. The reduction in GHG emissions from resale is significant, but resale rates in fashion and consumer electronics are lower than they are in other sectors –for example in automotive, where reselling cars is the default.
In addition, there is a significant volume of totally unused fashion products (about $2.1 trillion) in consumers’ closets around the world. For example, the average UK consumer owns unused garments worth $270. These products could be put to productive use via resale. Strong moves in this resale direction are already visible today, for example, in the fashion industry.
A new ecosystem of digital resale-as-a-service offerings is emerging, where players such as Trove and Reflaunt operate the resell business on behalf of brands and retailers. In addition, both established (such as eBay, Zalando) and recently launched (such as Vinted) independent digital marketplaces allow for a peer-to-peer resale of garments.
Globally, use of recycled materials in fashion production remains low, with about 95% of garments produced from virgin materials. Some fashion retailers, however, are offering drop-off options for used
clothing in combination with shopping vouchers to motivate more sustainable consumer behavior (for example, H&M with its “Let’s close the loop” take-back program for used clothes).
B: CIRCULAR SUPPLY CHAIN
As circularity ultimately revolves around the movement and flow of goods, supply chains have to be redesigned and new supply models developed. Two main challenges arise, namely i) how to capture end-of-life products and unused items to reintroduce them into the cycle and ii) how to design product flows and cycles in the most suitable, efficient, and environmentally friendly way. Accessing end-of-life products will require convenient return flows and collection that incentivize consumers to participate.
The volume of return flows will increase as a result of circularity, implying that return flows need to be well integrated into the existing supply chain. As such, products with different post-sale interventions (for example, reselling, refurbishing, or recycling) or from both B2B and B2C flows (such as unsold items and consumer returns) can be transported and processed in a consolidated form to make the process convenient and efficient for consumers and logistics players.
During a strategy session in 2018, Vancouver-based Courtney Agencies brought its attention to building its business in a way that is conscious of its impact on the environment, its contribution to local and global communities, and its responsibility to its people.
“We know that we have a pretty small footprint,” said President Paul Courtney. “But we want to be counted with the companies who truly want to make a difference, and access any point of influence we may have to say that this is important.”
Every decision Courtney makes now runs through its lens of social purpose and social responsibility. To get started, Courtney worked to baseline its carbon impact at the operational level and set goals for reduction of paper use and electricity, earning them Climate Smart certification. That work provided a good launching point for its application to be certified as a B Corporation.
B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.
Courtney participated in the “Getting to 80” program offered by Decade Impact – a consulting company that educates and supports organizations in advance of making a B Corp application. Eighty is the score that earns B Corp certification; to maintain certification requires the organization’s commitment to continue to make changes and establish programs to increase their scores year over year.
The assessment is divided into six categories: Governance (ethics), Workers (development and security), Community (diversity/inclusion, local purchasing, donations), Environment (facilities and carbon intensity), Customers (stewardship) and Disclosure (openness). Examples of how their commitments have been playing out – in the last two years, Courtney has earned a spot as one of BC’s Living Wage Employers, established a new RSP program for its staff, purchased offsets for its own operations-level carbon emissions, developed the plan to establish a carbon calculator and offsets for clients and, most recently, made a corporate donation plus matched giving for staff who want to support Ukraine.
Courtney’s data is now under assessment with B Corporation – and they are eager to get their report card. Even if this first application results in information about where they can strengthen the next one, Courtney is eager to learn where it can make positive change.
In addition, Paul is adding his voice to the larger conversation about the environmental impact of the shipping industry as a whole. He uses his blog and social media to amplify messages such as those about the World Trade Organization’s social responsibility and social priorities as articulated by Director-General Dr Okonjo-Iweala.
“This is not being done with a view to make us more competitive — we wholeheartedly invite others in our industry to join us. There is still a need for educating each other and our customers on how to balance price, planet and people.” Paul added.
There are stories of more and more companies stepping up to reduce their carbon impact — including what happens at the hands of their suppliers. Moves in this direction are good business practice and have the potential for good growth.
Paul Courtney is a member of the CIFFA Sustainability Committee* and welcomes the conversation with all members about why and how to think and act like a global citizen.
*The mandate of the CIFFA Sustainability Committee is to identify best practices in the areas of sustainability and to provide guidance on the development and implementation of sustainability goals to membership (Read full text). Discover the 13 CIFFA National Committees.
In some ways, given geopolitics, instability and the overall chaos of the last few years, it would seem like both the worst and the best time to talk “Sustainability.”
Greener fuels across all modes, a reliable and stable source of renewable power sources, the equal and humane treatment of all human beings, regardless of age, religion, colour, sex, etc., the reduction of waste and overconsumption across the world, a fair system to measure the offset of carbon consumption? All within reachable, attainable and universally agreed-upon timeframes?
At the time of writing the world we occupy has been distracted by war, pestilence, fear, scarcity and economic instability. Hardly a great climate for change, and yet, maybe a true catalyst for lasting change.
We’ve decided to dedicate a large section of our Spring Forwarder to the topic of Sustainability.
Host and CIFFA Eastern Committee Chair Angelo Loffredi launched the gala followed by opening remarks by CIFFA Executive Director Bruce Rodgers.
Julia Kuzeljevich, Director of Policy and Communications for CIFFA, presented the Donna Letterio Leadership Award to 2020 recipient Sylvie Vachon (award accepted in her absence by Angelo Loffredi) and to 2022 recipient Samara Millin.
CIFFA also honoured three of its departing directors: Paul Hughes, Larry Palmer and Edna Carr.
Heartfelt thanks go out to the Eastern Events Committee, headed by Angelo Loffredi, and to the evening’s Event Sponsors:
Diamond National Sponsors:
Ruby National Sponsors:
Thanks, too, to the CIFFA marketing and events team in the secretariat office for their contributions to this event. (View Pictures Here)
TORONTO, May 9, 2022. — CIFFA, the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association, is pleased to announce the appointment of three new Directors to its National Board: Martin Schultz, Jodie Wilson, and Randy Hnatko. “We are pleased to welcome Martin, Jodie and Randy to our Board of Directors. They offer a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be indispensable to CIFFA,” said Bruce Rodgers, Executive Director.
Martin Schultz is the Global Procurement Manager with Manitoulin Global Forwarding (MGF). Although his forwarding experience is short, he spent over 20 years working as an ocean carrier (most of which were at a CIFFA Associate Member). His expertise is all facets of ocean transportation. He has recently completed both CIFFA and FIATA certificates.
He served for several years on the Toronto Steamship Association board of directors, including the presidency. He also served on special committees after the presidency. Over the course of his career, he served on several internal company committees, and on an advisory committee to Senior Management.
Jodie Wilson has been with Rhenus for almost 2.5 years, as Rhenus acquired Rodair where Jodie worked for several years before the acquisition. Prior to that she was with LCL Navigation for 17 years. Overall Jodie has been in the industry for approximately 35 years and in those years has worked as a freight forwarder as well as an NVOCC, mainly in a sales role. Jodie has volunteered on the CIFFA Central committee for approximately 22 years and has previously held roles on CIFFA’s National board as the Ethics Chair and Central Chair. Jodie has been involved in Charity events such as Habitat for Humanity and AllPaws rescue.
Randy Hnatko is President of Sphere 1 Logistics Inc. and Trainwest Management and Consulting Inc. Sphere 1 Logistics Inc is British Columbia’s First Logistics Management and Freight Consulting Firm located in Vancouver, Canada, providing International Shipping and Global Supply Chain Solutions incorporating Air, Ocean, Courier, Trucking and Intermodal Freight Services. Randy is a trainer, speaker, author and consultant to domestic and international companies. He has trained many organizations ranging from small/medium sized companies up to Fortune 500 companies. In 2017 he was nominated for Businessperson of the Year and his company was nominated for Business of the Year and Community Spirt Award from the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce; in 2019 he was nominated in the category for Business Innovation for the Burnaby Excellence Awards held by the Burnaby Board of Trade.
Meet the rest of the CIFFA National Board of Directors