An industry that once moved fast became slower – not because we lack technology, but because we have too much of the wrong kind.

I have spent more than 30 years in air cargo. I have seen telex machines give way to email, paper airway bills give way to e-AWBs, and handshakes give way to compliance portals. I have watched an industry that once moved fast become an industry that moves slowly – not because we lack technology, but because we have too much of the wrong kind.

Let me tell you what air cargo looked like before we “improved” it.

You called a contact. They knew your name, your cargo, your lane. The airline offered a real commission. You moved the shipment. The whole process had friction, yes – but it had clarity. Everyone knew their role. Everyone executed.

Today, I log into four different systems before I can get a rate. The systems do not talk to each other. The rate engines are inconsistent. The compliance requirements have multiplied. And somewhere in the middle of all of this, the shipment is waiting.

We built digital tools to solve problems. Instead, we built layers.
Digital should reduce steps, not add them.

This is not an argument against technology. I am not nostalgic for telex machines. I am arguing for technology that serves the operation, not technology that replaces it with a dashboard.

Air cargo is a physical business. It is about a shipment leaving one point and arriving at another — on time, intact, accounted for. That is the job. Every system, every portal, every platform should make that job easier. If it does not, it has failed — regardless of how sophisticated it looks.
The best operators in this industry have always understood this. They use tools. They do not become managed by them.

At NAP, we built an ecosystem on a simple premise: the right people, working together, getting cargo moved. Not the most platforms. Not the most logins. The most trust.

That is still what #betteraircargo looks like to me.