The Dockflow Dispatch

Dockflow
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Maritime logistics moves 90% of everything you own - but for most freight forwarders and supply chain teams, it still runs on Excel, WhatsApp, and gut feeling. The Dockflow Dispatch is the show for the people responsible for freight, whether you're a freight forwarder chasing ETAs at midnight, an ops manager firefighting demurrage charges, or a C-level executive at a logistics company trying to understand where technology is taking your industry. Every week, the Dockflow team breaks down what's changing in maritime logistics - from AI and real-time container tracking to port congestion, carbon regulations, and the forces making supply chains harder (or easier) to run. Some episodes are deep dives into a specific industry topic. Others are conversations with the operators, founders, and veterans who've lived through the industry's biggest shifts. No hype. No fluff. Just honest insight from people who work in freight every day. Brought to you by Dockflow - the logistics enablement platform trusted by freight forwarders and shippers across Europe. New episodes every week.

Episodes

  1. 5D AGO

    Hormuz Week 5: US Lanes, Rate Shock, and What Every Forwarder Must Do Now

    Five weeks in, the Hormuz crisis has stopped being a regional story. Daily booking volume into Gulf ports is down 81%. Asia-US spot rates are up 29%. War risk insurance has effectively vanished from the market — and carriers aren't sailing without it. Pauline and Michiel break down what's actually driving the disruption (hint: it's not just geopolitics, it's P&I clubs), why European forwarders are underestimating their exposure on US lanes, and what the bunker fuel spike means for every quote you sent last week. No speculation. No "wait and see." Just the numbers, why they matter to your business right now, and three things to do before the end of the week. Takeaways Why the Strait is commercially closed — not just militarilyWhat a 70% insurance cost increase does to carrier behaviorThe 48-hour rule: why your spot quote validity window is probably too longHow to identify which customers to call before they call youWhy now is the moment to push the forward contract conversationChapters 00:00 — The numbers that tell the story: 81% down, 29% up05:54 — How insurance killed the Gulf, not just the strikes11:38 — Your quotes are already wrong — here's what to do16:58 — Next week: Rotterdam and Antwerp go dark simultaneously

    11 min

  2. MAR 31

    You Bought the ERP. Now What? The Integration Guide for Freight Forwarders

    The conversation delves into the challenges of data integration, the definition of a good integration, the failures of integration, the impact of manual data collection, the pitfalls of integration approaches, the importance of a proof of concept, and the three layers of technology. Key takeaways include the understanding that integration is an architecture decision, the real cost of a tool includes integration, maintenance, and workarounds, and the importance of thinking in layers and connecting tools through APIs. Takeaways Integration is an architecture decisionThe real cost of a tool includes integration, maintenance, and workaroundsThink in layers and connect tools through APIs Chapters 00:00 The Challenge of Data Integration07:43 The Pitfalls of Integration Approaches26:15 The Three Layers of Technology

    26 min

  3. MAR 31

    Build vs. Buy in Freight Tech 2026: The Hidden Costs of Rolling Your Own Visibility

    The conversation explores the impact of AI on the freight forwarding industry, highlighting the rise of AI-generated code and the potential competitive advantage of building custom tools. It delves into the limitations of traditional TMS systems, the four levels of AI transformation, the concept of vibe coding, the evolution of intermodal shipping, the risks of AI-generated code, the impact of AI on productivity, the value of building custom tools, data ownership, and the window of opportunity for forwarders to embrace AI. Takeaways AI is transforming the freight forwarding industryBuilding custom tools can provide a competitive advantage Chapters 00:00 The Rise of AI in Freight Forwarding06:03 The Four Levels of AI Transformation13:11 The Evolution of Intermodal Shipping20:17 Data Ownership and Infrastructure

    19 min

  4. MAR 13

    The Hidden Invoice: Demurrage, War Risk & Carbon Fees Blindsiding Forwarders

    Freight forwarders in 2026 are getting hit by three separate cost layers, demurrage, war risk surcharges, and EU ETS carbon fees, all at once, and none of them visible until the invoice lands. In this episode of The Dockflow Dispatch, Pauline and Michiel break down exactly where each charge comes from, why carriers aren't obligated to warn you, and what you can do about it today. From Hapag-Lloyd's $1,500 war risk surcharge on Hormuz-region bookings to the carbon fee that varies by a factor of nine between carriers, this is the hidden invoice problem, and it's not hypothetical.

    17 min

  5. MAR 6

    The Hormuz Shutdown: Operational Playbook for Freight Forwarders

    On March 1, 2026, five vessels were struck inside the Strait of Hormuz. The Safeen Prestige, a 1,700 TEU container ship, caught fire. The crew abandoned ship. Within 48 hours, every major carrier had pulled out: MSC, Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM, ONE. All Gulf bookings suspended simultaneously. That's 170 containerships. 450,000 boxes. Frozen. In this episode, Pauline Van Ostaeyen and Michiel Gabriëls run the operational playbook for freight forwarders with active Gulf trade. Not a geopolitical analysis. A crisis checklist. The Strait of Hormuz is not the Red Sea. The Persian Gulf is a cul-de-sac. There is no Cape reroute. The ports of Jebel Ali, Shuaiba, Khalifa Bin Salman, and Qatar all suspended operations. War-risk P&I cover ended at midnight on March 5. That deadline has passed. They walk through the surcharge reality: $800 to $4,000 per box, effective March 2, every carrier, no exceptions. Every quote issued before that date is now wrong. And cargo is going to Salalah, Khor Fakkan, Sohar, Duqm, and in some cases Colombo. They cover the carrier advisory pages to watch, the four-part client message that turns a crisis into a trust-building moment, and why one of the industry's best-connected analysts described the outlook this week as "flying blind." Plus three moves for this week: audit your Gulf portfolio before your clients call, reissue every affected quote with the war risk surcharge as a named line item, and get on the phone (not email) to confirm where your in-transit cargo actually is right now. The strait is closed. The cargo isn't lost. The forwarder who knows the difference wins the relationship.

    21 min

  6. FEB 26

    The Supreme Court Killed Trump's Tariffs. Now What?

    The U.S. Supreme Court just struck down Trump's IEEPA tariff programme — the largest American trade tax increase in thirty years, ruled unlawful in a 6-3 decision. Within hours, it was replaced with a new 15% global tariff under Section 122. Different legal authority. Hard 150-day expiry. Same freight reality. In this episode, Pauline Van Ostaeyen and Michiel Gabriëls break down what actually changed for European freight forwarders — and what didn't. The effective tariff rate is down from its peak. It's still four times what it was before any of this started. The port fees on Chinese-built vessels are still escalating. And on approximately the 24th of July 2026, we do this again. They look at what a year of trade policy chaos has done to container flows through Hamburg, Antwerp-Bruges, and Rotterdam, why Kuehne+Nagel's 34% EBIT drop buried a signal that every mid-size forwarder should be paying attention to, and why Drewry is now calling the container shipping outlook more uncertain than it was at the onset of COVID. Plus three concrete moves: updating your contract language before the clock runs out, building customs advisory as a service line, and why lane diversification is no longer optional. The legal foundation changed. The uncertainty didn't.

    22 min
  • 6 Episodes

About

Maritime logistics moves 90% of everything you own - but for most freight forwarders and supply chain teams, it still runs on Excel, WhatsApp, and gut feeling. The Dockflow Dispatch is the show for the people responsible for freight, whether you're a freight forwarder chasing ETAs at midnight, an ops manager firefighting demurrage charges, or a C-level executive at a logistics company trying to understand where technology is taking your industry. Every week, the Dockflow team breaks down what's changing in maritime logistics - from AI and real-time container tracking to port congestion, carbon regulations, and the forces making supply chains harder (or easier) to run. Some episodes are deep dives into a specific industry topic. Others are conversations with the operators, founders, and veterans who've lived through the industry's biggest shifts. No hype. No fluff. Just honest insight from people who work in freight every day. Brought to you by Dockflow - the logistics enablement platform trusted by freight forwarders and shippers across Europe. New episodes every week.

Information

  • Creator
    Dockflow
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Dockflow