Hong Kong Container Truckers

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Full-Time International MBA

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2009 - 2010

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Hong Kong´s Container Truckers:

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The Mid-Stream Fee Dispute

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Strategic Management

Hong Kong’s Container Trucks: The Mid-stream Fee Dispute

1. Outline the overall structure of The shipping industry from shippers to shipping companies, midstream operators, container operators and truck operators.

The container industry in Hong Kong consists of several stakeholders forming a network for the delivery of products through one of the busiest ports in the world. The structure of this network and the relationship between the stakeholders is explained below, figure 1 illustrates the relationship in terms of movement of products as well as payment for handling fees which is the source of the dispute between the stakeholders, mainly The Truckers and The Mid Stream Operators. Figure 2 shows the map of Hong Kong for better understanding of the issue.

The Shippers

Consist of various manufacturers that ship their products in and out of Hong Kong, the products are transported to the ports by truckers. The Shippers pay The Shipping companies terminal handling charges (THC). The Shipping companies in turn pay the THC to the container operators although The Shipper’s dispute that they pay the shipping companies higher prices than needed.

Truck Operators

The truckers are made up of multitude of companies ranging in size from 1 to 100 trucks. The companies serve the Hong Kong market and some companies have cross border transportation to mainland China. The truckers are being charged fees from MSO, which they are supposed to be reimbursed by The Shippers, however not all truckers are able to recover that cost....