Road Feeder Services are the lifeline for air freight. Without trucking, there would be no cargo flights. However, in the public perception, truck transports only play a very minor role as an indispensable service provider for air freight transportation. Mostly they are seen as obstacles, polluting the air and slowing down traffic flows. Dutch 4PL tech company, Ascension Freight intends to enhance the visibility, efficiency and transparency of European Road Feeder Services, to increase public acceptance of Road Feeder Services. We spoke with Frans Vriend (FV) responsible for business development.
Ascension Freight was founded by Alexander Keur who has 20+ years of experience in the RFS industry. Its main tool is a control tower creating visibility, enabling the optimization of routes, reducing idle times of cargo and trucks and cutting down greenhouse gas emissions.
CFG: Frans, in your professional opinion, what are the top 3 challenges the RFS industry is facing?
FV: Firstly, air freight is a global business involving many stakeholders, which often causes coordination issues, leads to slow response times and inefficient operations. Secondly, we see a lack of transparency and trust in this industry, resulting in parties focusing on short-term financial benefits rather than favoring a long-term collaborative approach. Thirdly, there is a growing lack of staff to perform proper day-to-day tasks, monitor on-time loading and delivery processes, which leads to reduced product quality.
CFG: What is the idea behind your company slogan “Ascension Freight: Making your RFS flow”?
FV: In the market, we see significant potential for improving the streamlining of airline Road Feeder Services. Many airlines view RFS as a cost factor and base their provider selection on price. By integrating RFS into the carrier’s operations, it can become a competitive differentiator. Currently, RFS is often managed as a standalone activity. In contrast, as a 4PL tech company, Ascension Freight provides full visibility into shipment status, meeting the need for up-to-date information for airlines and their customers. RFS arrival and departure planning is frequently based on the operators’ schedules, rather than the airlines’ needs to keep cargo constantly moving to minimize transit times and security risks. Hence, this is a different customer-centric approach.
CFG: Do you operate your own fleet of trucks?
FV: Ascension Freight does not own any assets, which allows us to focus entirely on our customers’ needs. The selection of an RFS provider can be managed either by the airline or by us. If the airline has already signed a contract, our system allows us to take over day-to-day operations management while working with the existing provider(s). What we’ve observed is that assigning a single RFS provider to cover all of Europe, doesn’t always serve the carrier’s interests – especially since 30-50% of the business is outsourced to third or fourth-party providers. In these cases, the provider’s business model typically focuses on maximizing the difference between buying and selling rates, which compromises transparency and compliance. Each provider has specific routes where they can deliver reliable service at competitive prices. However, by working with a mix of providers based on the best fit per lane or region in Europe, airlines can achieve better service and more favorable rates. Ascencion Freight is 100% neutral when selecting providers.
CFG: Do you offer the market any USP? What makes Ascension Freight different?
FV: Maybe not a single USP, but many benefits. As a 4PL tech company, we are fully committed to bringing efficiency to the industry. RFS orders are automatically fed into our Transport Management System (TMS), where we assign the orders to providers. GPS data from the trucks is received and displayed through our track and trace system, making shipment status globally accessible with just one click. Our team follows up based on a ‘management by exception’ approach, flagging any trips where the agreed ETD or ETA may be in jeopardy.
Furthermore, we offer 100% transparency in the buying rates we secure. Our earning model is fair compensation for the services we provide, including customer service, carrier management, invoicing, and preparing customized reports that offer deep insights into KPIs and business performance.
By being proactive and transparent – especially when issues arise – we foster trust between all parties involved. Airlines experience increased reliability and efficiency in their RFS operations, which enhances customer experience. RFS providers also benefit from working with us, as we are committed to ensuring fair rates, which enables carriers to provide humane working conditions for their drivers, rather than having drivers camp along highways.
CFG: Global warming demands reducing or even preventing greenhouse gas emissions, wherever and whenever possible. So, do you use telematics to map the CO2 emissions of the various RFS companies you partner with?
FV: Yes, we closely work together with our partners to decrease our customers’ environmental footprint. We do utilize telematics and real-time route optimization. By bundling volumes of multiple airline customers, we aim to improve load factors and decrease empty kilometers. CO2 emission insights are part of our KPI-reporting package for airlines. The reporting is only a starting point in our efforts to continuously decrease the carbon footprint.
