ble on American produce stands year round, sourced from far away places with growing seasons the reverse of the United States. Similarly, much perishable American produce is being shipped globally.
Global demand for perishable goods rose from 42 million tons in 1987 to 44 million in 1990, and is expected to reach 53 million tons by the year 2000 (Delia-Doyle 17). The obstacle to increased perishable shipment is transportation. The lack of sufficient back-haul cargoes for the containers is an ongoing problem. Some carriers circumvent this by loading wine, spirits, and dry cargo in the boxes, and then shipping the containers with the refrigerating mechanisms turned either very low or off completely. The main problem with this option is that refrigerated containers offer less storage capacity than regular containers. Thus, cost ratios must be reconfigured. Global positioning costs must be taken into account, as carriers generally have even greater trouble profitably refilling boxes for back-haul from certain regions such as the Middle East. A recent industry report cited one trade route, North Europe-United States, in which it's estimated that by the year 1995, westbound fruit and vegetable shipments will amount to about 18,000 TEUs while eastbound American exports will total about 90,000 TEUs.
Trends Affecting the Air Cargo Business
Changing trends in industry inventory management and other market forces are having a decided impact on the air-cargo industry, which is being forced to provide more comprehensive services in return for slimmer margins (Nelms 26-29). Air cargo operators must, therefore, trim costs and look for ways to improve and expand their services. In 1994 as an example, international freight and express volumes were up 11.5 percent over 1993, and domestic volume was up 7.4 percent (Gorsuch 12-16).
The air cargo market has been transformed from one driven by commodities to a market providing a logis...