Janis @LogisticsMaxx

Just talked to a customs broker who did $8m last year Still has 0 automation in place, just good old excel sheets and brute force

@business @lisamjarvis @opinion Expect it go up in the short term

Most Growth Problems Are Actually Clarity Problems When a broker says they want more clients, the first instinct is usually activity. More networking. More calls. More outreach. But activity without clarity rarely produces good results. Before outreach works, three questions must be answered. Which importer segment are we targeting? What operational problem do we solve better than others? Why would an importer switch to us specifically? Without clear answers, outreach becomes random effort. With clear answers, conversations become much easier. Clarity removes friction from growth.

The Hidden Advantage Small Customs Brokers Have Large customs firms have scale. More offices. More staff. More infrastructure. But scale also creates distance. Processes become rigid. Communication slows. Smaller brokers often have something large firms struggle to maintain. Direct operational awareness. They know their clients. They understand shipment patterns. They recognize problems early. That closeness can become a serious commercial advantage when positioned correctly. Size is not always the differentiator. Focus is.

Why Some Importers Never Switch Brokers Many importers stay with the same broker for years. Even when problems occur. The reason is rarely loyalty. It is switching risk. Changing brokers introduces uncertainty. Will documentation be handled correctly? Will shipments clear smoothly? Will communication improve or worsen? If the current system works reasonably well, many importers simply tolerate inefficiencies. That means winning new importer clients usually happens during moments of disruption. Shipment delays. Inspection issues. Operational expansion. New product lines. Timing matters more than persuasion.

Most Customs Broker Websites Look Identical Take ten Dutch customs broker websites and remove the logos. You would struggle to tell them apart. Fast clearance. Reliable service. Experienced team. None of these statements are wrong. But none of them differentiate anything. Importers choose brokers for very specific reasons. Food compliance expertise. Chemical documentation accuracy. Ecommerce import speed. Regulatory confidence. Generic positioning attracts generic comparisons. And generic comparisons lead to price pressure. Clarity about who you serve changes the conversation.

@freightcaviar No AI in sight

Why Freight Forwarders Will Always Control Pricing Many customs brokers feel frustrated when forwarders push for lower clearance rates. But the reason is structural. The forwarder owns the client relationship. When that happens, customs clearance becomes a component inside a larger service package. And components are always optimized for cost. It is not personal. It is positioning. When the importer relationship belongs to the broker, the dynamic changes. Now the broker is solving a direct operational risk for the importer. Price conversations become very different. Forwarder-driven work creates volume. Importer-driven work creates leverage. The most stable firms usually have both.

The Broker Who Lost 40 Percent of Volume A small customs broker I spoke with relied heavily on two freight forwarders. Together, they generated roughly 40 percent of total volume. For years, it felt stable. Then one forwarder merged. Internal routing changed. Volume dropped sharply within months. The firm did nothing wrong operationally. But commercially, they had no buffer. No direct importer pipeline. No outbound structure. No defined niche positioning. Recovery took over a year. Operational excellence does not protect against concentration risk. Commercial structure does.

What 3 New Importer Clients Actually Mean Let’s break this down practically. Assume an independent customs broker adds: 3 direct importer clients this year. Conservatively: Each importer generates 35,000 per year in clearance revenue. That is 105,000 in new annual revenue. Even if margin is 20 percent, that is 21,000 in gross contribution. Now compare that to the cost of installing a structured acquisition system. Most brokers underestimate the upside because they do not model it. Growth conversations should be numerical, not emotional. One serious importer relationship can shift a firm’s stability profile dramatically. The math is usually stronger than the hesitation.

@Reuters The price will only accelerate

@typesfast how long do you reckon this will last?

@typesfast Damn, that's crazy. Shipping companies about to pass those costs to regular consumers

@business Do you think that it will relieve the supply chain stress and calm the commodity prices?

@TIME Why do you guys need AI to write your posts?

@business Robotics + AI is the future of our workforce and the next step for exponential economic growth

@business The commodity prices have already been rising, hopefully this doesn't spiral further

@business The international women's day is coming up, keep it up ladies!

@Reuters Will be interesting to see who backs him this time

@Reuters Nothing ever happens