The 2017 Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year (YIFFY) Award has been presented to Bradley Davis of Canada at the FIATA annual World Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
YIFFY Award Winner 2017: (l-r) Michael Yarwood, TT Club; Thomas Sim, Chairman of FIATA’s Advisory Board Vocational Training; Award Winner Bradley Davis; Hu Xiang Zhao, President of FIATA
10th October 2017
Each year FIATA celebrates the achievements of young freight forwarders representing national associations at its annual World Congress. This year was no exception as over 1,000 attendees at the Kuala Lumpur Congress congratulated the winner of the Young Freight Forwarder of the Year (YIFFY) Award, Bradley Davis of Canada.
Specialist insurance provider to the international freight transport industry, TT Club is proud to have sponsored this award throughout its nineteen year history and Senior Loss Prevention Executive Mike Yarwood was on hand to announce the winner and present the award with a brief speech, in which he cited the important achievements in training made by FIATA and its members.
FIATA and TT Club duly recognise the succession challenges facing many areas of the global industry and therefore the need to invest in the development and education of young logistics professionals. The YIFFYA competition provides opportunities for all candidates, of which there were twenty-two this year, to demonstrate and develop their knowledge of the industry. The competition remains both challenging and rewarding for the candidates, requiring as it does each to submit a 6,000 word dissertation outlining an import and export shipment from their native country.
Each year four regional finalists are selected and are invited to attend the FIATA World Congress, providing each finalist with invaluable learning and networking opportunities. In addition the overall winner of the award is invited to attend two, one week training sessions with the TT Club at one of their regional headquarters in London, New Jersey or Hong Kong as well as a one year subscription to the International Transport Journal.
Commenting on the outstanding quality of the work presented to the judges this year, Yarwood said, “From a highly professional and broad array of entries the YIFFY Steering Committee selected a shortlist of four regional finalists. These four young professionals were then asked to deliver a short presentation on their dissertation topic to the steering committee at the World Congress. I would like to congratulate all four finalists for their polished presentations and especially, of course to our winner Bradley Davis.”
The four regional finalists for the 2017 competition were:
Region: Africa/Middle East – Tinasche Chiwanza – Zimbabwe (SFAAZ)
Region: Americas – Bradley Davis – Canada (CIFFA)
Region: Asia/Pacific – Nian Wan – China (CIFA)
Region: Europe – Nina Brose – Germany (DSLV)
The judges stressed that the dissertations this year were of a particularly high standard. The work of the entrants as a whole admirably demonstrated the complexity of processes carried out within the global supply chain and the logistics skills employed in its service. The diverse subjects covered by the dissertations included the transport of Zoological Animals, Olympic Team Equipment, Agricultural Chemicals, Wine and Raw Tea, a clear example of the variety of challenges the industry is facing to provide crucial trade services
The TT Club sponsored award is presented in recognition of operational excellence in the logistics field and was established by FIATA with the support of TT Club to encourage the development of quality training in the industry and to reward young talent with additional valuable training opportunities and enhanced visibility. The TT Club has been a sponsor of the award since its inception and remains firmly committed to the importance of individual training and development within the global freight forwarding and logistics community, which is regarded by FIATA as a strategic important cooperation.
Yarwood concludes, “We are pleased to be continuing our sponsorship of this unique award into 2018. Once again, we hope that the competition will prove to be successful in terms of attracting outstanding candidates from across the globe.”
To learn more about the YIFFY Award, please join us through the following social media platforms.
Twitter: @yiffya
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3670002
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/252961425173993/
Notes to editors:
TT Club is the international transport and logistics industry’s leading provider of insurance and related risk management services. As a mutual insurer, TT Club exists to provide its policyholders with benefits, which include specialist underwriting expertise, a world-wide office network providing claims management services, and first class risk management and loss prevention advice.
Customers include some of the world’s largest shipping lines, busiest ports, biggest freight forwarders and cargo handling terminals, to companies operating on a smaller scale but whose operations face similar risks. TT Club specialises in the insurance of Intermodal Operators, NVOCs, Freight Forwarders, Logistics Operators, Marine Terminals, Stevedores, Port Authorities and Ship Operators. TT Club is managed by Thomas Miller.
About FIATA
FIATA, the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations, was founded in Vienna, Austria on May 31st 1926. It is a non-governmental organisation that today represents an industry covering approximately 40,000 forwarding and logistics firms, employing around 10 million people in some 160 countries.
FIATA has consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (inter alia ECE, ESCAP, ESCWA, etc.), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) as well as many other UN related bodies, e.g. the World Bank. It is recognised as representing the freight forwarding industry by many other governmental organisations, governmental authorities, private international organisations in the field of transport and logistics, such as the European Commission (through CLECAT), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Union of Railways (UIC), the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the World Customs Organization (WCO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), etc.