Business interruption the top worry for transport operators

The Allianz Risk Barometer 2018 has revealed that business interruption is a top concern for the transportation industry. This was indicated by 37 percent of responses from a record number of 1 911 risk experts from 80 countries.

Theft, fraud and corruption is listed as the number two concern (up from number three in 2017) with 32 percent of responses – while cyber incidents (number 3, with 29 percent) and natural catastrophes (four with 25 percent) are emerging threats.

Changes in legislation and regulation have been ranked in fifth place (at 24 percent) and have moved down from fourth position in 2017.

The report is published annually by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).

Following an interruption, the complexity of “getting back to business” is often underestimated by companies, and bottlenecks can also affect their emergency plans. This is no exception to the transport sector, which suffers from a high rate of road and rail accidents.

According to AGCS, theft, fraud and corruption are a huge challenge across many sectors, however, due to the large amounts of money circulating in transportation, this sector is more susceptible to this risk. The threat of cyber attacks continues to be significant.

AGCS suggests that, in South Africa, changes in legislation may cause uncertainty for many industries, particularly the airline industry that is comparatively the most regulated. “A slight discontinuation of cargo flights, due to non-compliance, could cost the sector millions in just a few hours,” it reports.

“Modern supply chains and multi-modal distribution face truly global challenges. It is important for businesses in transportation to have operational risk-management support through a risk consulting network.

“As part of their management plan, it is also important for organisations to seek advice in worldwide infrastructure transport logistics (including delays in start-up), engineering, supply chain and logistics risk, as well as cargo security, packaging and industry best practices,” concludes AGCS Africa CEO, Thusang Mahlangu.