• tricargo, a new, web-based service that acts as a window for the air cargo industry, connecting sales agents with freight forwarders, is hosting a major event in Rome to set out its vision for ongoing development and support.
• Created by FEDAGSA, the Federation of Airline General Sales Agents, tricargo was built to address a structural problem in air cargo: every existing marketplace and booking platform is owned or operated by a participant with a commercial stake in the outcome.
• None can offer freight forwarders a complete, neutral view of available GSA capacity.

To address this issue, FEDAGSA partnered with Mark 3 International to take the window to market after recognising that operating a global technology solution at scale requires capabilities and investment beyond those typically available to a federation.

The agreement was built on a specific commitment: tricargo would operate as an independent business with structural protections for its neutrality. Mark 3 will have access to tricargo, but on the same terms as any other forwarder or GSA.

The event brings together senior representatives from the freight forwarding and GSA communities, alongside FEDAGSA and FIATA – the international federations representing general sales agents (GSAs) and freight forwarders.

Hosted by Matthew Ware, CEO of tricargo and Mark 3 International, at the Palazzo Dama, the event will also include a networking event for leading voices in the industry to discuss key issues facing the industry.

Ware said: “We’re very excited to be launching tricargo in Rome. For many years, the air cargo market has been fractured, making it difficult for freight forwarders to easily access the right airfreight options, while GSAs have also found it hard to connect with the right forwarders.

“This is the perfect time to bring a solution that repairs many of those fractures while allowing us to better serve our customers in an increasingly competitive market. I’m also very much looking forward to hearing more from our guests about what the industry needs in order to thrive.”

Matthew Ware is the former head of CFL, Heathrow’s only on-airport express courier handler, and Chairman of Aviation Services UK, the trade body representing ground handlers in the UK. He is a key speaker at the Global Trade Expo in London in June.

Ware added: “When the participants in an industry can meet on neutral ground, things happen that don’t happen anywhere else. That’s why FEDAGSA’s vision for tricargo made sense to us, and why we built neutrality and independence into the agreement from the start.”

Freight forwarders will use tricargo to search by route or capability, see every eligible GSA, and submit quote requests. The window does not handle pricing, bookings, or transactions.

The event includes a series of industry discussions on the issues shaping air cargo over the next five years. The independent AI startup Dobby AI, which has built an assistant that sits inside the forwarder side of tricargo, is also represented.

Ware concluded: “The air cargo market has been fragmented for a long time. Forwarders rely on the GSAs they already know; and GSAs depend on existing relationships for new business. tricargo doesn’t replace those relationships, it makes the wider market visible alongside them. The forwarders in the room today have asked for this. So have the GSAs.”

tricargo is free for forwarders to use, and the first 100 GSAs to register will receive founding member status. FEDAGSA and FIATA receive a share of gross revenue under the agreement establishing tricargo’s independent operation and ensuring that tricargo’s success is returned to the community it serves.

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