News

Kerstin Strauss named Chair of Cargo iQ

Associations Appointments
Cargo iQ has named Kerstin Strauss as its new Chair, taking over from Henrik Ambak who has spent 4 years in the role.

Strauss, who is Vice President Global Air Logistics Operations at Kuehne + Nagel, was Vice Chair, a role which has been filled by Rutger-Jan Pegels, Director Performance Management & Analytics at KLM Cargo.

Lothar Moehle, Executive Director of Cargo iQ, says, “Having served 4 years as Vice Chair, Kerstin was the natural successor as Chair of the Board and RJ has been a prominent figure on the board for some time, and both have contributed significantly to our progress as a group.”

Strauss started at Kuehne + Nagel in 1994 as an apprentice and has risen through the ranks, working across various roles in airfreight operations and management before taking up her current role in 2017.

Strauss says that since Cargo iQ’s inception, it has created industry standards with the Master Operating plan at its core, standards which even non-Cargo iQ members have adopted.

She says Cargo iQ membership must hold itself and each other accountable to deliver on agreed standards, saying, “From the board, we will therefore put forward a new tiered and structured approach to our members around continuous improvement to strengthen and meet our service delivery promise to the end-customer.”

Pegels has worked for KLM Cargo for 25 years across roles including Operations Development and Procurement.

Commenting on his role as Vice Chair, Pegels says Cargo iQ’s vision is a new approach for continuous improvement with the tiered approach for members to grow, improve transparency and give more substance to Cargo iQ’s Quality Rally setup.

He says, “With a more structured matrix, we aim to ensure that areas of improvement identified by one individual have the potential to benefit more members – most directly carriers, ground handlers and freight forwarders – in a more immediate way than it might do today.”