The driver has been standing at the ramp for two hours. The freight forwarder calls after him, dispatch reschedules the next job – and at the shipper, nobody really feels responsible. Japan wants to change exactly that. Since April 1, 2026, major shippers are subject to significantly stricter requirements. Companies handling at least 90,000 tons of freight annually can be classified as so-called "special shippers." They must develop a medium-term improvement plan and appoint a responsible person from management. This logistics manager is often referred to as a Chief Logistics Officer, or CLO for short. This is not just a better ramp manager. The person must belong to the management level and be involved in important business decisions. Logistics should no longer remain somewhere between procurement, warehouse, and shipping. In the plan, companies must demonstrate how they will improve vehicle utilization and reduce waiting and processing times. This concerns very practical matters: reasonable time windows, sufficient ramp personnel, available forklifts, pallets, better advance data, and planning that doesn't order all trucks at the same time. Particularly interesting is the measurement requirement. Waiting time and actual loading or unloading time should generally be recorded separately. Work such as inspections, sorting, labeling, or warehousing also counts if the driver must perform it. So it's not just about when the vehicle enters the yard and leaves again. The first annual report is due by the end of July 2027. The first medium-term plan must generally be submitted by the end of October in the introduction year 2026. If measures prove significantly insufficient, authorities can issue recommendations. If these are ignored, public notification and later administrative orders are possible. Whether Europe will adopt such a CLO requirement remains open. However, the Japanese approach addresses a sore point: efficient transport does not begin with the truck. It begins with orders, ramps, time windows, and data quality.