Rodrigo Sosa Quiroga, Co-Founder & Vice President, OnBoard Logistics Group

Invest: spoke with Rodrigo Sosa Quiroga, co-founder and vice president of OnBoard Logistics Group, about expanding across Latin America, balancing local expertise with global standards, and the role of technology in freight forwarding. For Sosa Quiroga, the sector continues to depend on relationships, adaptability, and regional knowledge. “This industry is still a people business,” Sosa Quiroga said.

What have been the biggest challenges in expanding a regional logistics network while delivering consistent customer experience across diverse markets?

It is a challenge, indeed. We have a presence in several locations across Latin America. We are in 15 countries, and keeping up with all the differences between the countries and the cultures is the No. 1 challenge. We always aim to set a standard for our quality of service, but then you have to adjust based on the expectations of the countries, the society, and the circumstances of each country. The ability to adjust and change from market to market while keeping the same standards is the biggest thing to try to achieve.

How does OnBoard differentiate its service model in such a competitive freight forwarding market?

On the one hand, you have the global players, and on the other hand, you have the local heroes. In Latin America, if you see the ranking of the Top 10 companies in each country, you are going to see a couple of global companies, but also many local heroes. Those are the ones doing better in their own country.

That gives space for smaller companies to grow. Otherwise, global companies would take everything. In our case, we are a medium-sized company, and we try to do things the way a global company would do them, while competing as locals. Having a strong structure with local people in every country is the key to our success. We leave a lot of knowledge and decision-making in those countries instead of delegating everything to the corporate level. We try to do things locally, keeping the global landscape in mind.

How has OnBoard invested in real-time tracking and supply chain visibility, and what impact has that had on customers?

Technology is a must in every industry, but in our industry, it is especially important. You need to stay updated on systems, and we invest a lot of money in technology. We try to get the most out of our technology tools so we can provide customers not only with live tracking, where they can follow the vessel, aircraft, or cargo, but also allow them to integrate some of our systems into their systems.

That helps reduce back-and-forth information and documentation. We try to get into our clients’ processes, understand them, and help make things easier. This industry is still a people business. A personal touch and relationships are still important, but you cannot forget about technology.

Which sectors do you see as the biggest drivers of growth, and how are their logistics needs evolving?

One of the beauties of our business is that we touch a little bit of every industry. Sometimes, during sales visits, you can go from chemicals to spare parts for a vessel. Everything moves through logistics.

We focus on a couple of verticals. That is important because Latin America is tremendously rich, but sometimes not well organized. Things change a lot because of economic, political, or critical situations. When you work in certain verticals, it gives you the opportunity to increase your knowledge, do things better, and become an expert in that vertical. But if you depend on only one vertical, you can be in serious trouble if the situation changes drastically.

Supporting industries such as pharma, high-tech, electric cars, and other areas gives you balance. That allows you to set your goals and maintain your vision.

How has nearshoring influenced logistics demand across Latin America, and where do you see the greatest opportunities emerging?

Latin America itself is full of opportunities. One of the nice things about working with Latin America is that new businesses are constantly emerging. Sometimes, we point our direction toward countries that fall into the emerging category, where we see a kind of blue ocean and can make some investments or take advantage of different situations. For example, if we see the situation in Venezuela improving, we may start looking at Venezuela before all the other companies get there. That is just an example, but we try to stay aware of the direction of each situation so we can take advantage of those opportunities.

How does OnBoard help clients navigate compliance challenges and complex customs requirements across Latin America?

It is kind of a dream for Latin America to become like Europe, without borders. That would simplify our situation a lot. Unfortunately, Latin America changes from one country to another, even between bordering countries.

We try to deliver solutions to our customers and standardize our policies. However, it is sometimes hard to standardize in Latin America because requirements change drastically from country to country. We focus on providing a unique solution to our customers, or what we call a one-stop shop.

That is a key to our success. We have clients that are headquartered in one country but choose to work with OnBoard because we can provide solutions across several countries. In the United States, standards are usually good regardless of who you work with, but when you want to go to Central America and South America with one decision, you need a company that can provide solutions for every country involved. We try to think ahead for our clients and standardize as much as possible.

What milestones would define success for OnBoard’s growth strategy in the near future?

The challenge is to ensure our people participate in our growth. It is sometimes easier when you are small to maintain your culture and enthusiasm among employees. The real challenge is to not lose that touch when you become larger. We stay as close to our people as possible, think as a group, and make decisions as a group. We try to keep the group together and work closely with the managing directors in each country.

We want to ensure that the company’s philosophy in one country, despite cultural differences, is the same as that in another country. There are certain rules that need to be followed. Some are written, and some are not, but we all have to follow them to ensure that we share the same vision and philosophy. That is crucial when facing our clients.

Are there any other important topics you would like to mention?

One thing I would like to stress about this industry, and particularly this region, is that it is changing all the time. Sometimes, there are political discussions in another part of the world that affect the logistics supply chain.

It is also a challenge to explain to customers why rates or fuel prices may increase when nothing is happening in their countries, but something is happening elsewhere. In this industry and in this region, you need to stay up to date. Many things can affect our business, often in a bad way, unfortunately, but that is also part of the beauty of the business. What goes wrong for us goes wrong for our competitors, so we have to be creative and persistent.