ISSUE 3 2011


MALTA FEATURE Malta’s mover and shaker


The company operates 150-tonne and 60-tonne trailers, tractor units to match and more recently acquired a 150-tonne mobile crane – the largest of its kind operated by any local transport company.


If you need to move or lift heavy and bulky machinery or other similar loads, then Mario Ciantar is your man.


As general manager of White Brothers, he has been in charge of some of the island’s biggest heavy lift transport jobs, including the ongoing extension of the power station at Delimara and the relocation of the Times of Malta’s entire press - without any interruption to their printing schedules, he points out.


The power station project has involved a mixture of movements, from normal container loads from port terminal to site, to awkward and heavy loads shipped direct to the power station’s own small wharf – which normally only handles the oil tankers that keep the station fuelled. Where the wharf has been too small for the vessel, movements were carried out from the Marsaxlokk port terminal to site by road. White Brothers is quite experienced in obtaining the necessary permits from


the island’s roads authority,


Transport Malta, local councils and police escorts, along with route planning and any traffic management measures that may be required. “Generally very


works


speaking, it smoothly,”


all says


Mario Ciantar. “Where there is a problem, we sit down with the particular entity and always find them very helpful in finding the right solution.” But due to the island’s size a Maltese company cannot live on heavy lift movements alone. “We wish the market was larger, but such movements are quite rare in Malta,” explains Mr Ciantar. Diversification is the name of the game and White Bros are always on the lookout to improve and enhance their other services. The company does much of the container haulage on Malta and runs a large fleet of around 20 tractor units, around 40 flat- bed and skeletal trailers and smaller delivery vehicles right down to minivan size. “Together with groupage deliveries. We cater for both import and export, customs clearance and even offer insurance cover in relation to cargo movements,” Ciantar


Express Group on the fast track


Just before the Libyan crisis broke, Express Trailers introduced the first GPS-equipped pharmaceutical fridge trailers into Libya – only for recent events to stop the project in its tracks after two trailers had been delivered to the country - by chartered plane, at the insistence of the Libyan authorities. No matter, the company – now


part of the rebranded Express Group Logistics – has turned its attention to developing other North African markets in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. It has also been delivering medicines to Malta from France, Belgium and the US to international agencies for onward delivery by small aid agency-chartered vessels to Benghazi.


The Libyan situation should not have a great effect on Express Group Logistics says sales and business development manager David Fleri Soler. “It’s only about 5% of our turnover,” he explained.


Meanwhile, the company has been augmenting its reefer fleet with six new trailers, mainly for


the pharmaceutical and some sectors of the food trade. It has also upgraded its pharmaceutical warehouse and will shortly apply for a Medicines Authority Licence, which would be a first for


a transport and logistics


company in Malta. The core (non-reefer) trailer network in Europe has been strengthened with additional services to and from the UK, Italy and Germany. UK services are now running at 8-10 a week.


But even for an operator with as high a reputation for speed and reliability, margins are under pressure thanks to rising fuel costs.


“Fuel out prices David have Fleri risen


tremendously – both those that we pay and BAFs on the ferries,” points


Soler.


“Perhaps over 30% in a year.” The Express Logistics Group is also an active deepsea freight forwarder and indeed is one of the few Maltese companies to have taken advantage of the island’s strategic location. Malta is the first point in the EU for ships coming north through Suez. “Malta is a stepping-stone forv


Europe,” says Mr Soler. “You can store here duty and VAT free close to consumer markets in the EU – and there is also plenty of trailer space available from Malta into Europe.” The group has two bonded warehouses at its main site at Luqa and also has three sites at the Hal Far bonded area. Traffic from China into Malta has been a bit lower, but the group has opened up new routes from Singapore and India, while the Turkey service – started three years ago – is going strong. Air cargo has been a little bit weaker this year. Tuna was one of


Malta’s main airfreighted


exports, and this has been affected both by the Japanese earthquake and also by reduced catch quotas in Europe.


The Express Logistics Group now employs 160 staff in total, including 60 at its main Luqa office, which has had to be extended


and refurbished to


cope. There are also plans to extend the warehouse there, though this will be on the existing site, as acquiring land in Malta is very expensive.


continues.


“With a fleet of eight tug-masters, we are also sub- contracted by Valletta Gateway Terminals for cargo operations on ro-ro vessels.” Essentially,


White Bros


provides all the services needed to keep the freight industry operating smoothly. It will deliver containers from the seaports into the Hal


Far groupage depots


and then redeliver individual consignments to the consignee. As a one-stop-shop, the company also provides freight forwarding services when required, but on the whole this service is a facility for its own clientèle rather than in competition with other forwarders. Container


delivery to


customers’ premises is another important part of White Bros’ work, but this being Malta it is a rather different process compared with most of Europe. “The biggest problem is that


There never was a Mr White at White Brothers – the company has always been owned and operated by the Ciantar family. The firm was in fact named after the its first US-made trucks, very similar to the restored example imported from the US by the Maltese company’s founder.


space in Malta is often very restricted. A lot of our clients are in fact small shops in urban areas rather than in spacious industrial premises, and it can be very difficult to park a container truck without blocking off the whole street.” Often, the best solution is to receive the container at White Brothers’ own warehouse and transfer the contents of the container to smaller delivery trucks better able to navigate the twists and turns. The company will also


palletise and sort goods – again not activities normally associated with container haulage in most parts of the world.


“Some of our clients even have their own office and warehouse space here at our premises,” adds Mr Ciantar. “We feel that there is a definite trend by local businessmen to order smaller groupage consignments rather than full container loads, thereby avoiding large stocks in the current uncertain business climate.”


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