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Issue 5 2012 FedEx forwarding arm opens in Glasgow


FedEx Trade Networks, the freight


The company originated in forwarding arm of the


logistics company, has opened an office in Glasgow, its third in the UK. FedEx said Glasgow was an ideal location, being close to Glasgow and Prestwick airports, as well as Greenock and Grangemouth seaports. CEO and president, FedEx


Trade Networks, Fred Schardt, said: “Glasgow is an important transport hub for the textile, automotive and technology sectors and its port structure and network of road and railways offer multiple import and export options.” FedEx Trade Networks in


specialises a variety of


multi-modal and value-added services including air and ocean transport, customs brokerage, purchase order management with Global Order Logistics, surface transportation, warehousing and distribution. Other Trade Networks offices


are in London Heathrow and Manchester airport.


the early years of this century, when FedEx acquired US forwarder and broker Tower, which it developed into the largest customs entry-filer in the US, said Fred Schardt. In 2008, the decision was made to expand outside North America and since then 48 of the 51 offices opened were outside that region, and the network now has its own offices in 25 countries, including most of the major European nations, plus Turkey, India, South Africa and Dubai. Other countries are covered by a network of exclusive agents. Half FedEx Trade Networks’ revenue was also from outside America, Schardt added. “We benefited from very


FedEx’s Mr


strong Schardt said. Tower brand,” Expansion


had been “totally organic” since the


acquisition


in 2008, but Mr Schardt did not rule out acquisitions if the opportunity arose. Further network expansion would be


forwarding segment are very


bright at the moment. As for the UK, there was no


Fred Shardt


partly customer driven, but the emphasis was likely to be in emerging


countries where


growing middle classes were creating new demand for freight forwarding services. “Our growth is in fact one of Fred Smith (FedEx founder)’s key drivers,” Mr Schardt declared. FedEx Trade Networks could


of course draw on the physical resources of the rest of the FedEx network. “Financially, that gives us great strength and sets us apart from other forwarders,” said Mr Schardt who believes that growth prospects in the


‘roadmap’ to open offices in specific cities; growth would be largely determined by customer demand. The decision to open in Glasgow had been taken “because Scotland is a very strong market for us, with a well- educated workforce” that had spawned growth in life sciences and other industries. FedEx Trade networks offers a


full range of multimodal freight services, including ocean freight, he continued. In fact, one of the motivations behind setting up FedEx Trade Networks was a definite shiſt from air to sea; shippers were not only looking to save money, but modern technology also made it much easier to keep track of shipments while they were on the ocean. “We are partly driven by the fact that we do see a modal shiſt; airfreight has become a bit more ‘episodic’ and there has been a shiſt to ocean.”


UK/Poland rail service to go twice weekly in October


DB Schenker Rail has announced that its planned expansion of its Poland-UK rail service to twice- weekly will take place on 9 October. The operator has been running a weekly service between Wroclaw and London Barking since November 2011. Trains will leave London for Poland on Tuesday


and Fridays, with departures in the other direction on Tuesdays and Saturdays, taking around 50 hours for the 2,000km journey. The service is currently unique


in that it uses the High Speed 1 route between the Channel Tunnel and London, which allows much higher-capacity swap-bodies to be


carried. Main customers are the automotive industry and the retail and food sectors. Chairman of DB Schenker Rail,


Alexander Hedderich, said: “We have successfully established a new transport corridor within DB Schenker Rail’s pan-European network. At the same time, we are


also demonstrating the growing possibilities for long-distance European freight transport, with the shiſt of goods to environmentally friendly rail freight.” Further expansion of the service


would take place in line with market development, added DB Schenker.


///NEWS Niche forwarder


Niche forwarder Maltacourt Global Logistics is embarking on the next stage of its expansion plan, following the completion of a management buyout in August last year. The company, which specialises in handling high-value and vulnerable cargo, is on the point of acquiring another specialist forwarder active in the film production sector in the Lost Angeles area and will also shortly sign a joint venture agreement with an Asian-based forwarder, extending its reach across 30 new cities in that region. Maltacourt already operates


facilities near London Heathrow and in Budapest, Hungary, and works extensively for mobile phone manufacturer Blackberry in Europe and Canada, as well as between Europe and the Far East. CEO Matt Beech says: “We are not aiming to be kilo millionaires. We’re staying within the markets that we know well and which have performed very well for us. We’ve reached the size we want to be.”


The film industry is another activity


for Maltacourt and the Los Angeles acquisition will strengthen its presence in that highly demanding sector. The Asian joint venture will allow


Maltacourt to extend its highly specialised freight services into a major new region. “We specialise in ‘theft-attractive’ cargo so it’s important for us to have control over our own office networks rather than work through agents,” Matt Beech explains. Maltacourt’s administrative


headquarters is in Runcorn, Cheshire, a reflection of its roots in the thermoceramics and refractory products industry. It also manages its IT operations in Runcorn, an important part of its service. “My own background is in IT,” Matt Beech says, “and this business is as much about managing data as it is about moving freight. We can analyse trends and data for our customers. For instance, we might know how many products are shipped, and to where, and how different markets are performing” -


poised for growth information that is not always readily available in an easily assimilable form to the customers themselves. Maltacourt can also provide predictions for future sales trends. The film industry is a rather different


business, though it also involves handling valuable, vulnerable goods. “It’s very niche, involving working wherever the film location is and it’s very demanding,” Beech says. “You cannot afford to be late, because filming licences expire and Tom Cruise is only going to be in that one place for one day. And the equipment is delicate and high value – while the ‘rushes’ are of course virtually irreplaceable.” Maltacourt has invested heavily in


security devices and training, and in its personnel, both at its premises and for its vehicles. It is one of the pioneers of ‘smoke cloaks’, which fill a building with dense fog making it impossible for intruders to see their hands in front of their faces within seconds; it has the only building in Hungary fitted with the technology. Matt Beech regrets the of


disbandment the Operation


Grafton Heathrow anti-theft Police team about a year ago, although the theft record of Heathrow is still greatly improved compared with the position before Operation Grafton was set up. “I would like to see it reinstated, but the team has been disbanded and a number of specialists have gone overseas. It’s seen as ‘a problem fixed’ and cargo crime isn’t seen as a government problem. If there is an incident, it’s some poor forwarder who will bear the brunt.” Meanwhile, Maltacourt is continue


to strengthen its own security, with strong emphasis on staff training, backed up by some very sophisticated tracking devices that can locate vehicles with pinpoint accuracy very quickly. The smoke cloak at its Heathrow facility has been used in anger just once in 2010; the terrified thieves fled virtually empty- handed when they saw the wall of smoke rolling towards them.


New ships for ACL by 2015


Grimaldi’s Atlantic Container Line has announced its long-anticipated retonnaging plans. It has signed a contract with a Chinese yard to build what it says will be the largest con-ro (container and ro ro) ships in the world. The ‘G4’ class ships will offer 3800teu of container capacity and a ro ro capacity equivalent to around 1300 cars. All five of the new ships are due to be delivered by 2015, allowing the ageing G3 class ships to be retired. Like their predecessors, the G4s


will have cell-guides on deck, which greatly reduces the chances of boxes being lost overboard. In fact, ACL says that it has never lost a container in this way.


Despite having much lower fuel


consumption than their predecessors, the G4s will also be 10% faster. ACL said it would also consider changing its port rotation in the US. The service calls at Liverpool,


Southampton and Thamesport in the UK.


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