28


Issue 3 2013


///ITALY No north-south divide here, says Hellmann


Italy is a very regionalised country with a sharp north-south divide, so it is rare to find a groupage operator able to serve both halves equally, says Hellmann UK commercial director, Matthew Marriott. However, he points out, “we are partnered with Siſte Berti, who are a very large domestic carrier and we can serve the whole of Italy on a 72-96-hour basis except perhaps for the very south of the country. It’s unusual for Italy to find a true national carrier – a lot of them stop half way down the country and then use regional partners.” Siſte Berti handles final delivery


and pick-up throughout Italy and the two partners work together through a standard IT platform that allows customers to track consignments at every stage of their journey. Hellmann UK is thus able to


offer daily departures from the UK to Milan and also two to three times a week direct to Bologna and Rome.


For groupage operators,


road is still the way to go, in Marriott’s opinion. He is yet to be convinced that intermodal rail services can yet offer the speed that his customers – especially retailers – demand. “A trailer can be in Milan within 48 hours,” he says, “so if we depart on Tuesday we can delivery to North Italy on Friday. With rail the chances are


that goods wouldn’t arrive until Tuesday or even Wednesday.” Rail definitely wins from a


green perspective, especially for large, heavy loads but suffers from a lack of consistency, he believes. Hellmann is unusual among


UK road operators in that it sends out more to Italy than it receives in – traditionally, Italy has been


Hellman and partner Sifte Berti cover the whole country, says Matthew Marriott


include high quality fashion and leather goods and textiles. UK exports tend to be retail-driven. Matthew Marriott is not


one of the UK’s more balanced trades. Both countries produce a lot of engineering goods, but in slightly different sectors ensuring that there is a brisk trade in both directions. Other Italian exports


expecting a great surge in growth in his Italian traffic over the next few months. The Italian economy contracted by the best part of a percent in the last quarter of 2012 and the signs are that the first quarter of 2013 will be a repeat performance. The indecisive election result also doesn’t help a country grappling with recession – though coalition governments and hung parliaments are not exactly new in Italy. “Our main aim for 2013 is to


keep our market position in a difficult economy and to keep our frequencies. Some of our rivals have been dropping from three to two departures a week”,


Marriott declares. Companies are increasingly scrapping over available traffic he says. A couple of the pallet


networks have also entered the Italian market, both domestically and internationally, although Marriott hasn’t seen too much competition from this direction. “They don’t


in fact have the


frequency of departures that we have and the pallet network concept on the mainland is still a new thing.” The pallet networks are


probably most competitive for the heavier, 1-tonne pallets but much less so for the lighter loads of 2-300kg which is where traditional groupage scores, he says. And of course they cannot cater for goods that cannot easily be loaded onto a pallet.


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The US connection


The ubiquitous Sifte Berti is also forging links across the Atlantic. The Italian-based haulier has signed a partnership deal with forwarder SBS Worldwide covering all sea and airfreight activities between Italy and the US. The two companies will represent each other in their respective countries offering tailor-made solutions to meet the needs of their clients. SBS’ Kelly DelleFave says


that the North-East and New York area shows the strongest demand for Italian products. “Designer fashion, apparel and footwear, as well as food products, granite and tile are just some of the obvious products within this particular trade,” explains the regional vice-president of business development of the US North-


east. She adds that, eastbound, major commodities include pharmaceuticals


and lab


equipment, raw materials and machinery parts. A major marketing and sales


campaign is now under way in both countries to increase market share. Cultural ties between the two countries may be strong, but that doesn’t mean selling into this market is a pushover. As in all parts of the world, China’s huge


manufacturing output


is a strong competitor. This, coupled with the weak Euro and Italy’s financial troubles, have also affected trade in both directions. Nevertheless, says DelleFave,


“we believe that we have a strong product. By utilising New York as a gateway into the US on our


westbound service, we can


reduce transit times and improve speed to market. SBS in the US is a licensed customs broker with a seven day operation in all locations, includes its own CFS (Container Freight Station) in New Jersey and Chicago, run by its own staff, which brings flexibility, security and control to the operation. Also, operating a Sunday customs clearance operation gives us a 24-hour advantage over our competition when delivering critical air shipments.” For air exports throughout


the US, SBS is a licensed CCSF (Certified Cargo Screening Facility) carrying out its own cargo screening which enables it to load directly onto airline pallets, reducing time, handling and additional costs.


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