ITALY\\\ Modal mix pays off for FFG


In Italy, it pays to mix and match your modes, says managing director of FFG International, Graham Martin. Road operators may claim that trucks are always faster, but in some circumstances, rail can be the quicker option, he says. “For example, with our groupage service from Modena and Bologna to the UK we can get cargo there quicker than by road, partly because the service leaves more frequently than many truck services that just operate on a Friday.” And in many other cases the rail or rail-sea alternative is only 24 hours slower than road – if that. FFG International (Manchester)


offers a range of different options to and from Italy. Graham Martin


learned his craſt with Italian specialists Merzario in East London before setting up FFG in Oldham. FFG works with intermodal


operators GTS and DB Schenker; the former has rail services from eight depots in Northern Italy to Zeebrugge, from where ferry connections are available to the UK including Purfleet, where FFG uses Canute’s warehouse. DB Schenker also offers direct rail services from Domodossola to Hams Hall in Birmingham. The latter service offers a pick-up Friday, delivery Monday


schedule. “It works


well,” Martin says, “certainly for consignees that are within 200 kilometres of Birmingham.” The train arrives in Hams Hall at 6am


From Micklefield to Milan


and delivery to most parts of the Midlands can be achieved by 2pm the same day. But FFG recognises that road


has its place too. It tends to be faster from central and southern Italy as the rail service becomes slower and less frequent, with journey times of 5-6 days as against 3-4 by road. “We also do a fair bit by sea –


tinned foods for example - by sea from Ravenna, or stone coming out of the Taranto area for example,” Martin adds. “And there are various products including foods and tiles via Naples. MSC has a service from La Spezia and there’s also a good service from Genoa to Tilbury.” Another interesting operation


is FFG’s use of cabotage ocean containers between Italy and the


Issue 3 2013


UK. With a shortage of suitable deepsea export cargoes in places like Bologna, the forwarder moves the boxes at its own cost by rail to the UK, filled with cargoes such as wine, food or other heavy items like tiles to the UK. Aſter the cargo is discharged, the line picks them up again and uses them to reload export cargo, which is more plentiful from the UK than from Italy – mainly because the UK is now one of Europe’s leading scrap producers. Some of the UK’s scrap also


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finds its way to Italy. Here. FFG loose-loads standard 45-foot containers with mainly recycled aluminium which are then railed to Italy. On arrival there, they are loaded onto a tipping road chassis so that the load can be quickly and easily dropped off at the Italian customer’s premises. A lot of the aluminium goes into fridges or car panels. FFG is one of the few forwarders with the necessary licence to move scrap to Italy; it does though only move scrap from reputable producers.


Castleford, West Yorkshire-based Viamaster International provides the Italian connection for the Partnerlink grouping of hauliers. This is an interesting alternative to the pallet network – a cooperative of like-minded family-owned hauliers who operate, not a hub and spoke network, but a series of direct trunking links between themselves. Viamaster, which has been in existence as a domestic haulier since 1970 and, for the past ten years has also offered regular groupage services to Italy, France, Greece and other points on the Continent, can provide an international link for the other members of the group. Partnerlink


has the great


advantage, from the point of view of shippers of machinery and other large items, that it is not restricted to pallets. Its regular daily groupage runs


take in Turin, Milan and Vicenza, from where its partners run connecting services to all parts of the country, even as far as Sicily. Italy is also a useful springboard for the Greek services – regular


ferries operate between the two countries. “The Italian market is, in a


word, tough, at the moment,” says Viamaster managing director, Paul Pedley. “But that said, it hasn’t fallen off a cliff.” Automotive products have recovered from the sharp dip seen in 2008 and Italian food remains in great demand. Chemicals from the North of England move in the other direction, contributing to a reasonably balanced flow of traffic as far as Viamasters is concerned. Road remains the mode of


choice for Viamaster at the moment, apart from large flows of heavy, non-urgent items, Paul Pedley continues. “The intermodal services have improved a lot over the past ten years, but not to the point where I would risk putting time-sensitive freight on there.” When rail works, it can be as quick as road, especially at holidays periods when truck operations through France suffer from extended weekend bans – such as the ski season from late February until mid-March.


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