Express Trailers looks online for business 24 consumer service


The Express Group, ever on the look-out for new market niches, has started a business to


aimed


at Maltese Internet shoppers. Launched


in August, www.


Shiplowcost.com allows island purchasers to type in the dimensions and weight of their consignment, select which country they are shipping from – France, Germany, Italy or the UK and get an instant quote. It developed because a


growing number of customers want to order products online from abroad but then find it difficult to have these items shipped to Malta, either because shippers and buyers cannot guarantee that the product will be delivered safely and so they don’t offer shipping, or else because the costs are so high that the deal is no longer attractive. Shiplowcost.com


addresses


these issues and allow Maltese buyers to buy practically any item from anywhere abroad and have it delivered right up to their door a the lowest cost. While not the only such


service available in Malta, general manager Johann Vella


reckons it is one of the most powerful and sophisticated, adding that it seems to have gone down very well with Malta’s growing band of online shoppers. The other new offering is


third party logistics (3PL). Express has long


offered


services such as warehousing and local delivery, but it now has some state-of-the-art, high- bay, fully racked warehousing – 1,600 pallet spaces - fitted with a sophisticated warehouse management system to keep track of stock. While the Maltese importer


has traditionally preferred a ‘do it yourself’ approach, says Vella, “we are trying to educate the market that having your own staff do this, operating your own vans,


renting out warehouses


and so on is not always cost- effective – and there signs are that the new generation of logistics planners are taking this message on board.” By combining deliveries on the same truck or van, Express can also offer final delivery more cost-effectively than an own account operation, he points


out. Almost any type of product


can be stored, including pharma, foodstuffs, electronics and dangerous goods – not all in the same location Vella hastens to add.


The 3PL offering can also


be integrated with the Express Group’s regular


road trailer


services from Europe, plus its air and seafreight forwarding operations. The company recently invested in ten dual- temperature trailers, bringing its total reefer fleet to 41 out of a total of 170 trailers. New EU safety regulations require a much greater range of foodstuffs to be temperature-controlled – not just fresh fruit or dairy products but also crisps, wine and biscuits, for example. Express’s temperature-


controlled trailers are all satellite-monitored and controlled, bearing in mind that they travel unaccompanied on the ferries. Express Group is also


promoting the use of Malta as the first point of entry into the EU for goods originating from the Far East and China. Transiting via


Malta offers European importers the facility to bring goods into free circulation whilst having the possibility to avoid VAT payments by registering in Malta for fiscal purposes. This customs procedure known as onward supply relief (OSR) benefits


customers who can


import non-EU products into Malta to reduce transit times for redistribution to anywhere in Europe. Whilst paying duties in Malta, they avoid a direct payment of VAT to customs as goods will be considered as in transit. This could be a major cash flow advantage for importers of high-value items such as electronics. As Vella points out, with the imbalance of trade, trailer rates into Europe are highly competitive and


Issue4 2013


///MALTA


shipping to Malta is a good five days shorter than to Northern European ports. Express has also recently


opened a new warehouse in Genoa, which is being used to make up consolidations for Libya and Tunisia.


Traffic to between Malta


and the UK is overwhelmingly southbound; however there is a little business back from the island to the UK which is further supplemented by other trailers loaded from Italy and Tunis at times.


XPH your airfreight logistical partner representing various world renowned airlines


Malta International Airport Cargo Village Luqa LQA 3290


+356 2789 4145 +356 2189 4130 +356 7999 4145


booking@xphmalta.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40