20 carriers,


Issue 8 2013 Freight Business Journal


///FRANCE An American airline in Paris


Paris is a major hub for many overseas


such as


American Airlines. The latter’s regional cargo manager for Western Europe, Kathleen Lesage says: “France continues to be extremely important to AA Cargo as it maintains its status as the second largest European Gateway aſter London Heathrow. We currently have expanding export business from all over France which means daily trucks from the provinces feed our Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG). Around 65% of the carrier’s French traffic originates from the Paris area and 35% from elsewhere.” Lesage continues: “Currently


the strong outbound trade lanes are Texas and then onwards to most Latin American destinations. And we’re not so affected by peak seasons as some other parts of the world because


commodities like cosmetics, of which we carry a great deal, are year-round goods. Then there are things like the aerospace industry which is also a consistent business at present and obviously when things are going well and their order book is growing we see new traffic coming on regularly.” During July and August AA


had a B777 to Dallas Fort Worth, Lesage adds. “Throughout the two months we filled it, so we’d really like to maintain that additional capacity and of course in an ideal world a B777 to JFK also would be of great help.” American currently operates


daily flights from CDG to New York JFK, Chicago O’Hare, Miami and Dallas Fort Worth with B767- 300s and a second daily to JFK with a B757. “In general 2013 has been a good year. This is not only due to strong


Freight service for the discerning shipper


Like many a good restaurant, France Line prefers to offer a select menu rather than to make dubious claims to provide all sorts of services to all sorts of places. Essentially, it does what it says on the side of the truck – it offers full and part-load services between the UK and France on a business to business basis, explains managing director, Marie Boyer (below).


up 32 years ago by four French shareholder hauliers. They had traffic from France to the UK and the joint company’s main activity was to find traffic back-loads out of the UK. However, in the past 4-5 years it has started to develop its own import business into the UK, independent of the original shareholders


(of whom there


are now just two - Baudouin and Multi-Transports – the other who having been taken over). And there is also a plan, finally,


Manchester-based France Line International Transport was set


to expand into other European markets, but in a measured way. France Line has joined the Astre logistics network, in which Baudouin was already involved, running one of the network hubs. This gives it access to PaletSystem, Astre’s European pallet network for the distribution of part loads of up to 10 pallets


throughout France and Europe. Its membership includes over 120 hauliers in France and a further 200 members in other countries and operates through main hubs in Paris, Lyon and Niort. France Line intends to use the


network mainly for deliveries which require a tail-liſt and also to rural areas which are difficult to cover directly, though it will continue to do most of its deliveries directly to the French end user on the same trailer. However, the PaletSystem will allow a more comprehensive and flexible service. For example, PaletSystem


could come into its own to get loads down to Marseilles for more urgent consignments that cannot wait for the next available France Line truck, with the former moving the load as far as the Paris


hub. “It’s all a question of whether it’s competitive price-wise, but it gives us another option,” Boyer points out. Astre was set up 21 years ago


and was something of a pioneer in France, which has not seen the growth of haulier networks similar to, say, Germany. However, a few have sprung up over the last couple of years. Joining one can give a haulier more clout with large companies who may not want to sign a lot of separate haulage contracts


for different


parts of the country. “France is a big territory,”


explains Marie Boyer. “We at France Line have a reputation of being honest about what we can and can’t do and we don’t want to jeopardise that. So we’re looking for a structured growth, getting the right people in the right place.”


Meanwhile, France Line


continues to develop its UK export business, though the market remains tough, says Boyer. Building materials figure quite largely, though volumes are down at the moment, as does traffic of all types for retailers, printing material, paper, cardboard and packaging, machinery and engineering, plastics and ambient foodstuffs, mainly destined for the food manufacturing industry. Haulage costs in France are continuing to rise. Even without the now postponed Ecotaxe, fuel, driver’s wages (which went up in July this year) and other costs continue to increase. Some customers are understanding about the need for surcharges, says Boyer, but many large shippers are continually seeking to drive costs out of their


demand to certain destinations but also to us diversifying our products. We’ve been able to offer a wider range of interline destinations to places where AA has limited capacity, there’s


been a focus on the ExpediteTC cool product and also express shipments in general. July and August were good months and aſter a lull in early September we are anticipating further growth


as factories increase production aſter the summer break. “The other thing I’d add is


that the new American Airlines identity has been very well received in Europe. Seeing the


new aircraſt in the new livery has made everyone realise that AA is a really credible player in this market and we have a forward looking attitude which bodes well for the future,” she concludes.


supply chain and there is also competitive pressure from cut- price operators using cheap East European haulage. France Line’s shareholders


are doing what they can to keep costs under control, for example installing soſtware to manage fuel consumption and there is also an incentive scheme to encourage economical and accident-free driving.


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