NEWS\\\


NEWS ROUNDUP ROAD & RAIL


Europol, the international police organisation, is warning of ‘Trojan horse’ theſts from delivery lorries in which thieves hide themselves inside large wooden boxes. The boxes, marked: ‘Fragile’ are picked- up by parcel delivery services and, once the box is inside the vehicle en route to its destination, the criminals emerge to steal valuable items also inside the lorry, such as jewellery, phones or electronics. Accomplices following from a distance then simulate an accident to stop the vehicle, enabling those hidden inside to escape via holes cut out of the vehicle roof.


Network Rail opened the Ipswich Chord ahead to freight trains on 31 March. The £59 million project allows trains to travel directly from Felixstowe towards the Midlands without having to go via London or for the locomotive to run round its train at Ipswich goods yard.


State-owned airlines are distorting industry figures because they do not have to operate on a level playing field, Luſthansa Cargo’s outgoing chairman and CEO Karl Ulrich Garnadt told a press conference on 25 March, writes Marcia MacLeod. Garnadt pointed out that the


only airlines which showed a relatively healthy profit during the last financial year were state- owned and that private companies, world-wide, grew very little. For example, in Europe, Cargolux showed a 19% growth rate, whereas Luſthansa Cargo (LC) grew just 1% and Air France/KLM suffered a 5% drop in business. The same anomaly can be seen globally, with state-owned Middle Eastern carriers doing especially well, recording growth rates of up to 35%, in the case of Etihad Cargo. “State-owned companies are


NEWS ROUNDUP FORWARDING & LOGISTICS


Yusen Logistics is launching a cross border trucking service for Indochina. The South East Asia Link service (SEAL) connects Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, providing full- and less-than-truckload solutions. The service operates five times a week between Singapore and Malaysia, and 2-3 times a week connecting Malaysia with Thailand (Bangkok) and Vietnam (Hanoi). Yusen says the price is around half that of air freight but 10 days quicker than by sea. All vehicles in the fleet are equipped with GPS.


Norbert Dentressangle’s freight forwarding division, Norbert Dentressangle Overseas, has relocated its Heathrow operation to larger premises. A shared facility has been replaced with a leased 9,000 sq ſt of dedicated office and warehouse space at Saxon Way Trading Estate in Harmondsworth. In the last two years, the Heathrow office has increased its staff from six to 11 and has seen a significant upliſt in business, including a marked increase in e-fulfilment, together with air and sea freight and customs management services.


Nordic-based forwarder Greencarrier Freight has opened an office in Minsk, Belarus. The Belarus operation will initially run as a subsidiary of the Lithuanian office which is headed by managing director Marijus Zilinskas. Greencarrier expects the main markets for road freight – from a single pallet to full truck loads – to be to/from the UK, Scandinavia, Baltics and Poland. The company now has its own offices in 14 countries, including the UK.


Dutch based logistics company CEVA says it has successfully completed its previously announced debt refinancing. This lowers the average interest rate it pays, further increases capital available to fund growth initiatives, and establishes a long-term capital structure.


Hellmann Worldwide Logistics UK says it can now offer offer global services in the agricultural equipment market, with tailored multimodal solutions from its Lichfield hub.


Airfreight: could do better


The vast majority of air cargo users claim that services fail to meet their expectations, says the European Shippers’ Council (ESC). Companies feel that their voice is not being heard by the air freight industry. To address the problem, the ESC has produced a white paper entitled ‘Airfreight 2020 and beyond’ to start a dialogue on how to improve matters. Back in 1995, the ESC published a similar white paper, entitled ‘Airfreight 2000 and Beyond’ but not much has changed in the air cargo industry over past 20 years, it concludes, and the new document aims to reopen the discussion. Shippers want more reliable, transparent and


door-to-door


seamless logistic solutions, says ESC. The industry and the shipper community should work together to achieve a standard goal


for airfreight


Issue 3 2014 - Freight Business Journal


State airlines are massaging figures, says Luſthansa’s Garnadt


removed from the real world,” Garnadt emphasised. “We need politicians to push for a level playing field and ensure that companies which work to different rules than us do not have more opportunities. We also need to create a public awareness that something is going wrong. At the moment, all we can do is try to improve our own competitiveness and have the self- confidence to survive this (unfair) competition.” Luſthansa Cargo believes the


development of “co-operations” with other airlines will go a long way towards improving its competitiveness. These co- operations, which will begin this summer, will help LC to reach new markets, improve flexibility, increase frequencies for key destinations, and cut costs through the sharing of resources, such as ground handling. The names of potential partners have not yet been released due to


confidentiality agreements. LC also points out that the alliances will be subject to anti-trust approval. However, Garnadt stresses that LC is not planning a ‘Star Alliance’ of cargo. The introduction of the


B777 into LC’s fleet is also seen as a key step in the drive to increase efficiency and customer service and has already proven its worth in fuel savings and increased punctuality. The third B777 was delivered on 26 March, a fourth is due this summer and a fiſth is on order. Due to the uncertainty in the industry over the last four years, the date for taking up another five B777 options has been moved from 2016 to 2019, giving LC until December 2015 to make a decision. As the new aircraſt are meant


to replace ageing MD-11s, two older MD11F aircraſt have been taken out of service, but retained in case they are needed to serve a projected


increase in demand. LC is meanwhile investing


€500,000 in a vacuum cooler to speed up the cooling process for imported flowers. Due to be delivered this summer, it is the latest in a series of investments in the company’s 60,000 tonne perishable business. Staffing has been increased from nine to 11 and constant improvements to technology ensure that LC can monitor the temperature of


produce, flowers, and


pharmaceuticals throughout their airfreight movement. LC is in constant communication with its pilots to ensure goods are carried at the correct temperature.


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security or


more efficient regimes on trade facilitation. Shippers also want a paperless


chain from consignor to consignee and are ready to participate in pilots to enable it to happen. In keeping with this sentiment, the new white paper is only being made available in electronic form.


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