18


Issue 3 2015 - Freight Business Journal Ital: an integral part of Italy


Manchester-based Italian groupage specialist Ital Logistics is getting a lot more enquiries from outside the mainstream northern cities that have hitherto dominated Anglo/Italian trade, says managing director, Phil Denton. “If it has an Italian post code, we go there, and never more has this been true than now. More and more of our export trailers are travelling past Milan and into East and Central Italy, as well as the South. As for imports, whereas once we would have brought in 10-14 trailers a week from Milan and only 5-6 from Verona, these days the proportions are more like nine from each place.” Ital operates regular groupage


services from and to all parts of the UK throughout Italy, in conjunction with its long- standing partner, ITX cargo with offices in Milan and Verona. Changes to the Italian waste


regulations have unsettled the market. Strangely, these had the effect of making it more difficult for


Italian-based hauliers It’s not just Italian regulations


that make life interesting for hauliers though. As dangerous goods specialists, Ital Logistics advises that the ADR regulation 7.5.7.2


states that “packages


shall not be stacked unless designed for that purpose.” (If a


this would be acceptable. But a haulier registered outside Germany should be allowed to go on his merry way as long as ADR, to which Germany is a contracting party, is complied with.


Denton adds: “I have yet to


communication is much easier,” says Denton. “The now is the Euro,


problem (which makes)


using EU hauliers financially (even) more


attractive. To


remain competitive there has to be compromise, but wherever possible we should be supporting our own if we are going to keep our British hauliers in business.”


Ital Logistics exports and


imports a wide variety of commodities between Italy and the UK. No single commodity stands out more though than chemicals, in both


directions,


although traffic is pretty much “anything and everything” says Denton. From the UK, the main commodities range from


machinery, batteries, springs, steel, cables, beer (yes, the Italians like our speciality beers), and of course, lots of chemicals. On the import front, batteries


and machinery is reciprocated, whilst homewares, office furniture, foodstuffs, wine, marble,


and even more


chemicals make up the main part of the business.


Forwarder takes the direct approach to


obtain permits and compete against their GB and other non- Italian counterparts, so it has created an opening for British operators in Italy, says Denton. “It has leſt a gap in the market. We ourselves had to jump through a lot of hoops to get the necessary permits, but we’re now sending 1-2 trailers a week of high-value waste to Italy.”


UN approved package has been used, and it has undergone stack tests, then it follows that the package is designed so as to be stacked). And it adds: “Where necessary, stacked packages shall be prevented from damaging the package below by use of load-bearing devices.” Because many drivers must


transit Germany they are wary about stacking dangerous goods and oſten refuse to accept them. Germany, which lies astride the main transit route to north-east Italy, has its own regulations concerning the stacking and securing of dangerous goods, which are supposed to apply only to their own hauliers and, if the carrier was German-based,


obtain the actual German text on this, and on asking our industry governing body (BIFA) for input, they responded that there is simply so much regulation that it is physically impossible for one trade association or individual to gather it together and maintain it. Perhaps so, but I cannot help but consider that, in view of their status, they would better disposed. We consider obstacles as challenges to be overcome.” British international hauliers becoming


risk Logistics something of


an endangered species, but Ital


supports and has several in its them, line-up


to and from Italy. “The British have the reputation of doing things by the book and of course


US-based forwarder CH Robinson has enjoyed consistent growth in Italy and has doubled the size of its operation there in the past three years, says general manager of the Milan office, Igor Braga. The office in Milan offers both


European trucking services as well as global freight forwarding and logistics services. Historically, CH Robinson’s Italian operations relied heavily on other European gateways to provide services to its customers but in recent years, CH Robinson has built strong relationships with Italian carriers and vendors to provide localized services to Italians and foreign customers that are expanding their European footprint. Braga comments: “We are seeing concrete signs of the


DSV is enticed by the lure of Tuscany


DSV is focusing on developing more frequent groupage departures to and from Italy, says divisional general manager for road, Kristian Hansen. (pictured, right) “For example, we aim to grow the groupage lines between Tuscany and northern UK (and vice versa) where we are, to our knowledge,


the only company


offering these direct routes to/ from the region. We’re also very focused on further developing growth within the automotive sector, specifically from the ‘Automotive Valley’ in the Bologna / Modena area, where we already have a strong presence and are continuously pushing for a larger footprint.” Historically, the north was far


more productive and perhaps this is still the case. “However, we’ve certainly seen good developments in the Tuscany and Rome regions,”


Hansen explains. Although the economies are not


perfect in southern Europe there are certainly signs of recovery, he continues. “The UK-Italy traffic for DSV has grown in both tonnage and consignments by 5% from 2013 to 2014. We have especially seen this in the groupage area, as


manufacturers are not


shipping in such big volumes per shipment but more frequently with smaller shipments. Italy has such attractive products ripe for the UK consumer market, so trade to the UK will always be buoyant even in an uncertain economic environment. This is even more evident now, with the Pound getting stronger and stronger against the Euro. The UK will buy more and more from the Eurozone and especially Italy for their quality products at much lower costs.”


Growth is particularly strong in


automotive, high end engineering and, of course, the food and drink sector. Italy is to some extent still a


regional freight market. Hansen says: “It certainly makes selling easier if you are located in the local regions in Italy. From a freight perspective, this means you don’t have to be a huge transport company as the Italians are loyal to the their local transporter. DSV is obviously a big company, so in Italy we have had to reflect the market - our infrastructure is regionalised and our offices are very close to the local clients who have been very loyal to DSV for many many years. It is not a market where we see a lot of client churn.” DSV’s main focus is groupage


and part loads, and it uses traditional methods of moving


local economy picking up mainly due to exports and the uptick in economies around the rest of the world, specifically in the Euro Zone. By the end of 2014, there was faster than expected growth. The European Commission is forecasting further growth of the whole Euro Zone by 1.3% in 2015 which is the highest outcome since 2010. This positive prediction is also eased by the flattening of the exchange rate between Euro and US Dollar.” Northern and Central


Italy continue to be the most economically active regions of the country although there are some flourishing niche markets in the South. The Southern part of Italy remains stagnant in the freight market and Northern Italy continues to dominate Italian trade as a result of the growing manufacturing sector.


While Southern Italy is primarily focused on the food industry, the freight market in this region also benefits from components coming in from Asia where the finished product is assembled by Italian manufacturers, and the final product is exported to Europe and North America. While Italy is in some respects


a regional freight market, and there are still areas where the personal relationships between locals make


a difference,


shippers are starting to embrace globalisation and are more open to working with customers and service providers in various locations, Braga considers. The main is


issue the underdeveloped


infrastructure system that does not allow the Italian transportation industry to be competitive in today’s global market place.


North and south for PSL


trucks in either fixed or roaming round trip set up with our DSV Italian operation. “This means we manage to keep almost all the production in-house to the mutual benefit of both DSV countries. Our efficient fleet means we can precisely calculate the transit times and distances which is well aligned with the accepted transit times of the market. In fact, we would like to think we are a little quicker than the market, utilising our strong network in Italy.”


The PSL Group has a long established service from the garment producing area of Prato and Florence to its UK terminals, says commercial director Richard Gibbs. Together with its partner Becosped it is now introducing a groupage service between Milan, Maldon, Hinckley and Manchester.


This will initially


start with departures leaving on Tuesdays and Fridays for both import and export and will be supplemented with daily departures using Paris as a hub. With Prato able to service Rome, Naples and further south, the Milan service will give the PSL


Group total coverage of Italy. Volumes to and from Prato


have remained constant over recent years, Gibbs continues. He adds: “The decision to develop a service to Milan shows that confidence is


growing and that an


acceleration of current growth is around the corner. The PSL group had focused


on Prato due to PSL’s strengths in the fashion sector and, “over recent years we have seen developments of other industry sectors moving into the region. Prato allows us to bridge the divide between north and south,” Gibbs explains.


///ITALY


operational


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