14


Issue 8 2017 - Freight Business Journal


///FRANCE & CHANNEL PORTS


The neighbours across the way


The British would never admit it, but we have more similarities than differences with France. And Brexit or not, the relationship is probably set to become deeper.


French forwarder forges ahead


French forwarder Geodis has been making a name for itself in the project forwarding business lately. The company recently opened a new hub in the Mediterranean area, at St Nazaire, to handle the major energy companies’ renewable business. Geodis Freight Forwarding


– France managing director, Massimo Norcaro, explains: that future development will


encompass other segments, “such as infrastructure, mining, nuclear, oil & gas, power and rail – and one brand new activity, Super Heavy Liſt” – namely massive pieces of cargo with single items of 800 tonnes and more. While Geodis’ approach to


project logistics is today global, it has operated industrial projects in France for more than 20 years, with dedicated teams in Paris,


Dunkerque, Mulhouse, Le Creusot and Marseille and, now, St Nazaire. Meanwhile, Norcaro continues,


the general French freight forwarding market is Europe’s second-biggest. Main segments are luxury goods, food, wine and spirits, automotive, pharma and aerospace, all markets in which Geodis is very active. It also has a sizeable north/south trade lane with Africa – 10% of export shipments go there. Market conditions in France


closely mirror the global situation, says Norcaro: “There is a certain pressure across the


logistics and freight forwarding industry because of the ocean carriers’ concentration and space restrictions. Over the past 15 years, space was not such a big issue, and there was significant room for negotiations on rates. Now, the situation is changing. Service providers will be focussing more on value creation, not just on rates, because within the rates there is little room to manoeuvre.” Therefore it is more important


than ever to create a higher level of “maturity” in the relation between providers and customers, he believes.


The Gallic litmus test


Operations director at Europa Worldwide Group, Dan Cook, says: “France is the second largest groupage market we operate


(behind routes. Germany),


and our growth is in line with most of our other main European


However,


France is far less industrialised and structured in its approach to domestic distribution than Germany, which often leads to a more fragmented product. “We often find customers


wish to trial us on their French traffic above any other destination. To be successful in the French market is quite challenging, because most clients have French business and to operate it effectively is not always so easy. Our structured product, and frequency of direct departures across France, together with our well-integrated independent partner network, good transit times and a high level of track and trace information for our clients, has brought us a robust and reliable product.”


Europa Road says it has


invested heavily in its French operation over the last


four


years since the business was acquired by new managing director Andrew Baxter. So far in 2017, the Road


risen by 23%. Europa Road, together with its partners across France, is now moving over 1,200 consignments and over a million kilos between the UK and France every week. Europa Road send a


Cook added, “Our strategy


is to become the leading road freight operator between the UK and France, which is why, as well as picking the perfect partners to suit our model, we have carefully selected our routes. Today these consist of Paris, Colmar and Lyon, but next year we plan to develop an additional direct connection somewhere in the North West of France. “Of course, not only is France


an important groupage market for us, it is the key transit route for 90% of our other routes. We make around 20,000 crossings of the Channel each month,


principally


Quality of service has always been a fundamental pillar Geodis, but now it


is becoming


more strategic. “In today’s volatile logistics scenario, globally, 77% of ocean freight shipments don’t meet their original schedule. As freight forwarders, we need to make sure we anticipate this and try to minimise the impact on our customers. This is a big challenge. Overcoming it


requires great transparency for


and automated processes with real-time alert systems, more centralised bookings, container box


optimisation, and simply


knowledge performance. “Investment in IT connectivity


and data management is also vital, and we have done a lot in this area with increasingly real-time information, data consistency, and agile flow management that anticipates upcoming requirements.”


France Line looks to the future


Now installed in its new Manchester office, France Line International Transport can now think about expansion, says managing director Marie Boyer. Business has been going very since launching two new


well


ventures about a year ago, namely the out-of-gauge loads operation and an expansion of the company’s geographic scope to include, mainly, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland. Since becoming sole owner of


using


division of the business has seen its UK-paid consignments to and from France grow by 17%, of which export consignments from the UK to France are up 29% against the same period in 2016. Volume has meanwhile


minimum of six groupage trailers each day to and from its £30m ‘1hub’ facility in Dartford. The business operates daily round trips to and from both Lyon and Colmar and up to four daily trailers to Paris.


Calais, but also Dunkerque. In recent years, due to factors such as industrial action and the migrant situation we have sadly seen develop, the entry and exit point for the continent via France has felt somewhat


precarious, and


recent legislation on cab rest and minimum wage has also put pressure on the efficiency of our operating model.”


the company in April 2016 – buying out the two other shareholder companies - Marie Boyer has seen profitability improve. “Business has been going really well and we reported really good figures at the end of our financial year, which in turn has improved our credit rating.” This has stood France Line in good stead with its haulage suppliers. Now, France Line hopes to be


recruiting new staff in about mid- 2018 – an operations manager and someone in telesales, and both probably fluent in French. Since FBJ spoke to France Line


a year ago, not much has really changed in terms of the migrant situation. There has been some movement in activity away from Calais towards other areas and


stowaways are still as determined as ever to try and break into UK- bound trucks. “All we can do is ask our drivers to avoid driving at night through Calais and to double check their vehicles near the port. The gangs are very organised.” What has changed in the market


lately though is a shortage of truck capacity. “There used to be more east European drivers in the market, but better opportunities in their home countries and restrictions on taking the long weekly rest in cabs has reduced the number. That said, we’re not so badly affected as some of our competitors relying more on East European drivers – we have always used a lot of French ones.” Remarkably little has also


changed with respect to Brexit. Apart from the ideas contained in the Government white paper on how customs clearance might work aſter the UK’s departure from the EU, there has been very little information about how things might look aſter March 2019. “We still don’t know what is


happening, and until we do know what has been agreed, all we can do is stay confident and keep going. Fortunately, we are a small team and so we can adapt very quickly if necessary.”


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