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Issue 8 2017 - Freight Business Journal Bad news can’t wait


Bad news can wait as the song and saying has it – but is this really true of Brexit? What businesses hate more than anything else, is uncertainty,


says Karl Timmis,


northern Europe and Scandinavia director for DSV Road. Perhaps the biggest crime


that has been perpetrated by the politicians is not so much leaving the EU as the fact that, 18 months on from the referendum date, we still have little idea what type of Brexit the UK will perform, or whether there will be any transition period. “We’ve got to assume the worst,” Timmis told FBJ. “We need to ensure that, if and when the border comes, we as a company are as well prepared as possible, for the sake of our customers.” Partly,


that entails DSV


redeveloping its own in-house customs clearance capability. While the company does have such expertise in its forwarding arm, anyone who started work in European or Scandinavian road transport (outside Norway) since 1993 will need to learn the basics of customs clearance. The plan, says Timmis, is to have one or two


staff with “deep knowledge” of the concept but for the remainder to also have a basic idea, which will be rolled out over an 18-month training period. DSV Road also hopes to incorporate customs training into its apprenticeship programme. One of the countries that


DSV Road regularly deals with – Norway – has never been an EU member. Are there any lessons here for the UK? Norway is in fact a member


of the European Free Trade Area and shipments do in fact move reasonably smoothly, says Timmis. However, until the UK’s exact status with the remaining EU nations is clarified, it’s too early to say if this experience can be replicated. While it is true that 90% of DSV’s road traffic


UK/Scandinavia is


unaccompanied and hence has longer dwell times than the hectic pace of Dover’s drive-on-drive-off business, this should not be over- stated, says Timmis. “These days, even unaccompanied operations are quite slick. The days of taking two days to clear are long gone.” However, it is possible that


Gothenburg freezes charges again


The Port of Gothenburg has opted for the third year in succession not to raise its port tariff. Charges for 2018 will be on the same level as 2015. Port charges are levied on all


vessels, based on vessel type and gross tonnage, and are used to finance activities, including fairway maintenance, traffic information and port safety. Chief executive, Magnus


Kårestedt, said: “By doing so, we are seeking to boost growth in industry, shipping and port operations. At the same time, we want to be part of the effort to curb rising logistics costs for our stakeholders.” He said the company has


avoided the need for tariff increases through effective cost control and hoped that this will inspire other companies and organisations involved in logistics to review their own charges. “If we all share the


responsibility for making logistics more cost effective, this will prove crucial to our stakeholders’ competitiveness,” Kårestedt


stated. Good environmental


performance is already rewarded with a discount on port charges in Gothenburg based on two globally recognised indexes, for which one-third of vessels that call at the port are eligible. Vessels that switch to running on liquefied natural gas, (LNG) receive a further discount. Kårestedt added: “We expect a


significant rise next year in calls by vessels running on LNG, and there will be a resulting rise in the number that qualify for our LNG discount. The transition that is taking place is encouraging, and we look forward to welcoming more LNG-powered vessels to the port with a 20%.” The Port of Gothenburg is the


largest port in the Nordic region, with 30% of Swedish foreign trade and 60% of all container traffic. It is also currently the only


port in Sweden able to handle the world’s largest container vessels and has the broadest range of shipping routes within and outside Europe. Around 25


Brexit might lead to a slight shiſt away from accompanied to unaccompanied operations, he considers. If trailers are going to be held up for customs purposes anyway, there would be little point in having a driver waiting while the process is completed. Meanwhile, the Scandinavia


trade has been affected by exchange rate fluctuations. With the Pound finding itself in reduced circumstances, there has been a small upturn in UK export traffic, and perhaps a small reduction in imports, but it is too early to say whether this is a short-lived fluctuation or part of a longer-term trend. Seasonal fluctuations,


for


‘Black Friday’ and Christmas have further clouded the picture, so it will be a little while before there is any clarity. Meanwhile, there is an acute of


shortage road transport


capacity, due to the aging driver profile and rules in many countries preventing drivers from spending weekend rest periods in their cabs. However, on DSV’s Scandinavian routes the mainly unaccompanied mode of operation has insulated it


from the worst effects and


rail shuttles depart each day to Sweden and Norway. Meanwhile, rail operations


currently handled at the intermodal terminal at Gothenburg Central Station are due to move to the outer port area at Hisingen in December. The new 65,000sq m terminal located


is beside the ro-ro


terminals, which offer direct services to the UK, Belgium and other destinations. Capacity at the new intermodal


terminal will be higher than at the old city centre terminal with seven rail tracks with a total length of 3,600 metres. The new terminal will be


operated by Sandahls Goods & Parcel. Terminal manager, Patrik Theander, commented: “It looks as if there will be a considerable level of activity from the outset. We are looking forward to this, and we are ready and waiting with all the trucks, liſting equipment, personnel and everything else that will be required for traffic to begin moving immediately.” The terminal will be served


by 12 trains daily and in addition to domestic trains bound for Norrland, Stockholm and other destinations, there will be services to various parts of Europe.


in fact the company has been successfully recruiting drivers in the UK and is suffering less than most, says Timmis. He says: “One thing we are in


the logistics industry is flexible and resourceful.” DSV has not stopped investing in the UK, or in Europe and Scandinavia. It is now entering the second phase


///SCANDINAVIA


of a refurbishment programme at its main UK base in Immingham, and has created a much better, Scandinavian-style


working


environment for its staff there, says Timmis. “It’s a very upbeat environment, full of natural light and wooden floors. We’ve seen the benefit in that staff are less stressed.”


A similar refurbishment is


now being rolled out at the main southern UK base in Purfleet, he adds.


In Europe, work is continuing


to integrate the UTi and Frans Maas acquisitions and, where appropriate, consolidate the forwarding and road operations together on single sites.


ALS expands into Norway


Abnormal load specialist WWL ALS Nordic is to take over WSS Nordic’s logistics office in Bergen, Norway from 1 August 2018. The two companies have


worked together on high and heavy transports over the past few years and the merger will create a stronger team and superior network access, says WWL ALS. The new company, WWL ALS


Nordic AS will offer chartering, project


logistics and freight


forwarding solutions by air, sea and road, as well as super yacht handling. ALS also recently opened new


offices in Margher and Ravenna Italy to cater for growing volumes of seafreight project cargo. They are in addition to ALS’ established Italian offices in Noventa Vicentina and Este, which handle oversized construction equipment and spare parts for Komatsu. The logistics firm recently


rebranded itself with a new image to reflect its expertise in handling transportation and the delivery of exceptional cargo ALS


offers solutions for:


oversized, abnormal, exceptional and heavy liſt cargo shipments from airfreighting the smallest components to the transportation


of oversized cargo by road or barge, as well as providing permit and escort solutions, organising global container shipments, ships agency and marine and port services, warehousing and storage options


and private escort vehicles. WWL ALS also chartered a


vessel was chartered to ship the largest break bulk cargo pieces, over 600 tonnes of project cargo from the US to Hull.


or vessel charter. WWL ALS UK’s project team in Hull, UK recently supplied


a complete logistics


package for a major energy from waste project,


coordinating all


shipments of materials, large equipment and containers from over 10 countries delivering to site in the UK over six months. Loading and off-loading


operations took place in Turkey, the US, Poland and Denmark as well as the UK. The teams provided ships agency, port and site operations


Access all areas


UK-based Scandinavian specialist forwarder OceanBlue Logistics covers literally the whole of the region, including the more remote offshore areas. The Immingham-based


operator launched a Finland-UK import service in the summer, leaving Helsinki every Friday. Managing director, Daniel Morrison explains: “This has allowed us to consolidate our own cargo and equipment


for


returning to the UK. We can take most hazardous cargo and can offer groupage and consolidation between our two terminals, Vantaa in Finland and Immingham in the UK.” OceanBlue operates its own


dedicated road and sea freight services from the UK to Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, as well as to the Baltics and Russia. It can collect all types of cargo from anywhere in the UK for shipment to all areas of the Nordic countries, including most types of hazardous cargoes for all areas of Scandinavia, subject to correct documentation being provided. OceanBlue was launched at


its head office in Laceby 12 years ago in November 2005, while Bradford celebrated its tenth birthday and the Airdrie office its fiſth (coincidentally both also in November).


Finnish partner OBL also celebrated its second anniversary


The five largest pieces were


transported by road, overnight in time sequenced deliveries during the course of a week to their final destination attended by WWL ALS’ project manager and escorted by WWL ALS’s permit and escort manager. The new energy facility covers


12 acres and will process upwards of 200,000 tonnes a year of solid recovered fuel and is scheduled to be operational from November this year.


- again in November. OceanBlue has also recently


increased its midweek eastbound volumes between the UK and Denmark and is shipping more trailers


on the Immingham/


Esbjerg crossing on Wednesdays. Morrison adds that OceanBlue


has also started to get more involved in out-of-gauge services to Scandinavia, offering flatbeds and lo-loaders with their own Hiabs or Moffit loading gear, a service which again covers the whole region. And while other operators


are content to cover only the four


main Nordic countries,


OceanBlue also recently started services to the Faroe Islands and Iceland, via the port of Immingham for part-loads.


groupage and


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