NEWS\\\


Issue 3 2018 - Freight Business Journal


7


Xpeditor plans


to offer overseas online delivery


UK-based freight forwarder Xpediator is planning a major expansion of its EshopWedrop online delivery services and plans to extend the concept beyond Europe to destinations such as Africa or Asia, says chief executive, Stephen Blyth. Xpediator, whose forwarding


activities trade under the Delamode brand, has already spent over £300,000 developing the concept. Consumers in countries with little or no online retailing services can nominate a delivery point in another country, with Xpediator taking care of the delivery from there to the final destination. It already offers the concept


into the Baltic region, using its existing road services, and now plans to extend the concept further through franchising, says Blyth, who has taken personal charge of developing EshopWedrop. Xpediator’s acquisition


strategy is also geared to expansion of the concept, says Blyth. One of the company’s next two acquisitions in the UK is likely to be a Heathrow- based freight forwarder, he says. He is also planning further acquisitions of forwarders in Europe. Blyth says that Xpediator is


now the only publicly listed freight


forwarder in the UK,


and this factor has allowed it to pursue an aggressive acquisition strategy. EshopWedrop franchisees


would most likely be courier firms able to perform ‘last mile’ deliveries, coupled with the ability to collect freight charges, he added. Initial efforts will focus


on expanding the concept further into Europe, where the additional delivery cost


to the


customer using Xpediator’s road services is no more than 20 cents a kilo. Costs of airfreighting goods


to consumers in more distant destinations will be higher, but Blyth is convinced that there is a ready market of consumers willing to pay a premium, especially as the EshopWedrop service would include an easy- to-use and affordable returns service. Target markets could


include overseas expatriate communities, but


there are


also opportunities among e-commerce retailers wishing to extend their reach into new markets without investing in expensive infrastructure and delivery networks themselves. A service such as EshopWedrop would be typically half the cost of using an express parcels carrier, says Blyth. Consumers may need to pay


customs duties, but in many countries de minimus levels are quite generous - $800 in the US, for example – and many private online purchases would fall below this threshold, he says. EshopWedrop is meanwhile


doing brisk business into the Baltics, says Blyth, where many consumers buy from UK retailer Tesco’s website, taking advantage of the UK’s VAT zero- rating of goods such as nappies or cycle helmets.


Worcester is new source of business for Transmec


Logistics provider Transmec Group has opened a 110,000sq ſt warehouse at Worcester, just a mile from junction 6 of the M5. In addition to warehousing


and logistics, Transmec provides freight transport services across the UK and Europe and is a leading operator between the UK and Italy. It also operates a 115,000 sq


ſt warehouse at Redditch and further depots at Bradford and West Thurrock. Transmec’s UK general


manager, John Simkins, said: “We’ve grown rapidly in the past few years and the Worcester


warehouse will enable the


upward trend to continue - it’s a fantastic facility in a great location. Existing customers have asked us to do more for them so we’ll be able to accommodate their needs while developing new


relationships with companies in and around Worcester.” More than 20 jobs


reconfigured will be


created at the depot, on Shire Business Park, where has been


racking to


accommodate 12,000 pallets. IATA automates dangerous goods checks


The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched a Dangerous Goods AutoCheck solution. It ensures that the shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods (DGD) complies with the IATA Dangerous Goods regulations and enables electronic consignment data to be received directly.


Optical Character Recognition


(OCR) technology transforms paper DGDs into electronic data. It also sends handlers and carriers a pictorial representation of the package with any marking and labelling. The paper version of the DGR is 1,100 pages long and manually checking that each shipper’s


declaration is compliant and the package(s) are correctly, marked, labelled and packaged is a complex and time consuming task, says IATA. The


development was


supported by an industry working group made up of more than 20 airlines, freight forwarders, ground handlers and express integrators.


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