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Issue 8 2019 - Freight Business Journal


News Roundup


Old-established company WE Deane is making the transition from traditional freight forwarder to logistics operator, with a particular emphasis on IT and systems, says managing director, Rob Falconer. The company is increasingly providing its clients with sophisticated logistics services such as narrow-aisle warehousing and lineside sequencing, but with its bespoke IT systems as the fundamental building-block. “We don’t want to get into a


fight over a $50 commission on a container – the big boys have got all that sewn up,” states Falconer. Instead, WE Deane has invested in its warehousing and,


above all, its systems,


which are developed in-house by its team of IT specialists.


Along with state - of - the - art trucks WE Deane is investing in sophisticated IT systems to better serve its demanding customer base in automotive and other sectors.


The ability to offer a bespoke solution gives the company an edge and has enabled it to carve out a niche in a marketplace increasingly dominated by huge multinational forwarders. Running a sophisticated sequencing operation for a car manufacturer, for example, is no mean feat with many operations turning over £250,000 a day. Falconer comments: “I think


we are unusual in that we have our IT offering, but we are also very much still a family business. You’re not just a number here.” Many employees can boast decades of service, he says. The company also invests


heavily in training, all of it bespoke and in-house to ensure that employees understand how to use its sophisticated systems. It has also gain AEO-C and –S status. The company was founded


by William Deane in 1963 from the merger with another company owned by Rob Falcolner’s father, initially working out of a small office in Fenchurch Street in the City of London. Its headquarters is now in Barking, and it also has several warehousing sites operated on behalf of clients in the Birmingham region, along with two offices in the Netherlands and four in South Africa. More


locations will be


added in the UK as and when clients require them. It has just opened two new sites in the Birmingham area, giving it a total of three locations in the Midlands. WE Deane is also currently exploring setting up an operation in the Calais region to help its customers cope with the possible effects of Brexit, should that lead to firms holding stocks on the Continent rather than in the UK. The new Birmingham depots


will support the company’s sequenced delivery of components from the point of order through to the line-side.


Privately owned Chinese carrier Juneyao Air is to launch a three-times-a-week 787- 9 Dreamliner service between Shanghai and Manchester. It will operate initially via Helsinki, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, arriving into Manchester at 08.30 and departing for Shanghai at 10:00. Cargo traffi c rights are available on all legs of the route.


Aer Lingus is to operate its Dublin – Miami service for the entire summer season from 29 March, compared to April only in 2019, according to Routes Online. There will be three fl ights per week.


The Animal Transportation Association (ATA) has partnered with airfreight


information fi rm Champ Cargosystems and French


animal health specialist Arioneo to study horse wellbeing in air travel. The study, in association with the University of Bologna, aims to monitor factors including heart rate, respiration, and temperature to improve data capture and development of solutions to improve safety. Information will be collected and transmitted through Arioneo’s data logger recording horse vital signs and communicated to the pilot and groom on their mobile devices through CHAMP’s data communication capabilities. A full report on each horse will be available aſt er every fl ight allowing trainers and owners to learn from the experience and prepare better for future journeys.


The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has pledged support for the 10,000 members of the Finnish Post and Logistical Workers’ Union PAU who have been on strike over new employment contracts since 11 November. It has denounced the attempts by the Finnish Government’s Posti company to drive down wages. Other unions, including the Finnish Aviation Union and Finnish Seafarers’ Union, have joined the strike in solidarity causing disruptions at transport hubs across the country.


IAG Cargo’s quarter revenue from July 1 to September 30 was down 9.0% versus last year at constant currency, at €269m. Chief executive Lynne Embleton said it refl ected the industry-wide decline in air freight and weakening of global trade. However, IAG’s network breadth allowed it to take advantage of relatively robust demand for fresh and premium products, including the new partnership with Cargo Signal to provide comprehensive monitoring and tracking.


Deutsche Post DHL has opened a ‘mega parcel centre’ in Bochum, between Essen and Dortmund in Germany. With a sorting capacity of up to 50,000 shipments per hour, the Bochum centre along with that at Obertshausen near Frankfurt am Main, which opened in 2016, is the largest DHL parcel centre in Germany and also one of the most effi cient in all of Europe, says the company. It is supplied with electricity and heat by its own thermal power station, which it also feeds into Bochum’s public utility network.


Luxembourg-based air cargo trucking fi rm Wallenborn Transports has completed its acquisition of Agility Global Logistics’ interest in Dubai-based road feeder operator dnata PWC Airport Logistics. The parties have agreed not to disclose the details of the transaction. The current leadership teams will continue to manage the business and operations.


Etihad Airways’ Etihad Secure Logistics Services subsidiary is increasing its vehicle fl eet and expanding its services to cope with increased demand from Abu Dhabi’s government, diplomatic and private sectors. The valuables management and logistics operator is adding armored vehicles to its fl eet, increasing capacity by 30%. It is off ering valuable cargo import and export services as well as dedicated landside to airside and aircraſt -to-aircraſt secure logistics services at Abu Dhabi International Airport.


Luſt hansa Cargo has brought forward its fl eet modernisation plan, saying it will buy two more new Boeing 777F freighters, but at the same time withdraw all its older MD-11 freighters by the end of 2020. The carrier says that overall, it will have the same freighter at the end of the rollover as the original 18-strong MD11F fl eet.


///NEWS Air


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