14


Issue 2 2020 - Freight Business Journal


///HEAVY LIFT


The big beasts of the freight industry


The UK freight industry is no stranger to handling large and exceptional loads. Heavyliſt and project cargo is becoming an increasingly important segment for many operators.


Keeping a step ahead of the competition


Bone fide project freight companies are facing mounting competition from general forwarders who may try to undercut them, says Andrew Ford, branch manager at the Rotherham branch of Davies Turner, which handles most of the forwarder’s project business. Also, with so many


forwarders tendering for jobs, it’s hard work ensuring that you are still included in customers’ lists and keeping in contact with the relevant people, says Ford.


In a tough business


environment, and with rates being pushed down, forwarders that mainly deal with containerised cargo are trying to dabble in the project sector, he explains. However, “these companies are often inexperienced and there are often loads of issues, with everything going to pieces.”


An experienced project


forwarder’s quote will be on the basis of doing a proper job, with all the different factors accounted for. Inexperienced forwarders, on the other hand, may not factor in demurrage and truck waiting time at ports. Many may assume that there will be facilities


to load the


cargo direct onto the vessel – very often not the case, and a haulier kept hanging around will want paying for its time. Or, where items need to be


barged across to a Continental European port, the cost of securing and lashing them to a shortsea vessel must also be added in. Davies Turner’s specialised


project arm originated in the 19th Century as a Sheffield company called Woodcock, bought out by Davies Turner about 20 years ago. As a family firm, it fitted in well with the Davies Turner ethos and today


handles most, though not all, of the project jobs accepted by the other Davies Turner offices around the country. South Yorkshire is still a


centre for heavy engineering, although these companies also face stiff competition from ones based in lower-cost countries. These days, many of the products are highly specialised or something that is innovative as it is hard if not impossible to undercut low-cost countries. And even a nominally British engineering firm may well have overseas arms from where the goods physically originate. That said, there are firms in


the region producing things like giant cable reels weighing up to 200 tonnes that are shipped all over the world, in one case from the company’s own wharf. But impressive though these are, a UK firm really only stands a chance of selling them if the requirement is for a high level or precision or there is some other specialised requirement. Davies Turner ships heavylift


goods all over the world, including the Far East and, increasingly South America and India, where there is a growing interest in wind turbines.


Politicians may talk about creating the Northern Powerhouse but in one important respect, it already exists says Bryn Atherton, commercial director at Oldham-based project forwarder,


Allseas Global


Logistics. “The North-west and central-north of England, is still a major centre for industrial manufacturing, and many of our clients are local to us. The South-East of England may be the place that’s on everyone’s radar, but most of what is actually produced is made here in the North.” The North of England has


excellent ports, including the newly expanded and revitalised port of Liverpool, plus Hull and Immingham, with good motorway links to all of them, and to the rest of the country. Land is available, and relatively cheap,


as is


labour, all of which means that manufacturers can set up large premises for heavy


engineering – probably


unthinkable in the south of England or Midlands these days. That said, Allseas has


opened offices at Felixstowe and Heathrow to manage shipments of container and airfreighted


components in


and out of the country. The range of products that


are manufactured in the North is reflected in Allseas Global’s client base. The company was set up by owner Darren Wright 16 years ago to support firms in the oil and gas sector, but nowadays it also moves items such as power generating equipment,


wind turbines,


flight simulators and military hardware, to name a few. Contrary to what is often said, we do still make stuff in this country, much of it within a few tens of miles radius of Allseas’ Oldham base. Allseas Global will however


handle movements all over the world including those not


involving the UK. It has been a member of the GLPN network of project freight forwarders for 6-7 years which, says Atherton, has proved to be a wise move. “It’s been a very good network - not the largest, but we get very good enquiries. GLPN members overseas come to us for full agency support as likewise we do in their countries.” Size isn’t everything when it


comes to forwarder networks, he points out. As GLPN is a specialist project


forwarding


network, members do not find themselves competing against half a dozen other members in their own countries, as can happen with some of the larger set-ups. Allseas Global will take any


on aspect of through project


freight, ranging from purely transport


door-to-


door movements and, in some cases, even arranging for installation of equipment at destination.


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