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Issue 5 2021 - Freight Business Journal


at all. It quickly became clear


that we needed to work with a larger partner with an extensive network and solid customs services. We found it in Europa Road. We are very pleased to start working with this renowned player.” He comments: “Benelux


has always been a key market for Europa, and in 2018, having long considered the benefits of a complimentary unaccompanied full load product, to sit alongside the traditional road groupage product, we acquired Oostende- based full and part load operator, Continental Cargo Carriers


(CCC). The groupage business and the CCC business operate independently, with CCC making around 50 crossings per day via the North Sea, using Immingham in the north and Purfleet in the south. The two products allow us to offer customers an in-house solution from a carton to a full load.


“We are also excited about


the prospect to significantly develop the unaccompanied business of CCC, which operates 270 trailers principally between the near continent the UK, and we plan to expand the reach further into Europe and increase our presence on the unaccompanied market.”


DHL rises to multiple challenges


One might say: “Be careful what you wish for.” The events of the past 18 months have provided excitement in spades, as the forwarder has had to cope with a surge in demand, soaring freight rates and a shortage of capacity that was already acute before the Suez Canal blockage, all while having to manage an unprecedented level of working from home. But DPDHL’s staff in the Netherlands and elsewhere have risen superbly to the challenge, says Henk Venema. “Really, I can’t thank our people enough for what they have achieved. They have moved heaven and earth and made miracles happen.” While Mr Venema may relish


the challenge, shippers will be relieved that some stability, if not exactly normality is slowly creeping back into the global freight market. In an exceptionally tight


freight market, DHL does at least have the advantage of economy of scale and has huge resources of its own at its disposal. The forwarding arm was,


for instance, able to use the air capacity offered by the Express arm, operating either scheduled flights or chartering aircraft, to cope with the shortage of bellyhold space as the passenger airlines slashed their schedules. It is also now running regular chartered 747 freights six days a week from China to Amsterdam Schiphol, an operation that will be maintained for the foreseeable future, says Mr Venema. That the charter operation


used Schiphol rather than one of the Netherlands’ smaller regional airports is in itself an illustration of the turmoil in the market, he says. There was a point in 2019 when the key Netherlands gateway airport was reaching capacity for freighters – “but it’s hard to believe now.” He predicts that while


passenger flights are very slowly returning to the skies, it will be a long time before international schedules return to their pre-Covid levels, although the rebound in domestic air travel in countries


Intermodal made easy with VTG


Rail asset specialist VTG has been committed to the expansion of pan-European intermodal transport for many years now but, at present, around 95% of semi- trailers are still unable to be used in combined transport as they are not suitable for crane handling. Thus, VTG and its partner Vega International have developed the roadrailLink


(r2L) handling


and transport technology that enables normally non-craneable semitrailers to be handled and put on the rails. R2L uses a carrier platform that can be liſted onto or off regular


double pocket wagons using terminal cranes or reach stackers. It needs neither ramps


nor


other fixtures, which can hinder terminal capacity. Speed is another benefit, says


VTG. Loading takes only about five to eight minutes per semitrailer. Moreover, thanks to laser distance measuring, little human intervention is needed compared to other handling systems: The driver of the terminal tractor can use a laser device to see the exact position where the semitrailer is to be loaded onto the r2L carrier without leaving the cab.


like China or the US is an encouraging sign. The


challenge in ocean


freight is lack of capacity and soaring freight rates. While DHL has joined other forwarders in chartering its own ships to clear backlogs of containers out of China and is a major user of rail services, these are a drop in the ocean compared with the capacity of the regular liner operators. The rail service from China is useful, certainly, but it cannot anything like the volumes that ships do and is more a replacement for sea-air than all-water services. DHL had, in early June,


already had its first talks with customers about how to cope with the Christmas rush this year; such discussions normally never took place until the end of the summer holiday season. Luc Jacobs, DPDHL


managing director Belgium and Luxemburg says that the past 15 months was a challenging time in his country, not only because Belgium was one of the hotspots in the original


R2L technology is already in use


on the route between Rzepin and Tilburg and on trains between Italy and Germany. VTG is also offering the solution in Bettembourg, Trieste, Rostock and Kiel and, shortly, between Germany and Poland. The VTG fleet includes around


94,000 rail wagons – mostly tanks, intermodal, standard freight wagons and sliding-wall wagons – as well as about 9,000 tank containers. It has three local offices in the


Benelux (Rotterdam, Antwerp and Ghent), and services freight flows between the region throughout Europe. It is particularly active in


liquid bulk (chemicals, biofuels, gases, mineral oil transports), dry bulk


(cereals, sugar), industrial


goods (steel, copper, wood) and intermodal transports.


outbreak but, later, because it is a major centre for the production and shipping of the vaccine. “First and foremost, we had


to ensure the health and safety of our people, which we did by switching very quickly to a home office solution wherever possible. In this we were very successful in limiting the number of Covid cases,” Luc Jacobs states. At the same time, DHL was


able to maintain a successful operation and was able to serve its customers effectively. Some sectors of business


remained very strong throughout the outbreak, notably life sciences and healthcare, although others such as automotive and technology suffered an initial drop. But even those sectors of the business that took an early hit are now recovering, indeed faster than expected. There has also been a strong recovery in the US and Latin American markets, adds Luc Jacobs.


///BENELUX Mr Cook describes business


currently as “quite buoyant” although the last 12 months “have been very, very challenging. The complexity of Brexit preparation and readiness has been huge, one of the greatest challenges our Road division has ever had to face. It has tested a lot of our team


and put them under pressure to operate in a new environment, but our whole organisation has responded wonderfully. It has not been easy, it has absolutely been very difficult, but we believe we have a done a good job and are well placed to continue to serve our customers well.”


Home comforts boost Palletways


The Covid pandemic has resulted in a change in products coming through Palletways Benelux, says general manager, Rob Manders. He explains: “We have seen a spike in gardening, DIY, home improvement and health and beauty products such as sunbeds and hot-tubs, driven by consumers being unable to travel who instead are investing in their homes.” Palletways has seen major


growth of B2C deliveries with the main driver being e-commerce, especially as many retail establishments were closed due to the pandemic. This sent customers online, resulting in a growth of palletised goods deliveries to residential addresses. B2C business is still increasing and is set to continue for the foreseeable future, he adds. Palletways Benelux


was


launched in 2005 covering all postcodes in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. It is a key link to the UK, and its strategic location in Nijmegen positioned it


Pall-Ex to stage Benelux relaunch


Pall-Ex is on the cusp of a major launch in the Benelux region, says the managing director of the pallet network’s international business unit, Mark Steel. While Pall-Ex has had a presence


in the region for over three years, it is only with the launch of the new version of its Nexus IT system from June that it has been in a position to vigorously market services to, from and within Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. “It’s in effect a relaunch of the


service,” Mr Steel explains. “Nexus will give us full international capability as it will allow us to operate in multiple hubs, countries, tax jurisdictions, languages and currencies.” While Pall-Ex does have


established networks in other European countries such as Italy


or Iberia, the emphasis in those markets is much more on the domestic market. International traffic plays a much stronger part in Benelux, and that meant that Pall- Ex could not reach its full potential while it was operating its legacy IT system there. All that will change, however, with Pall-Ex’s new service for the


region. Mark Steel says that there


are around 20 new members in Benelux poised and ready to go as soon as Nexus goes into operation. The network will be centred on a single main hub at Seneffe in Belgium, about 30km south of Brussels, and with a smaller sub- hub in Tilburg, in the southern Netherlands. Seneffe will act as the transit point for all international and domestic traffic and it will also be a crucial hub point in Pall-Ex’s wider international network.


as the gateway to Europe. Rob Manders adds that


Palletways’ teams have been working hard to ensure the continuity of service during Brexit, creating strategic import and export customs clearance sites to avoid delays to shipments. Palletways’ hub in Nijmegen was announced as a key entry point, selected for its closeness to the UK mainland and its access to central and Eastern Europe.


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