DHL Global Forwarding and Freight is rolling out a suite of multi-modal services that combines air, road, rail and sea transport to move cargo from China to the rest of the world.
The company says it is expected to help ease the capacity shortage for air and ocean freight from China and will help companies significantly reduce transport costs by 20 to 50 per cent and carbon emissions by up to 89 per cent.
Freight volumes from China and Asia as a whole are leading the global air freight and ocean freight recovery. Intra-Asia trade is forecast to grow at a compound rate of 6.2 per cent fuelled by the increase in Chinese consumption as well as increasing intra-Asia trade with China.
Air cargo volumes between North America and China are expected to grow 8 per cent compound between 2010 and 2019, and 6.8 per cent compound for the same period between Western Europe and China.
DHL believes that the popularity of multi-modal services will continue to increase in view of seasonal capacity shortages that are expected to remain in the coming two to three years.
Kelvin Leung, chief executive North Asia Pacific, said: “Compared to using air freight alone, using multi-modal services will result in cost savings of 20 to 50 per cent and as much as 90 per cent when replacing air freight with just international rail. In addition, switching from air freight to a multi-modal combination of sea, air, road and rail transport can achieve a reduction in carbon emissions of as much as 89 per cent. It all depends on which mode of transport is switched to which.”
The services are:
1. Rail-Air: Daily rail service from four cities in China to Urumqi, weekly air service from Urumqi to Germany and onwards to 70 cities in 26 European countries. Over 50 per cent CO2 reduction in emissions compared to airfreight on some routes. There is a 20-50 per cent cost savings compared to airfreight and it is 20-50 per cent faster than ocean freight.
2. Sea-Air: Ocean freight originating from 13 cities in China. Onward airfreight from Dubai or Los Angeles – reaching over 100 cities in Africa, Europe and the Middle East via Dubai and reaching 30 cities in the Americas via Los Angeles. There is an 80 per cent CO2 reduction in emissions compared to airfreight on some routes. 20-40 per cent cost savings compared to air freight and it is 30-50 per cent faster than ocean freight.
3. International Rail: End-to-end rail service originating from 14 cities in China, arriving in 7 countries in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Mongolia and Russia. It offers over 95 per cent CO2 reduction in emissions compared to air freight on some routes. There is a 90 per cent cost savings compared to airfreight and it is 30 per cent faster than ocean freight.
4. Sea/River-Rail: Sea service from Guangzhou to Lianyungang, rail service from Lianyungang to CIS, Mongolia and Russia. Up to 80 per cent CO2 reduction in emissions compared to airfreight on some routes. 90 per cent cost savings compared to airfreight and 30-40 per cent faster than ocean freight.
5. Cross Border Road Freight: Door-to-door full truck load or less-than-truckload service originating from 11 cities in China, arriving at Friendship Gateway at China-Vietnam border. Door-to-door full truck load or less-than-truckload service from Friendship Gateway to 4 cities in Vietnam. Over 80 per cent CO2 reduction in emissions compared to airfreight on some routes. 20-50 per cent cost savings compared to airfreight and 30-50 per cent faster than ocean freight.
* DHL and The Logistics Institute – Asia Pacific of the National University of Singapore are setting up a S$3 million Sustainable Supply Chain Centre of Asia Pacific. The aim is to create a best practice hub and intellectual property engine to drive sustainable supply chain development in the Asia Pacific region.
Paul Graham, chief executive of DHL Supply Chain Asia Pacific, said: “Given the projections for supply chain logistics growth in the region, there is a need for an Asian focus on sustainability. The SSCCAP will meet that need by leveraging DHL’s sustainability best practices at its foundation.”
