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The fast train from China

[ December 12, 2018   //   ]

Davies Turner has made its weekly rail import LCL service from China more direct. When the service was introduced two years ago, multi country consolidation) containers were carried by rail from Wuhan into Warsaw in Poland, where consignments destined for UK were transshipped to a local bonded warehouse for a NCTS / T1 bond to be issued, then trucked via Dover to Davies Turner’s Dartford hub for subsequent customs clearance.
Containers will now go by rail from Wuhan direct to Duisburg in Germany, before being trucked under bond to Rotterdam and transported by ferry to Purfleet, near Dartford for on-carriage by truck to Davies Turner’s distribution centre, where they will be discharged, customs cleared and delivered.
Tony Cole, head of supply chain services at Davies Turner said: “This new more direct method of moving the container from Wuhan to the UK will remove the current need to unload the container in Poland, then reload into a trailer, which will enable us to offer a lower rate to the market, and reduce the possibility of delays, as well as strengthening security.”
Davies Turner’s long-standing partner in China, Air Sea Transport, arranges collection of shipments from any location in mainland China to the rail terminal at Wuhan, where closing dates are approximately three days prior to the departure of the intercontinental rail service.
The Wuhan rail hub to Dartford depot transit time is 22 to 24 days.
Davies Turner chairman Philip Stephenson, added: “We were one of the early adopters of the opportunity to ship via rail from China to the UK and it has proved to be a practical way of offering an alternative with clear advantages over the ocean freight and air cargo options in terms of cost and transit times.
“I believe that the recent restructuring of our services leaves us as the only UK freight forwarder with a truly direct overland LCL and FCL option from Wuhan to the UK, with no transhipment of cargo en route.”
He added: “If a client is experiencing issues with orders running behind schedule, at times of peak ocean demand, when an ocean sailing has been missed or, as with the current ocean market conditions where vessels have been cut and are omitting UK ports, then rail is a viable service option, particularly so for larger shipments or dense cargo where the cost of air-freight can prove prohibitive.
In April this year, Davies Turner added an export LCL cargo service by rail from the UK to China.

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