DHL is launching a new multimodal service operated by its Global Forwarding division between China and Japan, which cuts costs by up to 60 per cent compared to air freight alone, and reduces transit time by up to three days compared to solely using an ocean freight service, reported PR Newswire.

    It also promises to emit up to 92 percent less CO2 compared to air freight.

    The China-Japan multimodal service was made possible because DHL was recently licensed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to use railway for cargo transportation in Japan.

    DHL's China-Japan multimodal service comprises the use of ferries, rail and trucks carrying 12-foot containers. Goods are picked up from any location in China – mainly Shanghai, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nantong, Wuxi, Nanjing, Hefei and Wuhan –- and brought to Shanghai by truck, taken across to Hakata in Japan by ferry and then transported across Japan via Japan Rail.

    In Japan, pick-up and delivery is done through Japan Rail – the country's most extensive rail network – and taken across to Shanghai by ferry, with final delivery to destinations in China done by truck.

    Roger Crook, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding, Freight, said, "China and Japan are two of the world's largest economies and the China-Japan trade lane is among the top intra-regional trade lanes in the Asia Pacific region – it constituted over 44 percent of intra-regional trade in 2010. Pioneering, innovative transport solutions such as this, offer our customers yet more flexibility with the reliability of the DHL service quality."

    The 12-foot containers used in this service – smaller than the usual 20 and 40-foot containers – can be carried on all three modes of transport – road, rail and ferry – and handled at the majority of Japan rail freight terminals. This significantly cuts handling and transit time as well as the potential for damage to goods by eliminating the need to move goods from one type of container to another to correspond with each transport mode. Additionally, these containers allow customers to ship in smaller amounts for better control over their inventory management.

    "The US was Japan's top trading partner until 2007 when China took over as its biggest import and export partner," said Kelvin Leung, CEO, Asia Pacific, DHL Global Forwarding. "While we can ship just about anything to and from China on this multi-modal service starting with electronics, the next big potential we see is from the fashion and apparel sector – the biggest mover of goods from China to Japan – and the automotive sector, a key sector moving goods in both directions.

    “The next step for us is to introduce a less-than-container-load (LCL) option into this service, something small and medium enterprises especially can look forward to."
 
 

(source:http://www.cargonewsasia.com/category.aspx?id=7)