Monday, 1st of Oktober 2018
CLIENT CASE: JORDEX
The use of depots in the hinterland, combined with the transport of containers by barge to the seaport, is gaining popularity among shippers and forwarders. TMA Logistics spoke about this with Danny Maaskant, account manager at Jordex Shipping & Forwarding. Danny has been working for the Rhoon-based company for over 10 years and talks about the benefits of working with the inland terminals and inland shipping services of TMA.
Re-allocating equipment with frequent inland shipping connections
“As a forwarder, we arrange the transport of containers from door to door and door to import port. With our customers, fast and reliable service is paramount. In today’s tense market, it is therefore essential that we have empty equipment at our customers’ loading locations quickly. TMA Logistics offers a strong network of inland terminals in the Amsterdam region and in the north of the Netherlands. Personally, I think a central point of contact for several terminals is important,” says Danny Maaskant.
“With the frequent barge connections, TMA can quickly re-allocate empty equipment between terminals. For example, we regularly need empty containers from a shipping company at terminal x, while the equipment is at terminal y. TMA quickly sails these containers to terminal x, so that the customer can quickly dispose of them. Especially in the case of cargo flows involving large numbers of containers, this is much more efficient for our logistics. You shouldn’t think about having to pick up 20 empty containers in Rotterdam for loading in Friesland. From the terminal in Harlingen we can make the round trips to the customer’s loading location much faster. This way, we can transport the same number of containers with fewer trucks and optimize our logistics. At Jordex, transporting containers by inland waterways is high on the agenda. In this way, we try to make a concrete contribution to making the supply chain of our customers more sustainable,” explains Danny.
CY product shipping companies
At its inland terminals, TMA Logistics offers the CY product of a number of major shipping companies, including MSC and Hapag. This has great advantages for customers, because the shipping companies manage these traffics. The responsibility for detention & demurrage lies with the shipping company and not with the freight forwarder. In combination with the fixed handling times at the deepsea container terminals in Rotterdam and Antwerp, this results in a cost-efficient and reliable product.
A natural partnership
“In recent months we have had significantly less problems with congestion in the seaports. We are seeing a modal shift from road to barge. The product that TMA offers is reliable. TMA has it right and we have direct lines of communication with the TMA colleagues. When it comes to soccer there is sometimes tension between Rotterdam & Amsterdam, but this cooperation feels very natural. Add to that a good price and service. Then you can only conclude that this cooperation works,” concludes Danny Maaskant.
