Cargo changes road for water and air
DCI - 05/08/2008
With an eye on the tendencies of the market, the major logistics operators of the road modal seek to diversify their operation by implementing other options for cargo transportation. This way, some companies like Julio Simões, which confirms its entrance in the waterway modal, and Ceva Logistics that studies options to extend its operations in cabotage (navigation in coastal waters), are able to handle problems with the increase in the cost of fuels, and thus, optimize costs, besides reducing the transportation time, in some cases, and getting a loyal clientele. On the other hand, one of the national leaders in express delivery, TNT Mercúrio, the new brand of TNT, which claims to have 15% market share of the Brazilian express delivery market, with an investment plan of 100 million Euros in 10 years, reveals it intends to begin operating with its own airplanes in order to strength the connectivity of the deliveries among Brazil, Europe and Asia, besides increasing the range of services in these routes. For Irecê de Andrade, logistics executive Julio Simões, that is a trend the stronger companies have been showing. Irecê said, in an exclusive interview to the newspaper DCI, that Julio Simões will carry out the entire operation, with no outsourcing, in the new branch of operation. The region, the kind of shipment, and the cargo that will be transported, will only be revealed in the next days, after the deal is closed. With the diversification of the business, the company intends to reach sales of R$ 2.3 billion (US$ 1.4 billion) in 2008, compared to R$ 1.85 billion (US$ 958 million) last year. Showing that the road modal may continue strong, the company made the acquisition of 400 trucks and it will more than double this purchase this year, with the incorporation of 450 other trucks also in 2008. In tune with the ways the logistics sector has been taking towards multimodality, president of the Brazilian Logistics Association (Aslog), Adalberto Panzan, agrees with the theory of the director of Julio Simões since she classifies the multimodal movement as an option for the major operators to get stronger, optimizing operations and costs. Ceva also follows the trends of the sector by considering the interaction of more than one kind of transport an alternative. "We made feasibility studies for new means of transportation, as for example, cabotage", signaled Giuseppe De Vincenzo, Ceva's Director for South America. Ricardo Melchiori, Ceva's Operations Officer, reaffirmed Vincenzo's positions while revealing that "for one year he has been developing an intermodal project to cater mainly to companies that transport large amounts (commodities) all over Brazil", and that "the new alternatives involve taking the most advantage of all logistics resources available in every region to optimize transport". Melchiori also confirmed that the increase in the cost of freight, because of the increase in the price of diesel, accelerated the diversification process, since 99% of the fleet is outsourced, and that currently, in the final stage of the project, Ceva is in a much more comfortable position, starting negotiations with some clients, and will be able to implement the innovation in the second half of this year.