08/21/2008 08h49
Rapidão Cometa invests US$ 3.5 million
Gazeta Mercantil - 08/21/2008
Rapidão Cometa starts investing R$ 5.5 million (US$ 3.5 million) in the purchase of 37 new trucks that will be added to the 2,400 vehicle fleet of the company, one of the largest ones in Brazil in the areas of transportation and logistics. Among the new vehicles there are light, heavy, semi-heavy and extra-heavy trucks that will be employed in the new strategy to comply with the restriction of trucks in São Paulo. The Operating Officer of Rapidão Cometa, Manoel Leite, declares the operating costs have increased 12% in São Paulo - which is responsible for 30% of the volume of cargo shipped by the company. "With the increase of the perimeter to 100 kilometers, time got shorter and we had to hire more people", he explains, saying it was necessary to reallocate five trucks from the routes and leave a large tractor trailer in the Ipiranga area to be loaded during the day by the utility vehicles, to keep the same routes. Among the new acquisitions there are five Daily, from Iveco, for cargo distribution inside urban areas. The operations in Campinas will receive six trucks, of the Atego semi-heavy line, with capacity for 16 tons; and one of the three tractor trailers, from the Axor line of extra-heavy trucks for up to 24 tons with semi-trailer, both from Mercedes-Benz. The focus of the business is the collection of the cargo from the South and Southeast for distribution in the North and Northeast. The operation will be strengthened by the increase of the Guarulhos and Manaus terminals. In the first one, to be opened in September, R$ 30 million (US$ 19.1 million) was invested together with a partner from São Paulo. Installed in a lot with 67 thousand square meters, the terminal will have its built area doubled, reaching 22 thousand square meters. The terminal of Manaus will become bigger, with 26 thousand square meters of built area, but at a much lower cost due to the characteristics of the project. It will be ready until December and will consume between R$ 15 million (US$ 9.6 million) and R$ 20 million (US$ 12.7 million). Every new investment leads to the creation of at least 150 new job positions, and that already causes the company to have 6,400 employees working in three shifts, in the 37 branch offices and 170 distribution offices. With the distribution concentrated in the capital cities of Pernambuco, Ceará, Bahia, and Pará, Rapidão Cometa reaches 4 thousand Brazilian cities and handles 50 thousand tons of cargo a month in shipment and distribution. That means nearly R$ 2 billion (US$ 1.3 billion) in goods, mainly retail products in the segments of telephone, electrical and electronic devices, footwear and medicines. "We have a project to operate with distribution to the south and southeast as well and, after 2009, we will decide about new routes", says the Operating Officer.
