Delegation from Germany visits DACHSER Minneapolis

On October 2nd, our Minneapolis office welcomed a delegation from Neuss, Germany and St. Paul, MN. The local DACHSER team presented our setup and services in the US during a business breakfast that morning.

The new DACHSER magazine is here!

DACHSER’s European overland transport network has expanded over the years. The secret has always been putting the right pieces of the puzzle in the right places to complete the overall picture.

IMO 2020 regulations are making ships cleaner

New environmental guidelines from the International Maritime Organization for global shipping traffic will take effect in January 2020. 

Cars have their electric motors, hybrid drives, and fuel cells, while in international shipping, IMO 2020 is set to improve the industry’s environmental footprint. According to these International Maritime Organization regulations, as of January 1, 2020, ships will be required to reduce their emissions of sulfur oxides by 85 percent. This applies to all fuels used on the open sea around the world. Currently, the overwhelming majority of container ships, oil tankers, freighters, and cruise ships run on some type of marine fuel oil (MFO). IMO 2020 reduces the limit for sulfur in these fuels to just 0.5 percent, down from 3.5 percent.

International sea transportation generates about one billion metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, which corresponds to 3 percent of all fine particulate matter created by human activity. In light of this, IMO 2020 is an important step towards achieving a better ecological balance sheet for the industry. As a logistics provider, DACHSER does not operate its own ships, but works with major shipping lines like Maersk, Hapag Lloyd, and others.

In the future, these companies will have a number of more environmentally friendly options available to them. For example, they may choose to continue using heavy oil but also install special exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers). Or they may go for a cheaper and more technically feasible option, which is to switch to alternative fuels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), very low sulfur fuel (VLSF), or marine diesel oil (MDO) sein. The relevant country’s port authority is responsible for compliance with IMO 2020 and can check this with a detector and the ship’s logs. Violators will be subject to fines, ship detention, or even imprisonment.

DACHSER fuel cost model

Regardless of what option shipping operators choose, IMO 2020 poses huge challenges for their industry. Costs will go up, market share may shift among the various sectors (project cargo shipping vs. container ships, bulk carriers, etc.), to say nothing of the expected impact on refineries and global oil markets. Nevertheless, the shipping lines are rising to the challenge—not only because they have to, but because they are pushing themselves to achieve a better ecological balance sheet. Many carriers have already developed models that allow their customers to calculate fuel costs and allocate them to their sources more accurately.

“Naturally we, too, are interested in finding the most sustainable way to handle our transports,” says Rolf Mertins, Head of Global Management Ocean at DACHSER. “At the same time, we want to offer our customers scheduling reliability. That’s why, based on collaboration with our partner carriers, we’ve developed our own fuel cost model, the DACHSER Bunker Adjustment Reference Floater (DBAF).”  Replacing the Standard Bunker Factor (SBF), the DBAF is calculated based on the fuel prices of all relevant trades and is intended to ensure that customers’ fuel-related costs are covered irrespective of the carrier option.

Brexit: Important information for ASL customers

We face the possible event that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union by the end of October 2019. This will affect shipments from and to the UK and delays are to be expected. Reasons are amongst others that a higher percentage of shipments has to be processed by customs authorities and that European shippers might switch to Air Freight to avoid border controls. We expect delays particularly for shipments that do not move into the UK directly or out of the UK directly but via continental Europe. For example if Sea Freight shipments are unloaded in Rotterdam and then forwarded to the UK via truck and ferry: 

• Fiscal representation in continental Europe will no longer be possible for goods to the UK. Instead, a transit procedure must be opened.
• The expected problems in Calais/Dover will cause delays in the delivery of goods to the UK.
• Incoterms for subsequent deliveries from the EU to the UK may also have to be converted if necessary, as costs for customs clearance have to be included.

Therefore we strongly suggest to ship directly to the UK whenever possible, at least for some time following the Brexit until things clear up.

In addition to that, you can also find our “Brexit checklist” here.

Plan ahead for the Golden Week holidays in China

China celebrates its National Day on October 1, followed by a week-long holiday. During the Golden Week from October 1 to 7, many businesses will be closed; factories and production sites will stop their operations. Some of them may resume work later than the official holidays.

Therefore, the pre-holiday period is busy for logistics and transportation, as factories tend to speed up their production before the holiday starts. In terms of air and sea freight transportation, space will be getting tight; trucking services will also be in a great demand.

It is important to plan ahead in order to keep your supply chain uninterrupted.

• Impact on sea freight

Most of the sea freight carriers have blank sailings not only during the Golden Week period, but also before and after the holidays to adjust their services in accordance with the weak market demand.

Some carriers implement westbound blank sailings as early as week 39. In general, there are blank sailings in week 40 and 41; sailing schedule gradually resumes normal in week 43. It is suggested to place your booking as soon as possible to avoid additional cost and to secure space. Please be aware of the booking cut off time.

You are welcome to get in touch with your DACHSER representative for updates on particular routes and discuss your planning.

• Impact on air freight

During the holiday period, air freight operations in local branches will be either closed or operating with very limited manpower.

For air import, only pre-booked shipment will be handled, please arrange the arrival date as early as September 25 in order to have enough time for customs clearance.

For air export, air freight space will be very tight and shipping equipment will be in great demand during the pre-holiday period. Please confirm with your local DACHSER representative for a precise cut off time.

• DACHSER Branches in China

DACHSER branches in China will be closed from October 1 to 7, and resume work on October 8.

If you have urgent shipment or wish to discuss any questions, please feel free to contact us.

DACHSER appoints Yves Larquemin as Managing Director Far East North

DACHSER has established a new Far East North business area across North China and Korea to optimize resources and provide increasingly efficient services to its customers. Helming the region is Yves Larquemin, who assumed his new role as Managing Director Far East North on June 1, 2019. Bringing decades of experience, the industry leader will drive growth across the region. He reports to Edoardo Podestá, Managing Director the DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics Asia Pacific Business Unit.