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European market review and group developments

Aug 7, 2024 | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The European freight market continues to face a complex landscape, characterised by fluctuating demand and evolving capacity challenges. In this review, we examine the current state of the road freight market and highlight recent group developments, including the acquisition of a Portuguese intermodal specialist and the launch of a new container shipping service.

Road Freight Market
Despite some positive economic developments, the road freight sector remains challenged by uncertain demand, with no indication of a trend reversal over the summer. This persistent issue is also evident in the capacity trends reported by TIMOCOM’s index. Significant capacity bottlenecks were noted in the first quarter, primarily due to reduced truck fleets.

This trend persisted into the second quarter, with the ratio of freight to cargo space standing at 77:23, dropping further to 73:27 in July, which is typical for the summer months. Despite these challenges, freight rates remain high. Although diesel prices have moderated, other costs, such as driver wages, continue to rise.

The TEG Index tracked a 6% year-on-year increase in haulage prices in July 2023, reflecting the rising costs that hauliers face. This index typically shows prices stalling over the summer before recovering in September, indicating that current trends are in line with historical patterns.

Acquisition of Portuguese Intermodal Specialist
We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Portuguese intermodal specialist KLOG. This acquisition allows us to enhance our intermodal transport capabilities, particularly for customers with significant continental volumes or those aiming to meet decarbonisation targets.

KLOG is renowned for its efficient, reliable, and cost-effective intermodal services to and from the Iberian Peninsula, serving some of Europe’s largest retailers, brands, and manufacturers. Their established rail services to and from Germany and Poland, via hubs in Spain and France, present significant opportunities for shippers trading between Northern Europe and Iberia.

KLOG currently operates two block train departures a week to and from their Portuguese rail hub to Poznan in Poland and Duisburg in Germany, routing via France and Spain. 

These services are complemented by short sea/rail connections. Additionally, four block trains run weekly between Entroncamento (Portugal) and Tarragona (Spain), with a further three block trains operating weekly in Spain between Tarragona, Bilbao, Valladolid, and Sevilla.

A wide range of 45’ equipment is available for all services, including curtain-side, dry container, and refrigerated containers, as well as 20’ ISO tanks. Last-mile delivery and/or collection from the Tarragona hub is available with e-trucks as an option.

Key Benefits:
– 24/7 Control Tower Service
– High rail frequency with daily departures
– Reliable lead-time comparable to road transport
– Sustainable solutions available year-round
– Reduction in truck usage and reliance on scarce driver resources
– CO2 emission reductions of 90% compared to road alternatives

New container shipping service connecting Spain, Portugal, and Northern Europe
Ellerman City Liners, a group container shipping line with over 120 years of history, has introduced a new joint service with CMA CGM, connecting Spain, Portugal, and Northern Europe. This service aims to address ocean freight capacity shortages on key trade lanes, providing speed, service, and certainty to supply chains.

The first vessel of the new iNEX service departed Rotterdam on 9th July 2024. This service enhances efficiency, expands geographical scope, and reduces the carbon footprint for shippers. Operated with two 1,400 TEU vessels, the weekly sailing schedule includes the ports of Cadiz, Setubal, Leixoes, Ferrol, Tilbury, Dunkirk, and Rotterdam.

By working closely with partners Ellerman and KLOG, we are expanding the intermodal options available to our customers, delivering cost-effective and sustainable services as part of our commitment to decarbonising the supply chain.

Metro’s integrated transport services streamline import and export product flows across Europe, North Africa, and Turkey. By combining road, intermodal, and short sea modes, we ensure more efficient cargo transportation, reduced delivery times, and cost savings.

Our extensive partner network, multi-modal transport solutions, and MVT supply chain platforms are designed to meet even the most complex requirements across multiple regions, vendors, and customers.

Discover how we can enhance your trans-continental trading. EMAIL our Chief Commercial Officer, Andrew Smith, to arrange a consultation and scoping discussion.

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3rd Metro Partner Golf day

Jun 27, 2024 |

Metro’s golf day planners once again selected a perfect day for the annual Metro customer golf tournament. Low winds, plenty of sunshine and highs of 20°C provided the ideal conditions for the day’s competitors to enjoy The Belfy, the world-famous golf resort, which has hosted the Ryder Cup and will host the British Masters 2024 in August.

The Belfry is synonymous with golf, having hosted the Ryder Cup four times, more than any other venue in the world. It has served as the headquarters of The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) since 1977 and houses the PGA’s National Training Academy.

The 3rd Metro golf day started with breakfast and practice on the driving range, providing participating customers, partners and Metro colleagues an opportunity to chat informally, ‘break the ice’ and start the good-natured banter, that was a feature of the day.

Moving to the Par 70, 6,099 yard Derby course, the players tackled strategically placed bunkers, water hazards and risk and reward holes. Designed by Peter Alliss, the Derby course was a real challenge for all the players, demanding accuracy right from the 1st tee, good club selection, and intelligent course management.

After a competitive round of golf, with some very creditable performances, the eventual winner of the Metro Jug and our 2024 champion was Ben Dewar, while Tom Fernihough’s team were triumphant with the best combined score.

Congratulations to Ben for a fine performance! Congratulation too to the runners-up and to the winners of all the day’s competitions, including the Nearest the Pin, Longest Drive, Nearest the Pin in 2 and Wooden Spoon, who were announced over dinner at The Belfy.

The golf day goes from strength to strength and has proven to be a popular way to mix business with pleasure and given the overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers, the event will be repeated in 2025.

If you enjoy a round or two of golf, please EMAIL Tom Fernihough, who will share opportunities for future client-oriented events.

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Taking track & trace to the highest level

Jun 12, 2024 | , ,

Metro’s multi-award winning supply chain management platform, MVT, has been optimising supply chains for over two decades and the latest release of its AI-powered track & trace module is a Masterclass in shipment visibility.

MVT is a global operations platform, which has been designed to simplify supply chains, with a wide range of modules including customs automation, DC delivery management, PO management, CO2 reporting/offsetting and track & trace.

Conceived, developed and supported by Metro’s technical solutions team, MVT embraces leading-edge technology, including Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and automation technology to power its wide range of modules.

Metro customers have been automatically transitioned to the latest version of the track & trace module, which was released on the 20th May 2024, making it even more intuitive and easier to navigate, while improving the overall user experience.

There are over a dozen enhancements and new features, including a new landing page, which provides a visual dashboard for high level reporting, with easy drill down access to live shipments and a zoomable global map view, with AI tracking for the most accurate location fix.

Because Metro customers are busy, there are notification tools, which alert them to recent changes and critical shipments can be pinned to their dashboard for live updates, while document pop-ups gives them immediate access to anything important.

With a whole bunch of filters, download and data interrogation tools, Metro’s track and trace is much more than T&T, and it’s a free ‘added-value’ benefit to customers.

Click HERE to download the full list of the new MVT Track &Trace features, or EMAIL Ian Powell to arrange a demo.

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Metro road freight division continues expansion

Jun 12, 2024 | ,

Metro’s mission to develop infrastructure, systems and services to drive the effectiveness and cost efficiency of our European transport solutions is gathering pace.

Just three months ago, our European Road Director, Richard Gibbs, said, “Metro has expanded its European road freight platform considerably in 2023, growing the dedicated commercial and operational team and we are forecasting the continuation of this trajectory in 2024, with a 100% further increase in shipment numbers.”

Richard’s team has expanded coverage in France to serve 80 locations across the country, with daily groupage services to/from Paris, Lyon and surrounding areas, with Germany set to follow and similar expansion plans for key regions.

In addition to daily groupage services, the road freight team offer express, part load and full load services, with equipment for every type of cargo, including refrigerated, hanging garments, outsize and hazardous goods.

Cargo is received continuously at freight centres for groupage departures and for urgent shipments we provide an all-in price, transit time and booking for Express van shipments, including guaranteed next day delivery.

Since our last report the Metro road freight operation in Desford has outgrown their facilities, with the team relocating to a customised site located in Earl Shilton, East Midlands (pictured below), with the option to link to the airport, to enhance express operations and the capacity to accommodate 40 personnel, in line with the future expansion plans.

New team members continue to join our road team, with more being welcomed in the coming weeks, including a Business Development Manager, who will spearhead further expansion in the North East of the UK.

With defined departure and delivery dates, our groupage services are the perfect economical solution for smaller cargo loads. Reliable door-to-door solutions, with easy booking, seamless customs processing and online tracking.

Leverage our extensive knowledge, local expertise and unrivalled customer service to enjoy efficient, tailored solutions that meet your supply chain needs, with end-to-end supply chain visibility and milestone tracking.

Metro’s road transport solutions incorporate dedicated vehicles moving on set routes for security, with defined delivery deadlines and GPS tracked trucks, to provide full transparency on transit schedules throughout the UK and France.

Our road freight teams are located close by major manufacturing and transport hubs across the UK. To explore the potential of our French, German and other European services EMAIL Richard Gibbs to begin a conversation.

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