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Express delivery is an innovative service and an effective logistics solution for the delivery of small cargo. Over the last 2 years, the AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG group’s partial loads delivery division has seen steady growth in demand for express freight forwarding. During the first 6 months of 2018, AsstrA forwarded cargo worth 2.52 million EUR via express delivery schemes, 57% more than during the same period last year.
Christian Eckstein, Express & Partial Loads Division Head, notes that AsstrA is receiving a growing number express delivery orders. During the first 5 months of 2018 AsstrA has organized about 2,500 express deliveries. By the end of June the total will reach 3,000: a 30% increase over the same period on 2017.
“We have been offering this service for 2 years now, and ever more customers are relying on us help to get their materials where they need to go. The customers only come when you can demonstrate perfect service levels – even on the first order. You rarely get a second chance because customers are looking for near perfect KPIs. Our customers know that AsstrA’s express delivery team is able to perform at such a level and that time critical LTL movements will be in capable hands,” says Mr. Eckstein.
This service is useful for businesses of all sizes – from individual traders to mass producers and importers. Express delivery is appropriate for small consignments of items from the CIS and within Europe by car. AsstrA helps its Clients benefit from all the advantages of fast delivery within Europe and elsewhere.
AsstrA express order usually involve ad hoc shipments for construction projects, missing or broken tools, spare parts for urgent production runs, electronic goods, packing materials, chemicals like insecticides or herbicides, metal granules, plastic wraps, vinyl chloride polymers, paper, bricks, perfumes, and FMCG. Insecticides and herbicides were the most shipped products accounting for 18.4% of AsstrA’s express-delivery cargo volume.
“Without our help, factory machines might stop working. It’s all about service quality, flexibility, quick reaction-times, and of course solutions. We are able to send our trucks within a couple of hours for loading and our drivers manage to go more than 1,000 km a day. We can help our Clients get urgently needed goods with 2-driver solutions to avoid longer breaks within the transportation process. We are proud of these advantages we provide,” says Christian Eckstein.
In H1 2018, AsstrA’s main express delivery trade lanes have been Germany-Hungary, Germany-Romania, Germany-Germany, Germany-China, France-Poland, and Belgium-Poland.
Sometimes express deliveries unfold like action movies. Christian Eckstein remembers a recent forwarding story: “We received a call at 4 pm to pick up a shipment of production materials needed that night at Porsche AG. We reacted quickly and had the truck loaded 40 minutes after the call. During the night, we made several calls to the security guards to let the truck go inside the factory. Our driver unloaded the truck by himself via hydraulic ramp and passed the cargo directly to the production line,” relates Mr. Eckstein.
To make express deliveries faster, AsstrA expeditors use GPS tracking systems installed in vehicles, rely on Mobile Order Management applications, and consider 24/7 availability to their customers and Partners a normal part of their job.
“Even at difficult moments like Easter, Christmas, or other holiday breaks, we are here to get rid of customers’ headaches. Every customer has an emergency situation from time to time and that is the reason why I see a huge potential for our express delivery services in the near future,” continues Mr. Eckstein.
A key advantage of AsstrA’s express delivery solutions is a flexible payment policy:
- AsstrA bills only for one-way transport to the receiver, without return costs. Some competitors demand fees for the empty run back.
- AsstrA provides an alternative to air cargo with a strong EU-based ground network, which provides flexibility to send trucks on the same day to nearly every area of the EU.
“Express delivery is an alternative to airfreight within the EU. It is a very important offering for the automotive sector, where spare parts are needed on production lines,” adds Karol Baranczuk, General Manager for Partial Loads at AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG.