As 2021 continues, the logistics market remains under pressure. National economies and businesses are slowly but surely coping with the consequences of the pandemic. The Evergreen container ship that blocked the Suez Canal tested the transport industry’s strength. Further, containers are in short supply and unevenly distributed around the world, with congestion in ports and on roads. Moreover, a shortage of drivers, a poor investment climate in the industry, and rising prices are all hurting international trade. However, such difficulties do not stop AsstrA from achieving its goals.

The company’s principal development goal for 2021 is maximizing the quality of its international cargo transportation services via AsstrA Visibility. In future years, the company aims to build up competencies in door-to-door sea shipping and industrial project logistics to drive growth. To learn more about the company’s plans for the second half of the year, we spoke with Dmitry Lagun, CEO of the AsstrA international corporate group.

Dmitry Lagun

“The company is focused on growing container shipping volumes and continues to promote this product to clients. We are planning to open offices in Valencia and Hamburg. Through these offices, we want to develop our own activities in ports and build cooperation between non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) and the lines. The quality of our overland transport and our overseas shipment volumes complement each other perfectly. Each client receives integrated, combined solutions from a single source, transparent services, and world-class quality,” says Dmitry Lagun.

In 2020, AsstrA delivered 30,000 TEUs for clients. This year the company plans to increase the figure to 50,000 TEUs.

“We plan to implement a new Transportation Management System (TMS) for Full-Container-Loads (FCL) and build a full-fledged Control Tower service for our clients. The company is working on new approaches in collaboration with equipment and vehicle operators. To track the location of cargo 24/7, we are expanding our cooperation with Shippeo. Thanks to technological innovations, clients receive fulfilled quality requirements, delivery on time, optimization of logistics costs, and new transportation schemes,” adds Dmitry Lagun.

The AsstrA team develops targeted training programs for staff and applies fresh approaches to recruit talents. Each employee has access to tools to achieve personal and corporate goals and finds new prospects for development. With the qualitative and quantitative growth of staff, the company is approaching its global goal of being among top 10 logistics providers in Europe by 2030.