Difficult DRC route demands innovative thinking

KEVIN MAYHEW
BOTH ROAD and rail transport to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are being hindered by operational and equipment factors that require some “out of the box” thinking and long term planning to keep servicing the route.
The sales manager of SDV Transami South Africa, Patricia Love, says the Johannesburg-based international logistics provider constantly finds new solutions for the route to overcome temporary truck shortages and bottlenecks by road.
“Rail truck availability to meet the demand for transportation of copper and cobalt concentrates in some cases relies on our long history on the route to meet our needs.
The same applies to border problems now impacting on road alternatives,” she explains.
SDV Transami - which is part of the international Bollore Group - has offices in 37 African countries.
It offers clearing and forwarding by sea and air, consolidations, warehousing for bonded and general cargo, road bond facilities, project cargo, overborder transport and express freight to Botswana.