ROAD FREIGHT fuel levies helped grow airfreight’s share of goods in and out of the Eastern Cape, according to Jacques Strydom, Transit branch manager in Port Elizabeth. “With the fuel price, overnight road freight charges skyrocketed and many customers decided to use air rather than road because there was so little difference in the price – and air offers the advantages of speed and security,” he says. This, however, left a gap for less urgent cargo travelling by road, and Transit introduced a road service to cater for its clients who did not want to pay the airfreight costs, but still wanted to deal with the company. “It is all part of offering a onestop service,” he says. That commitment to service has seen Transit grow to be one of the biggest consolidators of domestic airfreight in the Eastern Cape in just over four years. The financial resources accumulated by the company have made it possible to subsidise the SAA fuel levies. “Everyone suffers from the high fuel prices and we do our best to help our customers,” he says. Transit also has 12 branches throughout South Africa, with warehouses in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, and provides airport-to-airport groupage and consolidation services for couriers and individual shippers. “We carry everything, from livestock to components, medical supplies and even human remains,” says Strydom. Its buying power means that it is often more cost-effective to use the company than go direct to the airline. “Plus, we add value in a number of ways,” says Strydom. The company is also the agent for SA Airlink, which means it can airfreight cargo into many of the more distant locations around South Africa that are served by Airlink. Transit also helped pioneer SAA’s e-waybill system, which has proven to be a success, according to Strydom. “We weigh the cargo, and do all the documentation electronically and submit it to SAA. Then all that happens when it is handed in at SAA is the barcode is scanned and logged into the system,” he says. The company is also gearing up for the introduction of new security legislation which will require that all airfreight be X-rayed and certified by a known shipper before it is allowed on board. The legislation is due to come into effect in January 2009.
