ALAN PEAT SIX YEARS of solid growth has seen Buffalo Freight Systems move from being an in-house operation acting on behalf of partners, the Restonic Group, to a full-scale clearing and forwarding agent in the medium-size league. Buffalo’s activities are clearly focused on customs clearance and international freight forwarding, through a global network of freight agents in 52 countries. “Growth has been phenomenal,” Wolff told FTW, “with internal group business now representing less than 10% of annual turnover.” While the company remains a major export agent, import activities (particularly from China) have also been showing substantial growth - with over 3000 TEUs from Asia being handled annually and with the Asian powerhouse being visited by senior managers twice yearly. Supporting the offices in Johannesburg and Pretoria serving the Gauteng industrial region is the branch in SA’s major port city of Durban, where the Kwa-Zulu Natal operation is run by the regional manager Phil Edwards – a man with 40-years experience in the f&c industry in this country as well as overseas. The company is fully customs-accredited and is able to process both imports and exports electronically.
