ICG manages overborder road leg

JOY ORLEK GROWING ACCEPTANCE of the prudence of the air/road option for the movement of cargo from international destinations into southern Africa has been the growth trigger at International Cargo Gateway. Based at Johannesburg International Airport, the company was set up three years ago and acts as an extension to a range of African airlines, using Johannesburg as the hub for overborder cargo. “We offer a totally neutral service to the airline and freight forwarding community, who sell to their customers on a door to door basis,” says Florence Ross, who heads up the company. “Because cargo capacity is often restricted on the aircraft, and many overborder destinations are better served by road, we remove the cargo in bond when it arrives at JIA and roadhaul it to its final destination.” The road feeder service includes consolidations and full truck loads. “ICG serves Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, DRC, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Angola, subcontracting the road leg to a carefully selected group of road hauliers,” says Ross, who has been involved in all facets of the industry for almost 30 years. Future developments include the opening of a network of neutral regional representative offices for the airlines and freight forwarders. First on the schedule is Botswana, which will be followed by Mozambique, gradually extending the network across the continent.