J & J creates regional logistics hub

Haulage company J&J Transport is building on its strong links with Zambia to develop a regional logistics hub to serve neighbouring countries, as well as the Zambian interior. The multimodal hub in Lusaka is supported by modern warehousing, a state-of-the-art container depot and transport facilities operated by the group in Beira, as well as transport facilities in Harare, according to Richard Tiddy, group commercial manager of J&J Transport. “With access to a fleet of more than 1 200 vehicles and 1 600 drivers, in addition to warehousing and container storage, we have the critical mass needed for a regional logistics hub,” he says. J&J Transport has more than 20 years of experience in crossborder transport in the region and provides services for the handling of bulk, containerised, project and out-of-gauge cargo with flat-bed, drop-side and low bed trailers. The company has access to a large fleet of vehicles that are either owned or subcontracted. All vehicles carrying J&J loads have 24-hour satellite tracking and are managed through the company’s fleet management and tracking system. Customers can track the progress of their cargo from port to delivery in real time. Clearing agents can load information from the system directly into the Asycuda customs system, he says. Tiddy is one of a new team of managers recruited to help drive the Group’s Zambian expansion. J&J Transport Zambia is now headed by Oscar Gutierrez, a Nicaraguan who has been working for a shipping line in the Latin America region for the past decade. “We will be upping our game and expanding our operations throughout the Beira corridor, as well as in Zambia,” he says. The facilities in Zambia will mirror those in Beira, with facilities to handle and store containers. They will also offer stuffing, destuffing and warehousing services, which means that cargo offloaded in containers in Beira or any of the other ports being used by customers need not be handled until it reaches its destination. CAPTION Oscar Gutierrez, general manager of J&J Transport Zambia.