Logistics company helps balance loads

Both shippers and hauliers
can benefit when a logistics
company is used to coordinate
the movement of cargo in and out
of Zambia, according to Minesh
Parmar, founder of Logistix
Zambia.
Freight rates are affected by
empty legs due to an imbalance
of cargo on most of the main
corridors serving the country.
“When we act as a broker we
can negotiate better deals with
transporters than most shippers
can do on their own. We guarantee
the haulier a certain number of
loads a month, as well as back
loads,” he says.
Hauliers benefit because they are
able to fill their trucks both ways,
with minimal delays while waiting
for a return load.
Logistix has regional offices in
both Ndola and Johannesburg, and
operates throughout the Southern
African Development Community
(SADC).
It provides a consolidation
service from its own warehouse
in Johannesburg for smaller loads
from South Africa.
In Zambia it offers stock
control and distribution services
supported by the GPS Track and
Trace systems for both imports and
exports.
The company has its own fleet
of long-distance trucks, which are
supplemented through contracts
with leading hauliers in the region.
At present Walvis Bay is the
most cost-effective corridor for full
containers between Zambia and its
neighbours, according to Parmar.
“The port is very efficient and the
route is more cost-effective than
Durban. Dar es Salaam is very
congested,” he says.