After a makeover which saw everything, apart from the borehole, being moved and rebuilt, the J&J Lusaka depot has opened its new warehouses for business.In addition, work has been completed on a new office block and facilities for drivers, and 75% of the yard has been paved.
There is a total of five thousand square metres of warehousing on site. It has been split into two storage areas of 2 500 square metres each, according to Zambia country manager Oscar Gutierrez.
“We are ready to operate as we now have the necessary permits. A number of clients have already shown interest in the warehouses,” he told Freight News.The warehouses have been designed to handle bagged, bulk and high-value cargo.
They are connected to the J&J group’s enterprise management system, which tracks cargo from point of origin to delivery throughout the region.At present the J&J Lusaka complex caters mainly for Beira Corridor traffic, as well as domestic movement within Zambia, according to Gutierrez.There were plans to serve other corridors once Covid-19 restrictions had been lifted, he said.
Upgrades to the 12-hectare facility in Lusaka were modelled on the J&J dry port in Beira.There are two weighbridges – a single axle, and a 26-metre unit for full trucks. It can measure the weight on single axles on superlinks to ensure they meet road regulations in the region.
According to Gutierrez, volumes on the Beira Corridor have held up well during the Covid-19 crisis.He said this was thanks to the authorities and operators on the corridor working together to ensure that freight kept moving.“There are slight delays at the borders due to stricter protocols, but we have not seen the problems reported at other borders.
“The customs authorities in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique are handling the situation well, despite the fact that they are working with reduced staff,” he said. J&J has put a number of measures in place to ensure that its staff, customers and the general public are kept safe.“There are stringent cleaning and distancing procedures in place at all our depots. “We also have response teams throughout the corridor to assist where necessary, and there are quarantine stations in the depots.
“At the same time we are working closely with the relevant government departments to ensure that the drivers on our trucks do not spread the virus,” he said.