Mining industry pumps up groupage to Zambia

As the recessionary trend saw more shippers sending more smaller parcels more often, groupage operators were kept a lot busier than usual. “It was a mixed blessing,” said Ka Go 2 Go’s Richard Hall. “Instead of having ten clients per truck we had 20-25 and that slowed down movement through the border. Rather than clearing one or two big consignments you had to clear multiple parcels, which inevitably resulted in delays.” The company currently moves around 30 vehicles a month on the SA-Zambia route – three to four big trucks and two smaller vehicles. The increase in the copper price and the knockon effect on the mining industry is filtering through in higher volumes – which is good news for the industry. The major challenge over the past few months has, however, been weatherrelated, says Hall. “The river was in flood for a lot of last month, ferries weren’t working and on the route we use through Botswana you have to cross the bridge through Kazungula. “We managed to reroute a few vehicles through Victoria Falls, which a lot of other operators did, so those two border posts were backlogged. But the rainy season is passing so it should get easier in the next six months.” Hall is philosophical about doing business in Africa. “There will always be border delays – in Africa it’s not fast forward but still in third gear. It’s how you cope with those delays that matters. And the biggest thing is keeping your clients informed. If they know what’s happening they can keep their clients informed – it’s when they don’t get information that things fall apart.” For the year ahead, he’s upbeat. “It should be a consolidating year and hopefully things will start taking off next year.”