More services in and out of CT on the cards

27 Mar 2015 - by Adele Mackenzie

CFR Freight
is focused on
growing the
number of sea
trade lanes in and out of
Cape Town, following last
year’s launch of a direct
export service to Mauritius
and a weekly service directly
from Atlanta in the United
States.
“We will also continuously
focus on improving our
sales and service levels for
our clients. The Zacpak
container
freight
station (CFS)
developments
in South Africa
have been
extremely
successful and
we will ensure
that we meet
our clients’
needs for this
type of service
in the Western
Cape too,” said Martin Keck,
CFR Freight MD.
He told FTW that at
CFR Freight it was as
much about rates as it was
about service. “With our
combined developments in
local haulage, extended CFS
and new seafreight route
development solutions,
we are well equipped to
achieve this
in 2015,” Keck
commented.
Sean Petzer,
Cape Town
branch manager
at CFR Freight,
commented
that the growth
in volume
and services
offered by CFR
Freight in the
region had
been significant and that
this rapid growth had put
new demands on the CFS
offering. “So Zacpak and
CFR Freight are looking
towards the next phase
of growth as we secure
more business – and not
just the traditional less
than container load (LCL)
business,” he said.
Petzer pointed out that
CFR Freight's service offering
included LCL collection,
crating, palletisation and
other warehousing services.
This is over and above the
neutral door-to-door export
service in cooperation with
its clients, the forwarding
and clearing agents.
“Our imports are just as
versatile and we can offer
full ‘delivered duty unpaid’
(DDU) services, with pick
and pack and full delivery
to the door of our clients’
clients,” he said.
Petzer noted that Cape
Town was a strategic location
for CFR Freight as it served
a massive part of the country
that was far
removed from
the traditional
Durban to
Johannesburg
corridor,
adding that the
industry in the
Western Cape
had very specific
requirements
around
certain unique
products.
“It is not just the wine and
perishable industry, but oil
and gas and general cargo
are fast-growing industries
in the region,” said Petzer.
He believes the approach to
the Western Cape market is
different from the rest of the
country. “Our clients are
well informed around the
supply chain and therefore
need a service
provider that is
located at the
heart of their
business.”
CFR Freight
has also
established
an airfreight
branch in
the Western
Cape headed
up by Chilton
Corrigall.
“Our airfreight growth
in the region has been
phenomenal and together
with seafreight and Zacpak
we can offer a well-rounded
one-stop-shop for all our
clients in the Western
Cape,” said Keck.