Overborder specialist gears up for DRC growth

Helping freight forwarders to provide door-to-door service Joy Orlek GEARING UP for growing trade with the DRC, overborder road freight specialist AMR Logistics is planning to put its own vehicle on the route on a twice monthly basis in the near future. That’s the word from managing director Florence Ross who recently bought out her partner to become sole owner of the Pomona-based company. While air and sea freight services are part of the product offering, the company’s core business is to provide the road freight leg for freight forwarders or airlines moving cargo into Africa. “We will move in transit cargo that arrives by sea or air and take it by road into Africa, providing a totally neutral service to the freight forwarder who can sell to his clients on a door-to-door basis.” The four-person operation offers 60 years of combined experience in the field – and in Africa experience counts for everything, says Ross. AMR currently serves the DRC, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and southern Angola by road. Trucks are outsourced, but a joint venture operation with Umodzi Transport of Blantyre, which has its own fleet of 20 trucks, is in the offing. Business has been brisk, according to Ross, who moved 53 trucks out of Zimbabwe in three weeks at the end of last year. And she’s expecting more of the same for the year ahead. “We’re looking at opening warehousing facilities in major coastal centres this year and are also doing feasibility studies on the Angolan route to provide a road service to Luanda.”