Retaining market share is key in trying times

All routes into Africa have been impacted by this year's business doldrums, but some transport firms are coping better than others because of long-term economic strategies and reputations for reliability. Gordon Jay, the managing director of Transworld Cargo, offers one guideline. Transworld is known as a specialist in bonded air freight and road transport into Namibia. “Business is tight. I think all transport companies are in the same boat. Our strategy is to retain our market share, and this is helped because Transworld has a reputation as the Namibian transporter,” Jay said. “We look around and a lot of guys are suffering because of debt situations. We operate on a positive cash flow. Our philosophy is that if we don't run on borrowed money we are better off. Overdrafts are expensive,” he said. The Gauteng operations are well situated for bonded airfreight, located in Spartan for quick access to OR Tambo International Airport. For road transport from Gauteng and Cape Town into Namibia, Transworld maintains a fleet of nine 15.4m-long Ultra trucks. Economically, Namibia is stable, Jay said. “It's directly linked to our Reserve Bank,” he noted. The firm knows well the country it serves, which is of value to customers during good economic times and bad. “We do a lot of in-bond shipping. This is because there are no wide-bodied planes flying from Johannesburg to Windhoek,” said Jay. Consequently, Namibia-bound shipments arriving at Ortia are removed from the planes and transported by truck for the final leg cross-border to Namibia.