Shipping & General adds merchant haulage option

In line with the company vision to continuously grow and improve services, Gauteng-based Shipping & General Transport is now one of only six permit holders in the province endorsed by Transnet to remove Customs stopped containers from the City Deep terminal to a licensed customs depot for examination. According to managing director Regan Moodley, this has been an important move forward for the company that also has the relevant permits in place to offer merchant haulage of containers from the City Deep terminal to clients’ premises. “This is a service we launched recently and it has taken off extremely well,” says Moodley. “Under carrier haulage terms it is not uncommon for carriers or their respective in-house/ nominated cartage companies to fall short of racing against the clock the moment containers are stacked at the City Deep terminal. We have, however, found a niche in this market.” He sees it as a trump card, especially in cases where clearing and forwarding agents who have already had to contend with the delays of the rail system require an exceedingly urgent delivery the moment the container is grounded. “The strategy we have applied has simply meant that this service offering is not a mass market model, but instead a select service to clients who need to draw on a more personalised service experience – one where a ticking stop watch is the driving force.” Moodley says they have also decided to not allow this part of the business to grow uncontrollably, but to rather retain their “niche” status. He says a short-term project on which the company is presently working is finding ways to curb the delays in the process of stopped containers from the time of stop to the actual time of release and all the logistical process in between. “We are awaiting the finalisation of the Customs Modernisation Programme and thereafter we will be in a position to comment further on progress in this regard,” he says.