Switch away from empties pays off

A decision taken by SACD Freight
to move out of the empty container
business and into the value-added
supply chain sector has paid
dividends, says managing director
Graham Peinke.
“Empty volumes have dropped
by 40% over the past few years,” he
told FTW.
“Historically we were a container
depot – but five years ago we
decided to change focus and become
a container freight station. It’s a
subtle change but our concentration
of efforts moved away from shipping
lines being our primary customers
to cargo owners, clearing and
forwarding agents and groupage
operators.”
The company is now only
interested in storing empties that are
related to export packing – and in
Durban it has moved aggressively on
that strategy.
“Seven years ago at any point in
time we had about 7 000 empties
in our Durban operation. Today the
maximum number of empties has
dropped to 1000 because we need the
warehousing space to handle cargo.”
And even in the midst of the
current economic crisis, Peinke is
pleasantly surprised at the results that
have been achieved.
“Our import volumes are down
30-35% with exports 20% lower, but
with the acquisition of a significant
export player, this figure is just 5%
down which is good going in the
current economic climate.”