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.”