Volumes to Zambia and Congo back on track

After a tough 2009, which saw the global economic downturn negatively affecting volumes across southern Africa, abnormal and project cargo to Zambia and Congo are back on track. Adrian Friend of Zambia-based Celtic Freight says there has been a dramatic increase in the number of abnormal loads on Zambian roads in recent months – good news for the project cargo industry. “Most of the traffic we are seeing is heading for the Copperbelt and transit to Congo,” he says. With Celtic only operating to Zambia, the return of abnormal and project cargo work is a welcome relief after the quiet period in 2009. “Hopefully the quiet down time our abnormal trailers and our Zambian-based rigging equipment experienced in 2009 is now over. Bookings are steady and certainly Celtic is getting a lot more enquiries for the specialist container handling equipment and crane trucks based in Lusaka,” says Friend. “We also have two container handling side-shifters and two crane trucks that are on hire or used for project work in the country.” With its customer base mostly comprising the forwarding industry in South Africa, the company has done some exciting projects for events and the demonstrations industry. “For these projects we bring containers of display and samples to a site where our trucks wait for the duration of the show or expo and then move the equipment back to South Africa,” says Friend. “We are currently running an operation where some 20 containers from South Africa are being staged in our Lusaka depot. The builders on a project in Mfuwe, Luangwa Valley, call for the containers as and when they need them and we deliver according to that schedule.” For Friend it is about being able to meet the customer’s specific requirements around project work. “We can move the cargo direct out of Durban or Johannesburg to placement on site, or move it to storage – depending on the customer’s requirements,” he says.