Woolworths wants to get clothing sector on track

South African retailer Woolworths is working on a strategy to see more goods transported by rail across the country. Speaking at the recent Transport Forum in Cape Town, Justin Smith, who heads up the Woolworths sustainability programme, the Good Business Journey (GBJ), said it was important for the retailer to see more of its freight on rail. “We have initiated talks with Transnet Freight Rail and are in the process of developing a strategy,” he said. “But it is in the very early stages yet and a lot of work will have to be done before it becomes a reality.” He said due to reliability of delivery and the necessity for a dependable service the group was also considering the use of rail only for its clothing sector. “We are not ready to include food into this discussion at this stage,” he told FTW. Smith said the strategy was not necessarily aimed at driving down logistics costs at this stage but was part of the GBJ efforts towards a more sustainable business model. “We understand the importance of the road to rail strategy and that more cargo needs to be on rail. From a sustainability perspective it is important to do so,” he said. But, as a retailer of perishable goods, the company depends on service reliability. “We are hoping to see a pilot project of some kind in the near future that will allow us to determine the viability of putting some of our goods onto rail.” INSERT & CAPTION We are hoping to see a pilot project to determine the viability of putting some of our goods onto rail. – Justin Smith