Category Archives: Rail/Road

Ecom Express, a leading technology enabled end-to-end logistics solutions provider for the e-commerce industry, announced the launch of its self sign-up portal called ‘E-zippie’. The portal is for micro-entrepreneurs, small business owners, sole-proprietors and home-preneurs, to quickly, conveniently, and securely sign-up for a one-stop-shop for logistics services in less than 30 minutes. Commenting on the announcement, T. A. Krishnan, Co-founder and CEO, Ecom Express, said “With ‘E-zippie’, we can fast-track registration to less than 30 minutes against a 10 to 12 days process taken by most players in the market. The self sign-up portal is a major milestone in our effort to provide an automated and seamless experience for online businesses right from onboarding to fulfilling all their shipping requirements. We will continue to enhance customer experience by making logistics simpler and convenient for small and micro businesses, by providing direct control on their shipments and flexibility in managing end-to-end shipment life cycle. Our aim is to help them expand their market access to 27000+ PIN codes, diversify their customer base, and solidify their supply chain through Ecom Express.’’

India and Bangladesh restored regular operations of freight trains through the Haldibari-Chilahati rail route after 56 years on Sunday, in a step aimed at strengthening rail connectivity and bilateral trade between the two countries. The Haldibari-Chilahati rail link was inaugurated in December 2020 during a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina to boost trade relations between the two nations. This rail link is also set to provide northeast India with an opportunity to enter the international market. The first goods train left Dumdim station of Alipurduar division on Sunday and will reach Chilahati station in Bangladesh via the Haldibari-Chilahati rail route. It will also boost e rail network accessibility to the main ports and dry ports to support the growth in regional trade and to encourage economic and social development of the region.

Announcing the second-quarter revenues, which were up by 31.4% ($6.04bn), DSV spoke about the high yields, market conditions – and competition, as it commences to integrate Agility GIL. While losing customers after the M&A is a common phenomenon, DSV which is the M&A expert feels confident that it will still be standing on solid grounds. DSV CEO Jens Bjorn Andersen and CFO Jens Lund said that while things may be a little “bumpy”, they will settle. “The Agility deal will take inspiration from Panalpina. We are more experienced; it’s smaller and we are well prepared. Once we include Agility, we’ll put a smokescreen over the numbers, but our performance will continue in terms of market share,” they said while speaking about the merger, which is likely to happen next month. We are 100% committed to market share. It sounds arrogant, but we are humble, that’s what we do. Profitability needs to follow. There are so many ways to compete with mom-and-pop shops. We have been able to outgrow the market,” they added.

As the Indian growth story has progressed, the logistics industry has played a vital role in empowering other sectors. G.V. Sanjay Reddy, Vice Chairman GVK, highlights “how the logistics sector in India, which was at $160 billion in 2017, has witnessed a tremendous growth. In 2020, its market was estimated at $215 billion”. The underlying factors driving this upward trend is the increasing demand of e-commerce in the non-metro cities of India. In recent years, e-commerce has expanded aggressively to tier-2 and tier-3 cities across the country, which has further led to the growth of the logistics sector to keep up with the rising demand. In the fourth quarter of 2020, smaller cities accounted for 46 per cent share in total e-commerce volumes, marking a steep 14 per cent rise from the period just before the Covid-19 pandemic spread. A striking reason for the increased online spending per customer in these cities is driven by the development of last-mile delivery by the logistics companies and an exponential increase in the warehousing space. This trajectory is expected to continue with annual investments being made to the tune of $500 billion, with the projected CAGR for 2019-2025 standing at 10.5 per cent. Similarly, the investments made in the warehousing segment have increased by $7.12 billion between 2018 and 2020.

Spoton Logistics, India’s premier technology-driven logistics company, successfully eliminated operational inefficiencies and increased monthly sales turnover by over 3-times for one of India’s largest auto components manufacturers. Spoton drastically reduced the Order-to-Supply turnaround time – by an astonishing 30%, improved customer collections, as well as significantly increased repeat orders resulting in record-high production and sales units. Delivering service excellence to over 5500 customers in India over the past nine years, Spoton Logistics was entrusted with the responsibility to manage post-production operations. Spoton’s team deftly redesigned workflows, packaging, and weights and measures processes in order to bring about improvements in the entire supply chain processes. Abhik Mitra, MD & CEO, Spoton Logistics, expressed, “We are honoured to work with giants in India, helping them simplify their workflows and attain positive business outcomes with the amalgamation of cutting-edge technology and our service excellence. We are certain to deliver substantial value to our customers through our integrated logistics services impacting their bottom-line results in a positive manner.”

The railways have decided to run MEMU express special trains between Kakinada Port and Visakhapatnam. Train no. 07265 Kakinada Port-Visakhapatnam MEMU special train will leave Kakinada Port at 4.25 a.m. with effect from July 19 and arrive in Visakhapatnam at 9.40 a.m. In the return direction, 07266 Visakhapatnam-Kakinada Port MEMU special will leave Visakhapatnam at 5.05 p.m. with effect from July 19 to reach Kakinada Port at 10.10hrs. These trains will have stoppages at Kakinada Town, Samalkot, Pithapuram, Gollaprolu, Annavaram, Tuni, Gullipadu, Narsipatnam Road, Regupalem, Elamanchili, Narasingapalli, Anakapalle and Marripalem. These trains will have 16 coaches of MEMU rake.

Stating that India is one of the fastest-growing economies, leading through sustainable and climate-neutral development, Gadkari said, Society should be livable, workable, and sustainable for all with an important focus on ethics, ecology, and the environment.The minister said his ministry is working to create opportunities for alternative clean and green transport fuels like electricity, bio-CNG, LNG, biodiesel, ethanol, methanol, and hydrogen fuel cell.The government is promoting the use of renewable energy to charge electric vehicles, he said, adding, we have abundant solar energy. The government has planned to shift public transport and logistics to 100 per cent clean energy sources, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said, asserting that India has made significant progress towards improving green energy access over the last decade.

The CMA CGM Group, a world leader in shipping and logistics, launched its Carrier Haulage service from Kolkata to Biratnagar via road, where the first shipment was successfully transported on July 6th 2021. With this service, the Group is able to provide a seamless, one-stop solution to its customers for moving their cargo from Kolkata to Biratnagar. Since 2017, the CMA CGM Group has been successfully operating its Rail Service to ICD Birgunj via Kolkata & Visakhapatnam. With the launch of the new Carrier Haulage Service, Biratnagar is the second key location in Nepal being covered by CMA CGM global network. CMA CGM connects Nepal with its global maritime service via its hub ports in Colombo, Singapore and Port Klang which is connected to Kolkata and Visakhapatnam via dedicated feeder services.

Vahak, India’s fastest growing marketplace for road transport businesses and individual commercial vehicle owners has raised $5 million Pre-Series A funding. The funding round was led by RTP Global with participation from Luxor Capital and Leo Capital. The funding will be used to strengthen Vahak’s team and technological capabilities, and expand its customer and network base. India has a humongous need for freight and special goods transportation for different types of cargos. However, millions of trucks remain idle at any given point of time due to operational inefficiencies caused by lack of technology. This leads to huge monetary losses for truckers and the logistics sector on a daily basis. Vahak is harnessing cutting-edge technologies to weed out such inefficiencies and help transporters optimize their vehicle utilization through online load booking.

Safexpress, India’s largest supply chain & logistics company, has launched its ultra-modern Logistics Park in Navi Mumbai. This state-of-the-art facility is strategically located near to Mumbai Goa National Highway 66. Navi Mumbai is a hub for various industries in India, and several well-known brands have their manufacturing plants located here. Being one of the largest industrial hubs of Maharashtra, Navi Mumbai is a crucial location from supply chain & logistics perspective. Keeping this in mind, Safexpress has established its state-of-the-art Logistics Park at Navi Mumbai. This Logistics Park will serve as a nodal point for supply chain & logistics in the region. This facility is based at a strategic location and has strong connectivity with all Indian states.