Committed to socially and environmentally responsible business, GEODIS has announced that its online emissions calculator that determines the carbon footprint of a freight shipment is freely available on its website. Accessed via https://geodis.com/geodis_carbon_calculator/form, the calculator measures air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions generated by an individual shipment’s journey, comparing the performance of different modes of transport (air, rail, road, sea, inland waterway, etc.). For each shipment of goods, the calculator gives an overview of the various options, making it an invaluable aid in choosing the most environmentally friendly transport. The tool performs calculations that take into account the goods being shipped, their origin, destination and mode of transport before providing a quantitative evaluation. “The precise measurement of emissions generated by one’s activities is a precondition for improvement. This initiative provides a transparent and reliable way to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants for each mode of transport” says Cécile Bray, Senior Expert Climate and Carbon Accounting, GEODIS. Developed in partnership with EcoTransIT World, this new intuitive service is available in English and French. Aware that climate change is a major challenge in the transport sector, GEODIS has set its sights on reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% between now and 2030.
To reduce its carbon emissions, GEODIS strives to optimise transport plans by implementing approaches that improve trucks’ load factor and avoid empty miles, develop the use of rail for multimodal transport and has integrated vehicles that use cleaner energy into their fleet (natural gas and electric)

Rhenus Logistics India has recently managed the operations of a complex pharmaceutical product from Delhi to Amsterdam in an Envirotainer. The company moved a complex time-sensitive pharmaceutical product in an Envirotainer with temperature-controlled between 2 to 8 degrees celsius. “The operations included pick up from the door till the delivery to the port, including the customs clearance while maintaining the temperature between 2 to 8 degrees celsius throughout the supply chain. Precise planning, solution-based transportation, detailed coordination, and round-the-clock supervision ensured a successful execution of this sensitive and time-critical shipment,” Rhenus Logistics India informs in a LinkedIn post.

The Indian Ports Association (IPA), an apex body of Major Ports under Administrative Control of Ministry of Shipping, Govt. of India, has become the latest member of the International Port Community Systems Association (IPCSA). Dr Abhijit Singh, Executive Director, IPA, states, “Minister of Shipping, Government of India desires Indian Port Community System (PCS1x) should constantly evolve to be the best in class PCS globally. Hence, in order to keep abreast of the technological developments happening globally it is important that IPA should become part of the international port community network by developing noble association with prestigious body like IPCSA. We endeavour to integrate with other international PCS to ease trading across borders. In fact, we wish to align PCS 1x to the 2030 vision of IPCSA.” “IPCSA is delighted to welcome the Indian Ports Association” said Hans Rook, Chairman, IPCSA. He adds, “The IPA brings with it their experience and knowledge on how to develop a National Port Community System. The inclusion of the Indian Ports through PCS1x platform into IPCSA is a new milestone in IPCSAs development and will support in the implementation of new global initiatives.” India is a nation that has been working for many years now on its digital infrastructure and enabling of e-governance. PCS 1x has been rolled out by IPA to offer a true single window for the port and maritime community for sharing data and information. PCS1x has grown in scope and penetration over the last year and a half with significantly better utilisation than its predecessor, which was deployed on premise at major ports in 2006. Since going live in December 2018, the new PCS1x has tripled the user base and reduced …

To prepare for the upcoming surge in sales and deliveries with its gamut of services, Pickrr has announced to offer customised solutions for the e-commerce players to help COVID-19 hit online sellers recover in the following months. The company could bring down the typical 20 per cent increase in delivering e-commerce orders during festive to mere 5 per cent through their courier selection and real-time on-ground feature. Diwali is one of the highly celebrated seasons in the e-commerce industries as customers look forward to the sales and offers it brings. The sales are high, and the delivery periods are often longer due to an upsurge in order volume. Rhitiman Majumder, Co-founder, Pickrr, suggests, “Our real time analytics and prediction system to pre-empt failures gives the best performance to sellers so that they can make the most out of this season. While the general time taken to deliver orders increases by as much as 20 per cent is high demand seasons, we have retracted this rise to a mere 5 per cent through our intelligent courier selection and real time on-ground feedback in the past five years and will continue to do so.” Pickrr has partnered with Delhivery, Ekart Logistics, Ecom Express, Dotzot, DTDC, XpressBees, FedEx and many more for its best-known delivery services. For this year, Pickrr has curated customized offers for Diwali festival to help include local brands and small sellers deliver products to their customers. Rhitiman added, “This year has been tough for huge market players and for the smaller ones, it has been even tougher. We hope to provide multiple logistics options to these sellers, so they have more options to fall back upon.” According to the …

Envirotainer, the global provider of temperature-controlled air freight solutions for pharmaceuticals, has opened up unlimited and free access to shipment data for all their customers. The shipment data provided combines all data gathered during a shipment and is presented in one comprehensive report that is now shared for free with customers less than 48 hours after the shipment is concluded. “These are truly unprecedented times and our industry is faced with new challenges every day. As the industry leader, Envirotainer is continually evaluating how we can meet those challenges with new and creative solutions,” explains Eddy Cojulun, Chief Sales Officer at Envirotainer, in adding, “We are the only provider in the industry that shares this comprehensive amount of shipment data for free and within 48 hours to customers. We want to continue to be the true innovation leader and pave the way for our partners and customers to achieve an unprecedented level of transparency.” The data collected includes ambient temperature, inside temperature, door openings and battery level. It is available already 48 hours after the shipment has been completed with the immediate effect of customers getting faster confirmation that there were no temperature deviations during the shipment and that the cargo can be released safely. “When we first launched this fully automated, globally available, shipment report service in June 2019 we were certain that the speed of delivery would be appreciated by our customers,” explains Fredrik Linnér, Chief Business Development Officer at Envirotainer. He added, “Sharing all the data from the industry’s largest active container fleet means that our customers get something that they cannot get from other providers, e.g. a tremendous amount of data that can be used to …

Explaining why forwarders need to stay in between, Tigist Eshetu, Regional Director – Indian Subcontinent, Ethiopian Airlines, says, “Shippers are only at one end of the transaction, they almost always need freight forwarders to bridge with their buyers. One of such requirements is management of all stakeholders involved end to end up to delivery. Secondly, knowledge related to customs clearance, transport planning and freight rate reduction via consolidation, end to end planning remains the core competence for the freight forwarders; digitalisation at the airline side wouldn’t change these.” “Shippers which usually operate via banks and with letter of credit still rely on forwarders to pull their cargo out of the expensive carrier warehouses till cash against document cycles are finalised. Digitalisation could bring shippers close but wouldn’t eliminate the role of forwarders,” she adds.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the shipping sector has been facing turbulence in the current year and the impact of containment measures adopted by major economies has weighed down on the demand. While demand contraction had happened across major segments like dry bulk, tankers and containers, the charter rates have seen steep volatility. However, the tanker segment (crude as well as products) had witnessed sharp increase during March and April, due to increase in demand for storage amid contango situation in oil prices and touched all time high rates, however with the weakening of contango situation, the storage play petered out and there has been steep decline in rates subsequently as the regular demand for transportation remains subdued. On the other hand, with easing of containment measures and some pickup in economic activity and demand, especially from China, there has been recovery in dry bulk rates in the last three months. Further, despite the demand remaining subdued for the container segment, there has been sharp increase in rates in the last two months, which can be attributed to supply management by liners. Hence, even though the demand outlook remains muted for the current year, the charter rates have been volatile. Sai Krishna, Assistant Vice President and Associate Head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA Limited commented, “Despite recovery in charter rates in some segments, ICRA believes that the charter rates will be exposed to volatility in the near term, as the demand outlook still remains muted. Any sustained improvement in charter rates will depend on stable recovery in economic activity and trade.” While factors like supply management and uptick in storage demand for crude and oil products can provide spike in rates, the …

According to the findings by CBRE the cold storage segment in India is expected to witness significant growth over the next few years on the back of a strong consumer and industrial base. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the demand for cold storage is also being further fueled by a wider omni-channel distribution of F&G across tier I and tier II cities in the country. Further, the cold chain network would also play a vital role in reducing the loss of the produce and improving cold storage efficiencies. States including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Punjab Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and Karnataka accounted for 91 per cent the total CS capacity in India in 2019. The overall cold storage real estate stock in the country is estimated to reach 1,400 – 1,500 million sq. ft. by 2023. Anshuman Magazine, Chairman, India & South East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE said, “Cold storage facilities play an integral role in improving the shelf life of products and are an important enabler for several industries working across fresh food production and delivery; along with healthcare and other products such as flowers and chemicals. Considering the potential of the CS segment in the country, we expect that consumer/industry-led factors in India would continue to attract the interest of leading players in the coming years.”

Air Cargo Club of Delhi (ACCD) has announced Rajan Nijhawan as new President of the club and also announced the newly elected Managing Committee team. The club held its 43rd Annual General Meeting online through video conferencing .The house had an active discussion on the tasks executed by the Management Committee last year and put forward some valuable suggestions for the coming year. The members and past Presidents also appreciated the work done by the entire Management Committee for organising excellent events, specially the Annual ball and The Founders day, and also complimented the newsletters and social media coverage by the sub-branding committee. “I would like to thank our founding members, seniors, Past Presidents and all the members of ACCD for their confidence in me. It is a proud moment and I follow in the footsteps of many fine Past Presidents. I am so grateful for this remarkable opportunity. When I look back at the many years as a member of ACCD I cannot be prouder of what we have accomplished. ACCD is a club we are all so proud to associate with. This transition comes at a challenging time and there is still considerable uncertainty in our everyday lives. However, I know the future is bright and holds great things in store for ACCD. We will need all of your support to be successful and I am sure, together, we will be,” says, Nijhawan.

Expanding its service portfolio, InstaFreight has added Transport Management as second service offering. After the successful pilot testing over the past 12 months with several large-scale enterprises including a shipper from the DAX30, the new service is now available to all shippers. InstaFreight remains the contractual party and with its technological expertise it enables businesses to gain operative and financial transparencies over their transport chain as well as to improve performance. In addition, direct and indirect costs are reduced by up to 25 per cent. The active management of transports occurs neutrally and at open book rates. In this new Transport Management service, a dedicated team of the Berlin-based company administers and optimises the entire transportation process of the customer. The efficient management of overland transports is carried out by InstaFreight in their self-developed Transport Management Platform. Customers can use this service with already existing transport partners, for which InstaFreight takes care of the onboarding, but equally flexible can access InstaFreight’s network of more than 25,000 carriers. “When large shippers approached us to further optimise their transportation network and costs, we extended our existing tech solution and linked it to the active management of transports, resulting in the Transport Management Service”, says Maximilian Schaefer, Co-Founder and Managing Director, InstaFreight, in adding “The combination of an in-house developed TMS and a team of experts, which manages and optimises transports actively, is unique in Europe and a revolution in the logistics industry.” The new product offering also includes a variety of digital services. Process steps that customers previously executed manually are being automated and standardized, which builds the basis for transparency and indirect cost savings. These include the contract awarding and freight …