CFR adds named-day airfreight services from Frankfurt and LA

Building on the success of its
named-day airfreight import
consolidation concept, neutral
air and seafreight consolidator
CFR Freight has added two
origins – Frankfurt and Los
Angeles – to its service menu.
“Because there are
so many options out of
Frankfurt, it was critical that
we put together a seriously
differentiated product before
we hit the market,” general
manager – airfreight Dave
Graham told FTW.
“And that’s what we can
now offer – twice weekly
consols, palletised on a direct
Lufthansa freighter at very
preferential rates.”
And according to Graham,
it’s attracting a lot of medium
to larger multinational
forwarders who previously
had contracts directly with the
carriers. “At the rate structure
we’re offering, they simply
can’t ignore it.
“The service was launched
in October last year – in
conjunction with Saco Air,
the company’s global partner
in the Air Cargo Group stable
– and within a month we were
doing three pallets a week.”
Rather than increase the
number of pallets, the idea
is to increase the number of
frequencies – and although the
service is currently running
twice weekly, Graham expects
that this will soon need to be
increased.
“It’s all about the bottom
line,” said director Peter
Schmidt-Löffler, “and if a
company can save through
co-loading, that’s the way
they’re going to go.”
Graham says a number of
multinationals that have in
the past been averse to the
concept of co-loading are now
warming up to the idea very
quickly because the rate is
so attractive. “And because
it’s contracted capacity, we
haven’t had a single offload
since the service was launched
in November.”
The company’s named-day
Los Angeles service, launched
early this month, feeds into
another lucrative niche, says
Graham.
“We launched a namedday
US service in the middle
of last year, but while there
are several options out of the
East Coast into South Africa
– which is where we have
existing contracted capacity
on direct services out of New
York – the West Coast options
were extremely limited.”
Following a market research
exercise, CFR took the bold
step – with its Air Cargo
Partner Shipco in the US – of
signing a firm Block Space
Agreement (BSA) out of Los
Angeles into South Africa.
“We have created a
premium named-day consol
product with an optimum
transit time. Cargo delivered
on Friday morning in Los
Angeles is available for
collection on Monday morning
in Johannesburg.”
The LA option joins CFR’s
existing US services out of
New York, Chicago, Atlanta
and Houston. “And we’re not
offering it solely as a Los
Angeles service but rather as
a comprehensive West Coast
service, feeding in from the
likes of Portland Oregon and
San Francisco.
“The main focus this year
will be to continue to develop
our existing named-day
products,” said Graham
“These include Hong Kong,
China, India, Europe and the
US, with South America on
the radar for the future.
“A major advantage for
us is our membership of the
muscular Air Cargo Group
– and we will continue to
develop new products in
conjunction with our key
partners around the world.”
CFR’s airfreight division
has truly come of age, says
Schmidt-Löffler. “We are no
longer a traditional seafreight
NVOCC but can offer an allembracing
air and sea option.”
The company’s original
mantra however will never
change, he added, “and that
means dealing exclusively
with freight forwarders.”