Forwarder turns to road for China-Europe shipments

Freight forwarder InstaFreight claims that road freight services between China and Europe are now offering similar transit times to air cargo operations.

InstaFreight said it had added an overland road option to complement its air and sea freight services in light of the high cost and delays out of China.

The company said that the duration of transport when using road amounted to 20-22 days, depending on the pickup and discharge location.

InstaFreight co-founder and co-managing director, Maximilian Schaefer, said: “With the expansion of our service offering we stabilise the supply chain in a phase of resumed Chinese industrial production and offer a very reasonable alternative to the — at the moment — very cost-intensive air and rail transports.

“Due to the backlog of airfreight shipments destined for Europe at the Chinese airports, on average we have almost the same overall runtime on the road as in the air.”

The company said that a double driver-line up can also be booked, with a surcharge, which can shorten the duration by several days.

Depending on the origin in China, the transport goes directly through either Russia or Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

“The prices for door-to-door delivery are calculated individually, but only amount to a fraction of the current air freight rates,” it said.

InstaFreight co-founder and co-managing director, Philipp Ortwein, added: “As freight forwarder it is our role in such times to be pragmatic and to find solutions to problems such as the current stagnant flow of goods from China to Europe.”