Amidst acute shortage of trucks during the ongoing lockdown, Maersk is ramping up rail solutions for its customers including some of India’s largest petrochemical companies and automotive manufacturers to help them move their cargo to ports for export. Maersk’s solution included moving goods straight from the exporters’ manufacturing facilities on rail to the required port or moving the cargo first to the closest Inland Container Depot by road and then loading it on to rail.
The integrated logistics solutions that Maersk is offering by combining landside and ocean transportation has emerged as one-stop-shop in fulfiling logistics needs for most of the company’s customers.
Besides, in times of the pandemic, moving cargo on rail means lesser human interference as a single train carries multiple containers as against one container per truck and thus per truck driver.
“We want to go all the way in ensuring that our customers have access to products and solutions that meet their end-to-end supply chains. What we have offered to our customers is an integrated solution that spans over landside and ocean logistics,” Maersk South Asia Managing Director Steve Felder said.
“At times, when customers are hitting a road block, we are reaching out to them to offer wide range of solutions that go beyond the primaries of moving cargo, and also offering other services such as booking management and customs house brokerage,” Felder added.
During the country-wide lockdown which started in the midnight of March 25, Maersk has experienced up to 30% increase in movement on rail as compared before lockdown. Clearance of import cargo on rail from ports has also helped in releasing a lot of pressure that was building up on the overall logistics infrastructure.
