CEVA Logistics Greater China has sent the first ever truck from China to Europe under the Transports Internationaux Routiers agreement.

According to CEVA, the truck was customs-sealed in Khorgos, China, where it began its 11-day and 7,000-km journey via Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus to Poland. The trial run took more than six months of preparation and was operated as a joint initiative between CEVA Logistics, the International Road Transportation Union and CEVA’s partners Alblas International Logistics and Jet-rail International Transportation.

“This is a day to remember,” said Kelvin Tang, director of road and rail at CEVA Logistics Greater China. “Together with our partners, we have trialled TIR all the way to Europe today the very first time.”

The new road service will deliver a cost saving of about 50% compared to air freight options. With a door-to-door lead time of between 10 to 15 days, it will also be 30-50% faster than rail.

The international customs transit system established by the TIR agreement became active for the People’s Republic of China in May 2018.

“Since then we started to investigate the possibility and feasibility of road transportation from China to Europe in order to find an alternative to the escalating air freight market,” says Torben Bengtsson, executive vice president of CEVA Logistics Greater China. “Thanks to the implementation of the TIR system this year, and the great support of IRU, the Research Institute of Highway Ministry of Transport and the Xinjiang government, we were able to make this trial run happen together with our partners Jet-rail International Transportation in Shanghai and Alblas International Logistics in the Netherlands. The trial proves that the TIR carnet issued in China is accepted in the transit countries en-route to Europe. The government, IRU, RIOH and many other parties worked together to remove barriers and uncertainties.”

Bengtsson added that CEVA foresees a great future for road transportation from China to Europe as a result.

“We have a lot of customers waiting for the start of a regular service,” he said. “During the coming weeks we will work on some small details of the service and then prepare to start regular operations as early as possible in 2019.”

Umberto de Pretto, secretary general of the IRU, said that this first TIR journey by road from China to Europe is a win-win-win situation for business, trade and governments and will be a game changer for cross-border transportation in China.

“It shows that the system is secure and also highly competitive in terms of cost and time relative to other modes of transport on similar routes,” he said. “It will boost trade between China and Europe, which will help China and the countries along the Belt & Road route to reap the economic and development rewards of international road transport. It is also a wakeup call to European hauliers who can seize the opportunity to benefit from round-trip operations.”