U-Freight announced it is adding second consolidation facility in China with increasing volumes of LCL (Less than Container Load) cargo on its LCL and FCL (Full Container Load) rail freight services between China and Europe.

The Hong Kong-based freight forwarder and logistics group started its regular service in 2014, consolidating cargo in Zhengzhou and using the daily service that operates from that railhead to and from Malaszewicze in Poland, Hamburg in Germany, and Liege in Belgium. 

A spike in LCL traffic as a greater number of shippers switch from air and ocean to the overland mode has led U-Freight to establish a consolidation centre at its logistics hub in Shanghai.

“As an early adopter of this routing option, we have developed a strong position in the market," said Simon Wong, chief executive officer of the U-Freight Group.

He noted that the U-Freight group now handle significant consol shipments from China to Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands in particular, as well as smaller volumes to other European countries, handled by its network of long-standing agents once the shipments arrive at the three rail freight hubs on the European mainland.

Competitive alternative

“We chose the service from Zhengzhou as it is the only one that offers a daily frequency, although for FCL shipments our large Chinese presence enables us to arrange container pick up from across the country and select a service from the rail freight gateway that is nearest to our customers,” Wong said.

“While other transport modes still face significant capacity and schedule issues, our overland rail freight service is clearly demonstrating that it offers a competitive alternative to air freight in regards to price, and considerably faster transit times compared to the ocean freight alternative,” he added.

Typical transit times from Zhengzhou to Malaszewicze are between 12 to 14 days, and 16-18 days to Hamburg.