New direct LCL connections between Hungary and Asia

Dachser’s Air & Sea Logistics business field, which deals with transport logistics, warehousing, and customized services in the air and sea freight sector, is significantly expanding its range of services: at the end of last year and during this year, new LCL (less than container load) lines were launched between Europe and several Asian ports, among others. This weekly delivery at fixed times is beneficial for customers whose goods do not fill an entire container in one shipment. The LCL service is also very popular in Hungary, thanks to which Dachser LCL containers depart from Shanghai and Ningbo in China every week with a direct arrival in Budapest.

Photo: Dachser

At the end of 2023, Dachser‘s new weekly fixed export and import lines started: from Rotterdam, Netherlands to Shanghai in China, to Nhava Sheva in India, and to Dubai, which is an important distribution point for the Gulf countries, and from Shanghai and Shenzhen in China to Europe. The range is expected to be expanded with additional LCL connections during this year.

Partial loads in sea shipping are basically used to allow senders to share the space and costs of a container if their cargo would otherwise not fill the entire container. However, Dachser’s service offers more than just sharing. On the one hand, weekly LCL sailings make transportation extremely flexible, customers can send smaller shipments more often, and they don’t have to wait for an entire container to be full. On the other hand, within the Dachser network, LCL shipping is only one element of the very efficient network, within which sea, air, road and rail transport connects even the most distant points of the world.

Dachser manages the entire supply chain of shipments. For example, an export shipment with an Asian destination is transported from its sender in Europe by road, by truck to one of the company’s designated European Logistics (EL) warehouses. Here, the containers are assembled, the individual shipments are loaded together with other shipments, then the container is transported to the port, and finally delivered by ship to the destination port overseas. Here, Dachser Air & Sea Logistics employees take care of customs clearance and delivery to the final destination. In the opposite direction, the container travels by sea and land in the same way – after the voyage by container vessel is completed, a truck takes it to the company’s warehouse, where the shipments are broken down and delivered to their destination via the EL network. In all countries in which Dachser is represented by European logistics branches, no third parties are involved in the process, not even the unloading and loading of shipments, everything takes place in Dachser’s own logistics facilities.

Photo: Dachser

“We reliably manage and optimize the entire customer supply chain through LCL routes and the Dachser groupage network,” says Christian Kruse, Head of Dachser Global Ocean Freight LCL. “Our international teams provide professional work on all continents, even though they are not in an easy situation – after the COVID crisis, the Red Sea crisis makes shipping goods by sea difficult. Despite this, the integrated, network-oriented service they implement is unique in the market.”

LCL shipments arrive in Hungary from Shanghai and Ningbo every week. “As everywhere at Dachser, in our case too, many people work within the network to ensure that the goods sent to the country from the other side of the world reach their destination in the most optimal way,” says György Tamás, country manager business field Air & Sea Logistics at Dachser in Hungary, who plans the launch of additional direct lines. “Dachser’s colleagues in Asia take care of picking up and loading the goods into containers. At destination, we ensure that the shipment arrives at the domestic warehouse by combined rail/road transport. After the customs clearance solution chosen by the customer our business line European Logistics delivers it to the final recipient. The system works smoothly and flexibly with the offices and colleagues involved in the delivery process.”

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