A new Air + Road service from global freight forwarding specialist Dimerco has saved up to 40% on freight costs for customers shipping automotive components from Southern China to a common manufacturer in Mexico.
According to Dimerco’s Central Service Center, “As part of our focus on facilitating better supply chains for the automotive sector, Dimerco’s Southern China Team has been exploring challenges and potential solutions with local manufacturers in the automotive metal stamping and die industry. Fifteen of these manufacturers based in Southern China share a customer in Mexico, therefore Dimerco has been able to provide a cost-effective shared solution for multiple suppliers that delivers significant benefits to all customers.”
Only a few airlines offer a service from Southern China to Mexico, and those that do operate passenger flights only. Passenger flights are unable to load freight over 160cm high and have limited space that can be utilized for freight.
The 76 shipments transported by Dimerco on behalf of its automotive customers weighed a total of 81 tons, including equipment over 160cms in height (and so unsuitable for passenger flights); the largest cargo – 2 checking fixtures – each weighed 750kgs. Despite this, the oversized shipment took just one week to travel from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport to their destination in Mexico.
To deliver this solution, Dimerco’s teams in China and the US worked alongside a strategic partner in Mexico with a selected local cross-border trucking company and partner airlines. Dimerco’s team in China coordinated manual inspections of the oversized cargo, which could not be inspected by X-Ray, and oversaw subsequent repacking of the equipment.
Commenting on the success of the project, Dimerco’s Central Service Center said, “Dimerco has been able to achieve this seamless solution for our customers based on good communication between our own network and strategic partners. We were able to take advantage of our negotiated block space agreement with partner airlines to reduce transit time during peak season and meet our customers’ tight time frame.”
Customers benefited from between 30-40% cost savings due to Dimerco’s utilization of scheduled flights, as charter flight costs are considerably higher, especially for China-USA routes. Additional cost savings, together with reduced carbon impact, were gained through expert consolidation by the Dimerco team. A further benefit for its customers on this project was the flexibility of the new Air + Road Solution provides. During peak season, Dimerco delivered a smooth transshipment solution for the oversized equipment that was both economical and timely.
Photo Caption: Dimerco team in the US coordinated to work seamlessly with cross-border trucks to pass the Mexican border.