New LCL services between Rotterdam and Asia

Since the end of 2023, DACHSER has been setting up weekly LCL export connections from Rotterdam to the ports of Shanghai, Nhava Sheva and Dubai (as a hub for distribution within the Gulf States) and LCL import connections from Shanghai and Shenzhen to Rotterdam. More LCL connections will be added in 2024. For these LCL connections, DACHSER uses its own consolidated container.

LCL (Less than Container Load) is very advantageous for customers who do not fill a full container with their shipment. Customers then share both the space and the cost of a container. This is not new for DACHSER in Benelux, but what is new is that DACHSER now loads and unloads shipments in their own logistics facility on a weekly basis at fixed times. Consolidating in its own container does not involve co-loaders, which eliminates an interface in both ports. By eliminating these links, the entire logistics chain is managed by DACHSER. The export shipment is picked up from the sender in Europe through DACHSER's own network and then transported by truck to a Container Freight Station (CFS) in a DACHSER warehouse. Here, the shipment is bundled into a container together with shipments from other customers. From the CFS, the container is shipped to the other continent then, where DACHSER’s Air & Sea Logistics office takes care of the import operations and delivery to the final destination. For LCL shipments incoming from overseas into Europe, the LCL consolidation containers are brought to a CFS at the nearest DACHSER branch. Here the shipments are unloaded and customs cleared, only to be delivered to the final recipient through the DACHSER network.

"Because we manage the entire supply chain, we always know where the shipments are and when they will be shipped, which gives us sovereignty over the logistics process," explains Wilco Versteegh, Managing Director DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics Benelux. "In addition, the elimination of links ensures that goods get from source to market faster. This can help minimize inventory costs and can promote consumer satisfaction."

Port of Europe

The DACHSER Rotterdam Logistics Centre, partly due to its location close to the port of Rotterdam, acts as a crucial link in the logistics provider's network. With the Air & Sea Logistics, Contract Logistics and European Logistics (road transport) divisions on the same industrial estate, under the leadership of Aat van der Meer, Managing Director DACHSER Benelux, the lines of communication are short and decisions can be made quickly. These advantages make the branch an ideal starting point for the 90 daily road groupage departures to destinations throughout Europe.