GEFCO Launch Daily Overland Freight Services In Europe

EUROPE – CHINA – GEFCO, the automotive freight forwarding specialist, has completed the acquisition of a 70% stake in Gruppo Mercurio, a major player in vehicle shipping and distribution in Italy and worldwide after getting a green light from competition authorities earlier this month. The group have now announced a new daily distribution service from the UK to 15 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain) which GEFCO say will result in shorter shipping times and lower costs for customers.

Supported by GEFCO’s Overland network, the new service offers faster and more frequent distribution from its Coventry platform to strategic sites in Europe. Less time spent on processing goods means lower costs. Shipping to Lyon and Toulouse, for example, has been cut by 24 hours. The service, to be known as EuroDaily is available to the 1,500 companies in the UK that already use GEFCO’s Overland services, and to new customers trading between key European markets.

Further afield GEFCO Overseas recently strengthened its partnership with Air China, allowing GEFCO to benefit from an annual rate and reserved tonnage with China’s leading airline throughout 2011. The arrangement allows for the transportation of 14 tonnes of freight per week out of Shanghaï with four non-stop flights on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Under the new agreement, air freight from China is handled by GEFCO Roissy before distribution in France, Spain and Benelux with the GEFCO subsidiaries in Central and Eastern Europe also eligible for a similar arrangement out of the Frankfurt hub