Matson Launches Expedited Ocean Service?
September 8, 2006 by Splatty
Filed under Seafreight
I know expedited ocean is somewhat of an oxymoron, but Matson Lines long known for it’s West Coast to Hawaii service has recently launched an expedited ocean container service between China and Long Beach. The company is operating smaller, fuel efficient ships that are designed to shave a “few days” off the regular transit times. Matson’s ships are roughly one-third the size of the 8,000 – 9,000 TEU vessels, however they make the trip in an average of 11 days compared to roughly 14 days for the larger vessels.
On top of that, customers can gain an extra day or two because Matson’s Long Beach terminal is slightly inland from Terminal Island, which avoids the long delays that port truckers often face in picking up merchandise, the sales pitch notes.
In addition, imports do not have to pay the extra fees charged by port terminals for containers picked up during peak weekday hours. “We can unload the entire ship when it arrives on Sunday night, have the containers put on wheeled chassis and taken to our off- port facility,” said Ron Forest, Matson’s senior vice president for operations.
“Customers can come and pick it up and it’s already on wheels and they won’t even have to enter the port.” source – thestandard.com.hk
Critics of the service suggest that Matson might be too late getting into the China game especially with the projected over capacity issues and a cooling economy here in the U.S., however I believe there is a strong market out there for cutomers who are looking at speed in their supply chains. I see many customers looking for a three tiered transportation program that includes airfreight, standard ocean freight service, and an expedited offering somewhere in the middle.
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