At the beginning of November, Transuniverse Forwarding is to launch an express groupage and bulk cargo service to Spain. The shuttle will operate with two truck drivers to shorten the transport time to Barcelona and the north east of Spain by a full day. The successful ‘standard’ groupage service will naturally continue. “With this new shuttle, we are addressing the niche of smaller, faster shipments,” says Chairman Frank Adins.
The Iberian Peninsula is an important destination for Transuniverse. No fewer than 40 trucks a week set out for Spain with groupage shipments – and in some cases with full freights. “A lot of groupage customers ask us to take smaller shipments as well. These are generally much more urgent. The express shuttle to Barcelona is therefore an additional service for our existing customers, but it will also enable us to reach a new target group,” explains Frank Adins.
With double manning, we can shorten the transport to destinations all over Catalonia by a full day” “The shuttle truck will leave Wondelgem daily between midnight and 1 a.m. It will arrive at around 4 p.m. on the same day at our partner EKOL’s terminal in Barcelona. Once there, the shipments will be sorted overnight so that they reach their destinations in north-east Spain the next day,” adds operations manager Kevin Van Ongeval. Expansion of the express service to the whole of Spain is not on the cards for the time being.
The new service, which will focus on both palleted shipments and bulk goods (boxes), is to be a shuttle. This means that the route between Barcelona and Belgium will also take a day less. For that trip, the truck will leave Barcelona at 7 p.m. and arrive in Wondelgem the next day at around 2 p.m. The goods will be distributed to their final destinations the following morning.
Allowing for the Sunday ban on truck driving in France, there will be six shuttles per week.