Continued attention to safety:
Even if the
federal states in Germany are gradually relaxing the corona regulations,
ontour is still sticking to its strict package of measures for the time
being. The mixture of a newly implemented multi-shift operation and
home office has so far proven to be a good way of minimising contacts
between employees in the best possible way. In addition, masks are
mandatory throughout when entering the ontour buildings. Maintaining
these measures guarantees both, the continued best possible protection
of employees and the maintenance of highly functional logistics
operations.
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The corona crisis shows the importance of air freight:
Air
freight still is an essential pillar to ensure the basic supply of
daily needed goods for households and the economy, as well as the
maintenance of our most important production chains. After a year 2019
with mixed results for cargo airlines and logistics companies worldwide,
the demand for the transport of goods by air is currently shooting up.
However,
the cancellation of many passenger flights, especially on long-haul
routes, is currently still a growing problem, which is reflected in the
immanently rising freight rates. The cancellation of these passenger
flights reduces the available cargo volume by around 40 percent.
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Capacities in sea freight continued to be reduced:
Due
to the reduced sea freight capacities, so-called "blank sailings" are
currently occurring, especially for imports from Asia. The shipowners
are attempting to keep rates stable through these measures. As a result,
however, delays are currently still to be expected for imports from
Asia to Europe.
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UK line haul services with almost normal capacity:The daily scheduled line haul between Germany and Great Britain and Ireland continues to operate at almost normal capacity. Here, only a slight decline in order volume was recorded due to the corona crisis. At times, there are slight delays at ferries and tunnels due to the hygiene measures.In addition, some of the companies receiving deliveries in England are still working with emergency crews.
Update 06.05.2020
From the ontour universe:
Our internal measures
to minimise personal contacts will of course continue to be strictly
maintained. In combination with several team members working from their
home, an increased effort in coordination is needed, but will lead to
maximum protection of the team. We are proud that despite the
adversities, everyone continues to give it´s best to be there for our
customers.
Also, our drivers were each equipped with handmade, reusable respirators, sewn by a family from the near Flörsheim, Germany. The proceeds from the sale of the masks will go to a charitable cause. Among others, the Flörsheim football club "Germania Weilbach" is supported, since especially the small clubs are currently suffering from the lockdown situation. A matter of the heart, which we are very happy to support!
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At sea:
Significant changes in departure
frequencies and schedules in ocean freight traffic are still having an
impact at present: Due to the worldwide COVID-19-pandemic, various
shipowners and alliances are forced to set up extensive blank sailing
programmes for the months of May and June. In some cases, complete loops
are being taken off the market, services are being merged and port
rotations are being changed, so that the African continent is even being
bypassed instead of being loaded through the Suez Canal.
As a
result, fewer departure possibilities, less space on the ships and
longer transit times (port/port) are expected in the coming weeks.
Please
take these circumstances into account in your planning and place your
bookings as early as possible through us in the port of loading.
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In the air:
The Corona-pandemic is also
currently causing a state of emergency at Germany's airports: Fraport
counted 200 more cargo flights in Frankfurt alone than the annual
average for 2019.
While the corona crisis has brought worldwide
passenger traffic almost to a standstill, pure cargo aviation is
currently breaking records. The transported goods are urgently needed to
protect people from the viruses and to get the interrupted production
chains of the industry going again. There is currently a lack of
transport capacity for passenger aircrafts, which swallow around 40
percent of the cargo volume at normal times.
According to this, a
significantly higher supply and demand situation has been created, which
is causing prices to skyrocket. For this reason, some airlines also use
passenger aircraft as pure cargo flights to meet the onslaught of
freight. Unusual means are also used for this purpose: For example,
cartons are stacked on the seats or even the entire seats are removed to
create more cargo space.
Also conspicuous are the goods that are
imported into Germany: While before the Corona-crisis it was mostly
fashion items or normal consumer goods, at the moment it is respiratory
masks and IT hardware, which can be attributed to the increased home
office work.
The tense situation is further underlined by the new
ignition of business in the charter industry. As a result, the prices
for a full charter have meanwhile risen threefold.
Update 17.04.2020:
We continue being there for you - ontour remains your usual reliable partner
For
several weeks now, the global corona crisis left us stuck in a state of
emergency. Just now in this current situation of lockdown, the need for
a reliable and stable partner in logistics is becoming apparent, in
order to maintain a fully operating supply chain.
Through the
strict implementation and adherence to the measures taken so far for the
protection of its employees, ontour has managed to support its
customers in the best way possible with our continuous service, despite
all Corona-driven limitations. Thus, all our branches in Germany and
Europe are still up and operating, thanks to a tailor-made staffing
plan.
Thus, we are able to offer a reliable service in all areas,
whether road, air or sea transportation, as well as express shipments,
24/7 and around the globe.
Of course, as a company we continue to
strictly adhere to the hygiene measures prescribed by the government to
ensure the protection of the workforce, because the health of all
employees is still our top priority. In addition, we are in constant
communication with our medical experts and do rely on our specially
developed pandemic emergency plan.
So far, we have succeeded in
delivering goods punctually and reliably despite increased waiting times
for loading or unloading and the greatly restricted air traffic.
However, should there be any major delays, we ask you as our customers
for your understanding in the current situation.
Our employees, especially our drivers, are motivated every day in spite of adversities.
Thank you and stay safe!