When managing the movement of freight on behalf of our customers, Denholm Global Logistics’ branches across the UK and Ireland are continually looking at how it can be moved efficiently, even when faced with prohibitive freight forwarding challenges. Heathrow Branch Manager, Neil Munro, recently shared an example of how he helped a customer source a solution for a volatile cargo, resulting in health and safety, environmental and commercial benefits for the customer.
Neil explains, “Like all our branches, we manage the movement of a real variety of cargoes from Heathrow. One of our customers exports lead acid accumulators from the UK for recycling. Lead acid accumulators are classified as Dangerous Goods UN2794 and the shipping lines were increasingly refusing to accept the cargo for carriage in their current packaging. I appreciated the reluctance of the shipping lines but, understandably, this mounting challenge was commercially impacting our customer’s business. It wasn’t part of my formal remit but I wanted to help.”
Thanks to the variety of cargoes managed by the Heathrow branch, Neil was able to source a packaging solution for his customer that greatly reduced the volatility of the cargo.
Neil continues, “Because our customer was able to demonstrate the reduced risk of shipping the lead acid accumulators in their new protective packaging, the shipping lines began accepting the cargo once more. Once the accumulators are delivered for recycling, we then manage the import of the empty protective packaging, appropriately continuing the ‘recycling’ theme.”
As well as managing the customs clearances, both in the UK and the EU, Neil and his team ensure the appropriate transit documents are issued and discharged to ensure the quickest possible transit time door-to-door.
“For a relatively short distance from the customer’s site to port, not having the correct transit documents can cause significant customs delays and can be a real commercial headache for our customer. The team always works diligently to ensure all paperwork is correct and complete, which is a real benefit to our customer.”
Neil sums it up well: “It’s just what we do, we help our customers to ensure their freight moves as efficiently as possible.”