Philippines: a. hartrodt invests in own vehicle fleet

To ensure that customers in the Philippines receive their air and sea freight shipments on time, a. hartrodt is continuously expanding its own vehicle fleet. The latest addition is a closed truck from the Japanese manufacturer Hino with ten wheels and a payload of 13 tons. Teodulo Ramon Saporna, Domestic/Transport Manager at a. hartrodt Philippines in Makati City, expects operations to start in mid-September. The fleet also includes two closed vans with four wheels each and three small six-wheeler delivery trucks. "These two- to three-and-a-half ton vehicles are very important for our freight forwarding and customs clearance business," he emphasizes.

Since 2015 division for domestic transportation 

In April 2015, a. hartrodt Philippines founded a division for domestic transportation, previously the customs clearance department had operated two vehicles. Today, both divisions work hand in hand, explains Teodulo Ramon Saporna: "As soon as shipments are released by customs, our department organizes the pick-up or delivery." Half of his eleven-strong team comprises drivers, who are "quite difficult" to find in the Southeast Asian country.

Hauling more air freight and LCL with own capacities

Full truck load (FTL) RoRo shipments from Manila to the Visayas and the island of Mindanao are particularly interesting as a growth market. "We currently subcontract most of our FTL hauling activities," says Teodulo Ramon Saporna. The company's own fleet delivers or collects 81 percent of air freight and consolidated containers (less than full container loads, LCL). Primarily, a. hartrodt serves transport routes on the island of Luzon between Manila and the capital region of Metro Manila or nearby provinces. "With the ten-wheel truck, we intend to increase our own share of air freight and LCL deliveries to up to 90 percent and consolidate shipments," Teodulo Ramon Saporna explains the goal.

In the Philippines, a. hartrodt employs 103 people, most of them at the national headquarters in Makati City. There are further locations north of Manila at Clark International Airport with a special economic zone and in Cebu City on the Visayas Island with the same name.