Con-way Freight and TNT today, April 2, announced the start of a commercial alliance designed to provide a door-to-door road/air/road solution for heavier, expedited intercontinental shipments between Europe and the United States. The alliance establishes Con-way Freight as TNT’s primary transportation network provider in the United States.
The new service links up TNT’s European road network with intercontinental air cargo uplift and Con-way Freight’s day-definite delivery network for less-than-truckload freight in the United States to provide a fast-response, expedited door-to-door service. The new service is being launched initially for heavy freight shipments originating in Europe with a destination to any city in the United States.
Under the program’s first-phase rollout, TNT will manage cargo pickup in Europe; consolidation, tendering and management of direct intercontinental air cargo service into the United States; and customs clearance and deconsolidation at TNT’s U.S. gateway at New York’s Kennedy International Airport. Cargoes then are expedited into Con-way Freight’s network via its Brooklyn, N.Y., service center as LTL shipments for direct-to-door delivery to final destination in the continental United States.
The companies say the alliance also offers both entities the opportunity to explore and develop an expanded range of international freight services under their own brands, utilizing the network connectivity now in place between Con-way Freight in the United States and TNT in the rest of the world.
“TNT’s partnership with Con-way Freight will provide cost-efficient, fast and reliable express freight services to customers on both sides of the Atlantic,” says Marie-Christine Lombard, TNT’s express group managing director and a member of the Amsterdam-based company’s board of management. “We have identified many clients and prospects that are looking to develop their export business to the USA requiring reliable transport solutions for freight shipments. The new collaboration between TNT and Con-way Freight is there to assist them.”
With Europe’s largest road express network, TNT provides local, regional and intra-European service through 414 depots linking more than 33 European countries. Con-way Freight says its network of more than 300 service centers provides direct day-definite service to 99 percent of all ZIP codes in the continental United States. Linking these two networks allows international businesses with heavier shipments (more than 150 pounds) to gain market advantage from a highly consistent and reliable door-to-door service, including online track-and-trace and expedited customs clearance at competitive rates, the companies say.
“This strategic alliance with TNT further expands Con-way Freight’s capabilities to serve the international needs of our customers, a key differentiator in today’s global economy,” says John G. Labrie, president of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Con-way Freight. “We’re both playing to our strengths, with shippers realizing significant benefit from a highly reliable cost-effective service that can reduce overall logistics costs, shorten supply cycles and accelerate product to market. We’re excited to be launching this solution with one of the world’s most respected and successful global express service providers.”
