Customer Advisory Bulletin

Latest Customer Advisory Bulletin

Update: 29 May 2020

Dear Valued Customer,

We continue to report operational constraints related to GEODIS services only when they occur. At our locations not mentioned operations are running as usual as far as we know.

The majority of GEODIS offices across China are operating with normally; our GEODIS Wuhan branch has received the local authority’s greenlight to resume to work at the office. The status of our Chinese offices and warehouses can be found HERE.

GEODIS also provides the latest updates on the operations in our network countries where our agent partners are serving on our behalf, please find the information HERE.

In France, the lifting of the lockdown begins on the 11 of May. This means the resumption of activity for a large number of companies, and for D&E, the gradual return to operational levels aligned as closely as possible to the pace of this recovery.D&E is working to gradually ramp up its resources, in order to allow its express offer to return to normal by June 2. This represents at this deadline, the reinstallation of the essentials:
- Twice daily delivery
- Saturday morning delivery
- top H
- LAO (delivery before opening)
- commitment to express deadlines

D&E restarts on this same date of June 2, the "On Demand" offer and the associated recipient notifications.
The same is true for live animals: restarting of all traffic of live animals from June 2, but with departures only from Monday to Wednesday. The reopening of departures on Thursday will be effective from August 31.
The other temporary adjustments to the D&E commercial offer have been lifted as of Monday the 11 of May:
- C.O.D. deliveries
- Swap deliveries
- Deposits and collections of goods at our docks for any kind of consignee including private individuals

Concerning individuals, D&E continues to provide delivery to individuals, excluding departments 67, 68 and 90.More than ever, the management of these flows to the individual must be done in strict compliance with the usual B2C support conditions HERE.
All our deliveries, both private and business, continue to be carried out in compliance with our contactless delivery procedure, in order to guarantee the safety of our employees, our clients and the consignees.
The absolute necessity for our shippers is to verify before sending, that their recipients are able to receive their goods. D&E hope, like its clients, that this economic recovery will be fast, and reaffirm that our mission "to help you succeed by overcoming logistical constraints" is more important to us than ever.

Road Transport in France continues to mobilize its resources to the highest level of efficiency possible to fulfil customer demand. Our aim is to learn how you are preparing for the progressive restart and to understand what is important on your markets and in your countries, in the context of even shorter term visibility which will remain a challenge.We are here to share and exchange analysis of the situation, including your short and medium term projections. In this way we hope to provide solutions that will mix capacity and flexibility, and in the same time a guarantee that sanitary rules in force will be strictly respected. For this reason, we have secured a regular delivery of masks and sanitary products to our drivers. We are also working closely with our main transport partners to ensure they can also achieve their missions safely. Contact your local GEODIS office who will be able to rapidly respond to your requirements.

Freight Forwarding activities continue to operate adequately globally. As the GEODIS workforce has transitioned to a remote working environment in most countries around the world, CCL (Cargo Container Lines) Original Bills of Lading, as well as import and export shipments, may not be handled as promptly as expected in most of our European branches. We recommend that you use Express CCL or ask your suppliers at origin to Telex Release the documents through a local GEODIS office. We remind you that transport documents are available via your Real-Time Information System (IRIS) account through which you can also perform online bookings.

The Contract Logistics Line of Business continues to operate in all GEODIS countries with increased security measures in our warehouses. All employees follow the reccommended preventive measures (frequent handwashing, one-meter distance between co-workers) and our facilities are thoroughly deep cleaned on a daily basis. In addition, activities in healthcare and food warehouses are geared up to ensure efficient delivery in all countries.

In several countries we have started to implement further remote working options for our employees. So far this is not impacting our operational capacity and you can expect to be served as usual.

Regulatory Updates from Local Authorities

Colombia: Through resolution 844 the Government made official the extension of the state of emergency until August 31st, 2020. Today the Government allowed the selling of the international flights for passengers from September 1st, 2020. The mayor of Bogota has announced that despite the national quarantine ending on May 31st, 2020, Bogota will keep the preventive isolation until June 15th, due to an increase of COVID cases in the capital city and the current high level of intensive care units occupied.
Canada: Province of Ontario (TORONTO) moves to phase #1 of re-opening. Ontario's first stage of economic recovery will include resuming construction projects and the reopening of some workplaces, seasonal activities and healthcare settings open as of 12:01 Saturday May 16th, 2020 ➢ Province of Quebec (MONTREAL) will continue lock-down and specifically in the city of Montreal as Covid-19 infections continue to spike ➢ Province of British Columbia (VANCOUVER) never issued a shelter-in-place order, so decisions around reopening parks and community centres — provided physical distancing measures can be maintained — will be made on a local level in the weeks ahead.Canada and the United States appear likely to extend border closures for all non-essential travel until June 21. Supply chains are not be impacted by this closure.

You can also find the latest updates on Americas HERE.

Freight Operations

AIR FREIGHT

Air France KLM Martinair Cargo's cargo network continues to recover, now serving 67 long-haul destinations. Flight frequencies have also been increased for a large number of other destinations. From Paris Charles de Gaulle to New York, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Conakry, Nouakchott, Bangui, Abidjan, Nairobi, Shanghai and Tokyo. And from Amsterdam Schiphol to New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Toronto, Buenos Aires, Dubai, Mumbai, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manilla, Osaka and Tokyo.

OCEAN FREIGHT:

Global Port Restrictions: Due to changes implemented by governments over the last few days, there are further port restrictions around the globe. You can find all the updates HERE.
Hapag Lloyd announced that M/V “HAMMONIA EMDEN” Voyage 019N of their Caribbean Express Service (CES) will be phased out of the service. The company will void the corresponding Southbound Voyage 024S. The North European Coastal Schedule is as follows:
- London, GB: Sunday, June 7 – 00:60 hrs (discharge only)
- Rotterdam, NL: Monday, June 8 – 15:00 hours (discharge only)
- Antwerp, BE: Wednesday, June 10 – 06:00 hrs (Phase Out)
- For the Export (Southbound) Cargoes we kindly ask you to book on the next vessel M/V “EVRIDIKI G.” Voyage 025S. If Export Cargoes need to be shipped the same week we can alternatively offer you the M/V “COSCO SHIPPING DANUBE” Voyage 0123S from our South America West Coast – North Europe Express Service (SWX) with the respective trans shipment in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean for the Export (Northbound) Cargoes we will continue to provide the weekly service and will phase in the M/V “MINERVA” Voyage 023N.

GEODIS AirDirect Service Between Europe - USA

The U.S. government issued a 30-day ban on travel from Europe and The United Kingdom which will have a significant impact on the movement of trans-Atlantic cargo. GEODIS offers regular flights per week, roundtrip charter flights for cargo between Europe and the United States using the optimal gateways. This new service will connect USA Gateways via Chicago to Liege, Belgium with connecting service to European Gateways. Book now!

Liege to Chicago/New York

Liege to Chicago
Departure scheduled on 29 May 2020

Chicago/New York to Liege

New York to Liege
Departure scheduled on 30 May 2020

GEODIS AirDirect Services Between Asia – Europe - US and AirDirect Mexico

We have established charter solutions to secure the capacity required by our customers for shipments between China & Europe. The next available flights with remaining capacity are:

Liege to Shanghai with a scheduled departure on 31 May 2020
Shanghai to Liege with a scheduled departure on 28 and 31 May 2020
Xiamen to Paris(CDG) with a scheduled departure on 26 May and 1 June 2020
Hong Kong to Los Angeles with a scheduled departure on 26 May 2020

Please reach out to your GEODIS contacts for more information.

GEODIS AirDirect Europe to Australia / New Zealand

GEODIS is extending the charter solutions to secure the required capacity for our customers for shipments from Europe via Frankfurt gateway and to Australia via Hong Kong. The flights will be twice a week:

Frankfurt to Hong Kong Thursdays with an onward journey from Hong Kong to Sydney Fridays arriving Saturdays
Frankfurt to Hong Kong Sundays with an onward journey from Hong Kong to Sydney Mondays arriving Tuesdays

For further info on this service, please view it on the flyer HERE. Please reach out to your GEODIS contacts for more information.

GEODIS Ocean Solution for Shipments in Transit

We realize that extended lockdowns and temporary company closures, in a variety of countries worldwide, are creating challenges to get your goods delivered to their final destinations. Our teams are here to help you with all your individual logistical requirements. While we continue to maintain the safety of our colleagues against infection, we are working very hard to find suitable solutions for your goods in the most cost-effective manner, which include options below:

Storing full import / export containers “off-dock” to avoid high demurrage charges on quay, at carriers’ container terminals.
Finding suitable secure container storage facilities close to the receiver’s premises, where possible, to ensure quick delivery once required.
Unloading of containers and warehousing of cargo for temporary storage.
Solutions through vessel operators to delay shipments in transit or to arrange storage at designated locations.

Please engage your contacts at GEODIS to better understand which solutions are the best options for your business, before your shipments arrive.

GEODIS Rail Solution China - Europe

We have also set up additional block train services between China and Europe to support the dispatch of urgent shipments. Details of the rail solutions between China and Europe with schedules and routes are as follow:

Standard Solution:

Xi´an to Hamburg or Duisburg, via Małaszewicze with approx. 18-day transit time, terminal to terminal for FCL shipments. Planned departures every Monday.
Hamburg or Duisburg to Xi’an, via Małaszewicze with approx. 18-day transit time, terminal to terminal for FCL shipments. Planned departures every Wednesday.
Chongqing into Duisburg, via Małaszewicze with approx. 18-day transit time, terminal to terminal for LCL shipments. Planned departures every Sunday.
Chongqing into Małaszewicze, with approx. 14-day transit time for LCL shipments. Planned departures every Friday.
Duisburg into Chongqing, via Małaszewicze with approx. 18-day transit time for LCL shipments. Planned departures every Saturday.

Express Solution:

Xi’an to Hamburg via Mukran with approx. 12-day transit time, terminal to terminal for FCL & LCL shipments. Planned departures every Wednesday.
Hamburg to Xi’an via Mukran with approx. 12-day transit time, terminal to terminal for FCL & LCL shipments. Planned departures every Monday.

For bookings and more information, please contact your GEODIS representatives.

Market Outlook:

Air freight rates out of China have continued to fall, although not at the pace they rose.
New figures for the past week from the TAC Index and Freight Investor Services (FIS) show China to Europe down $0.59, while China to the US is down $0.23. FIS said the slower rate drop was due to Hong Kong, where rates rose to the US by $1.14. Shanghai, however, fell $1.37 to Europe and $1.60 to the US. Seabury data from last week showed eastbound transpacific capacity grew 4% compared with last year, while Asia-Europe was down only 10%. Asia to Latin America was down 13% year on year. But, it added, “transatlantic air cargo capacity shows no signs of recovery yet”.
It said there was limited growth of passenger freighters on the transatlantic, with most added on routes to and from Asia, and intra-Middle East and south Asia. Passenger freighters had added close to 75,000 tonnes of air cargo capacity a week since the peak decline, but, as Seabury notes, most of it is directed towards the urgent demand for personal protective equipment (PPE).
Overall, global air cargo capacity is 26% lower than this time last year. FIS’s forward-looking rates suggest that next month will see China to Europe rates rise $0.32, but China to US will fall $0.40. It forecasts that in July, both lanes will lift $0.20.

Source, The Loadstar, 27 May

For the latest statistics on Coronavirus situation, please refer to the link HERE.

You can also find the latest of these bulletins on LinkedIn, twitter or Facebook. Kindly note that additional access to these bulletins has been added to GEODIS' Intelligent Real-Time Information System (IRIS) as well.

Please rest assured that we will keep you updated of any changes to the current situation. Should you have any concern and/or queries, please feel free to contact your GEODIS Local Representative.

Sincerely Yours,
GEODIS Management Team

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