Stuttgart, Dusseldorf First it was China, then Europe, now the USA – the ocean container giants are damming up everywhere in front of the most important seaports. Corona, strikes and the war in Ukraine make sea freight an incalculable risk. In view of such extreme problems in the supply chain, more and more companies are deciding to take unconventional measures – including the medium-sized company Trumpf.
When it comes to sea freight to the USA, the Leibinger family, the owner family, resorts to self-help: the laser specialist, managed by Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller, has chartered its own ocean-going cargo ship called “Arneborg” from the Wagenborg shipping company through DB Schenker. Trump is the “captain” of the ship, determines the time of departure and the route.
Heavy-duty cranes have just loaded it in the port of Hamburg with 49 laser cutting machines and production parts worth a double-digit million euro amount.
“It initially sounded absurd for a high-tech company to charter its own ocean-going container ship. But the logistics costs pay off for Trumpf,” emphasizes Frank Nesselberger, head of logistics at the Swabian family company. However, the Swabians also saved a bit, because it was cheapest to charter a ship that had already loaded wood.
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In Germany, Trumpf is one of the largest transporters of oversized loads to the United States. The container ship should arrive in New Jersey after around two weeks.
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The main reason for the decision: Since the ship, which is comparatively smaller at 960 TEU (equivalent to 480 trucks) compared to the huge container ships, does not have to call at the classic large terminals, there are no long waiting times in front of the ports.
As a result, the machines reach their destination up to four weeks faster. “Without the charter solution, the current postponements in the ports would have hit us hard,” says Nesselberger.
Threatening contractual penalties from customers due to late delivery are not the reason for the special campaign with its additional costs.
Four weeks earlier at the destination in the USA
On-time delivery to the USA is particularly important for the machine builder from Ditzingen near Stuttgart, as the United States is the second largest sales market for the group with sales of EUR 655 million. Against all odds, the US economy is booming. And Trumpf wants to continue to be able to deliver reliably.
In view of the skyrocketing freight rates at sea since autumn 2021 and the ongoing transport delays, numerous overseas importers have already resorted to self-help in recent months.
In October 2021, for example, the US supermarket giant Walmart chartered the cargo ship “Flying Buttress” in order to be able to put enough toys from the Far East on the shelves in time for the Christmas trade. Competitors Target, US Metro rival Costco and home improvement chain Home Depot followed a few days later.
In Europe, trading companies such as the Swiss grocer Coop, the Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt, the Spanish fashion chain Tendam (“Cortefiel”, “Springfield”) and the fashion retailer Mango joined forces to form the Xstaff purchasing association. In this way, they were able to act as a powerful major customer vis-à-vis the shipping companies – and at times also charter entire cargo ships.
The Internet retailer Amazon even turned the freight bottlenecks at sea into a new business model. Under the name “Amazon Global Logistics”, he offers importers cargo space on container ships at favorable conditions, which the US group has secured in advance. The only condition: the goods must then be sold exclusively via the Amazon marketplace.
Trumpf takes unusual paths and resorts to self-help when it comes to sea freight.
(Photo: Trumpf / Lucas Wahl)
High risks of the shipping business
A move by Lidl shows that entry into the shipping business for people who are new to the industry like Trumpf is not without its risks. In the spring, the discount supermarket chain announced the establishment of a shipping company.
Lidl had it entered in the commercial register under the name Tailwind Shipping Lines. In the early summer of 2022, three chartered container ships and one acquired should set off towards the Far East.
But the start is more sluggish than planned. The chartered “Jadrana” with slots for 4975 standard containers (TEU) was first passed on to the shipping company MSC until at least August – at a daily rent of 110,000 dollars, as the Daily Port Report (THB) shows.
The deployment of the two freighters “Mercur Ocean” and “Talassa” has also been delayed: the industry is still waiting for a report of completion.
After all: There was good news for Lidl’s 5000 TEU ship “Wiking”. In mid-July, the freighter put a new container line connection between Taicang in east China’s Jiangsu Province and Rotterdam in the Netherlands into operation, according to the Chinese Yangtze River Pilotage Center.
Managers of large sea freight forwarders have recently repeatedly expressed doubts that Lidl can also organize enough return freight to be able to operate the liner service profitably.
There is no standard solution
Trumpf will not go as far as Lidl. The Swabians only chartered the ship for one trip, so they don’t have to worry about freight for the onward journey. The machine builder from Ditzingen prefers to leave this business to the professional logisticians.
“The charter solution offers us a number of degrees of freedom. However, it is also associated with greater complexity in handling the freight,” admits manager Nesselberger. Trumpf employees were personally on site during loading in Hamburg.
“Due to their complexity, we see the disturbances at sea as a medium-term phenomenon that will not resolve anytime soon,” says Nesselberger. Trumpf is constantly checking alternative routes via other means of transport, other ports or airports, other terminals, other ships or other airlines in order to avoid acute traffic jams.
“There is no standard solution because the situation is constantly changing,” emphasizes the head of logistics. In any case, the large laser machines cannot be transported without being dismantled with available aircraft.
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