TNT opens 'super hub' in Sydney

TNT has recently opened a new, state-of-the-art 78,000 square metre sized 'super hub' located at Erskine Park, Sydney which is aimed at handling both domestic and international shipments.

Being able to process up to 25,000 parcels per hour, the new facility will be installed with the most up-to-date sorting technology with a warehouse space of over 30,000 square metres. Shipments considered as 'incompatible' freight will benefit from the high speed automatic sortation system which boasts the ability to handle items exceeding 1.5 metres in size and 30kg in weight. A new automatic pallet deconsolidation process which will reduce the need for manual handling.

Erskine Park was chosen as the site of the new building due to its close proximity to many of TNT's high volume customers. Posing in an excellent position between Brisbane and Melbourne, the new hub has the ability to absorb high volumes of shipments on a daily basis.

Managing Director for TNT's domestic division, Marco van Kalleveen, ha said: "This new super hub enables us to streamline processes and implement some of the most advanced parcel sortation systems available." Kalleveen continued: "The reduced processing times, increased accuracy and faster delivery outcomes will help us provide even better service to our customers."

TNT Express to invest $85m into building regional hub near Brisbane, Australia

TNT Express is due to invest 85 million Australian dollars into building a new headquarters distribution centre located near Brisbane, Australia. The new site will reach 72,000 square metres in size, situated at Redbank within the city of Ipswich. With construction to begin this month, its expected completion date is June 2015.

TNT Express has said the new depot will provide state-of-the-art parcel sorting technologies that will be able to process 15,000 parcels per hour, whilst also being able to cut carbon emissions by up to 20%.

The parcel delivery company is said to recruit from the local area; the facility is expected to introduce 300 full-time jobs.

Regional Director for TNT Express Queensland, Peter Gutsche, has commented: "The new TNT Express Redbank logistics hub will be a major facility in this important and growing area of Queensland. It will contain some of the most technologically advanced and innovative parcel sorting technology available to improve the operational efficiency and security of our customers' shipments."

The new construction is part of a broader investment for TNT Express in Australia, including the introduction of new "super hubs" in Sydney and Melbourne, due for completion in 2015.

Transit times to Australia | How long will my parcel take to be delivered?

Not many nations are further from the UK than Australia (London is over 10,000 miles from Sidney as the crow flies!) but with a quality door-to-door courier service, your parcel can still reach its Australian destination in record time. The largest global courier companies such as UPS and DHL offer excellent transit times to Australia and with parcel delivery resellers such as Transglobal Express you can ensure you get quality services from big name carriers for a fraction of the price.

Transglobal Express offer a variety of discounted services from leading couriers including UPS, DHL, TNT and FedEx. You can compare the prices of each and pick the best one to suite your timescale and budget.   All major carriers offer Transit Times Calculator tools; if you know your collection and delivery address, you simply enter these into a quick form and you will see how long your parcel will take to be delivered depending on the service you select. With the UPS Expedited service, you can book a delivery to Australia this Friday morning, have it picked up this afternoon and delivered to Australia by Monday! If your parcel is less time-sensitive, there are more economical services you can select. You can compare a variety of services by getting a quote with Transglobal Express today!

Australia fights customs corruption

If you send parcels to Australia regularly, you may remember that the discovery of allegedly corrupt customs officers at Sydney airport led to the arrest of four personnel last year. Australian minister for Justice Jason Clare subsequently set up a customs reform board, which published a report outlining recommendations for improvements to the customs service. The report states that, with air cargo traffic shipments expected to rise from 29 million to a massive 95 million a year by 2017, there is an increasing threat of "serious, organised criminals attempting to infiltrate our border agencies and corrupt our officers".

Sydney Customs House

The government have proposed a number of measures in response comprising, changes to employees' terms and conditions, increased partnership working and better use of technology and electronic information. The proposed strategies so far include:

• fixed periods of employment for customs personnel
• a tightening up of the policy relating to second jobs
• working with airlines and forwarders to expedite clearance procedures for trusted and compliant clients
• full electronic data reporting for all Australian imports and exports
• direct access to logistics companies' databases for streamlined shipment and customer profiling. 

The announcements by the Australian government coincide with the publication of one of the largest and farthest reaching public opinion surveys into corruption. the According to the survey carried out by Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International, over 50% of people think corruption has worsened in the last two years. Of the 114,000 participants in 107 countries, 27% said they have paid a bribe when accessing public services in the last 12 months. 

Sending a parcel to Australia

Many UK residents have family in Australia and thanks to new technologies such as Skype, it's easier - and cheaper - than ever for us to keep in touch with them. Still, nothing quite compares to sending parcels to let your loved ones know you care. Have you thought about sending a parcel to Australia but don't know where to start? If you're sending a parcel internationally for the first time, you may need some guidance on how to pick the best courier service for your needs. 

Cost

In spite of the massive distance between the UK and Australia (London to Sydney is over 10,000 miles as the crow flies) sending a parcel down under can be much more economical than you might expect. For international delivery to Australia, our rates are amongst the most competitive around and start from less than £30 per single kg ranging to £3.54 per kg, depending on the weight of the parcel you want to send. Of course, the greater the weight of your individual parcel, the cheaper the price per kilogram. Click here to get a quick quote.

Customs

As with any parcel delivery to a country not within the European Union, when shipping to Australia from the UK, you will need to provide four copies of a customs invoice to your driver when they arrive to collect your parcel. This is a document detailing the contents and value of your consignment which the relevant authorities use to process your parcel and calculate customs costs. Services such as Transglobal Express produce these automatically for you during the booking process and they can be downloaded and printed once your order is complete. If you are sending personal effects, we have Austrialian customs forms available on the documentation section of our website to assist the swift transit of your parcel.

Transit time

Booking parcel delivery with an international courier means your parcel will arrive in Australia in a matter of days rather than weeks. Depending on the service you select, delivery can be as quick as three days, and the majority of parcels are delivered within a week. 

For further information, please call our customer services on 0845 145 1212 (Monday-Friday 9:00- 5:30 pm). Happy shipping!

DHL reveal service improvement and expansion plans for Americas- Asia Pacific and intra-Asian networks

In a bid to decrease transit times and capture increased trade across the pacific, DHL announced plans this morning to improve their connections between Japan and the US, to increase the frequency of their US- Australia connections, and to introduce new links between Taipei, South Korea and Japan.

 

Image c/o DHL 

The proposed enhancements will be launched by the end of April 2013 and will result in a new next-day delivery service from Japan to the US, and a two-day delivery capability for US, Canadian and Latin American customers shipping to Tokyo.

New connections to Australia from the US will be routed via Japan, with the aim of improving both US- Australia connections, and building capacity for increased trade between Australia and North Asia.

Jerry Hsu, CEO, DHL Express Asia Pacific, said: "The integration and strategic scheduling of additional highly efficient freighter aircraft into our network will directly benefit a large number of markets across three continents. Trade between Asia and the US is predicted to grow 10% per annum up to 20201. We are improving service and adding capacity between Asia and the US to support the continued two-way growth we see on the world's biggest trade lane. By providing more capacity and connections, DHL is helping customers capitalize on this potential."

Source: DHL

How to address a letter or parcel to Australia? Tips on address formatting

When sending parcels to Australia, there are a few addressing guidelines which you should keep in mind.

For this reason, we have put together a quick guide for addressing parcels/letters to Australia. Here are two formatting options.

I. Traditional Address Format

1st Example

UK address format	U.S. address format
Mr Jack Dooley 120 Hammersmith Grove	Ms Emma Riley 22 Avebury Street
London	West End QLD 4101
W6 7HB
UK	AUSTRALIA

UK and Australian traditional residential addresses have a lot in common. However, there a couple of differences which set them apart.

(1) Firstly, the name of an Australian town / city is directly followed by an abbreviation for the state it is located in. “QLD”, for instance, is short for “Queensland”. 

Other abbreviations are as follows:

    ACT - Australian Capital Territory

    NSW - New South Wales

    NT  - Northern Territory

    SA  - South Australia

    TAS - Tasmania

    VIC - Victoria

    WA  - Western Australia

(2) Secondly, Australian postcodes are displayed after the name of the state.

II. Apartment or Commercial Address

2nd Example

UK address format	U.S. address format
Mr John Smith Apartment 8 120 Hammersmith Grove	Mr Tom Yates Suite 10a Floor 3, 50 Old Burleigh Road
London	Surfers Paradise QLD 4217
W6 7HB
UK	AUSTRALIA

(3) If you would like to send a parcel an apartment or commercial address in Australia, insert the “suite” number below the name of the recipient, followed by the floor number, house number and street name.

Important Notice:

A charge for customs clearance processing of AU$165 payable at the destination may be applied to personal effects consignments shipped with DHL. Please complete an Australian Customs Form, a packing list and provide a photocopy of the photo page of your passport. You can hand all of this to driver on collection. A quarantine charge of approximately AU$45 may also occur.

Should you wish to send a document or parcel to Australia via courier, express or standard parcel delivery, then please visit TransglobalPremium.co.uk. 

Qantas announces Star Track Express sale

Qantas, one of Australia’s leading air freight carriers, has confirmed plans to give away its 50 percent stake in the trucking business, Star Track Express.

Image c/o startrackexpress.com.au

According to Analytiqa.com, Star Track failed to increase its net growth. Moreover, Alan Joyce, Chief Executive of Qantas, stated that the air freight forwarder would no longer be focussed on trucking as a central business arm.

If Qantas went forward with the sale, it could gain a potential sum of US$ 304 million. Speculations about the company selling off Australian Air Express were confirmed untruthful.

Source: Analytiqa.com

DHL launches new direct flight between USA and Australia

DHL, one of the leading international courier services providers, has expanded its air network by opening up a new direct flight connection between the USA and Australia.

Image c/o DHL

Starting this month, the aircraft is said to leave Cincinati twice a week. It will transport up to 113 tons worth of goods to Sydney and Melbourne. DHL hopes that the new flight connection will help strengthen its position in the Australian and New Zealand Market which expert predicting a growth of 12 percent for this year.

"The new flight, operated with modern, environmentally-friendly freighters, will birng a number of clear benefits for customers: it will guarantee uplift on a route that is already in high demand, while reducing deliver ytimes on shipments picked up in the US and destined for key destinations in Australia", said Charlie Dobbie, Executive Vice President, Global Network Operations, DHL Express.

Furthermore, the parcel service provider is also planning on shorting its transit times for delieveries to Brisbane of Melbourne. Last year, 12.5 percent of all imports into Australia came from the USA making it Australia's second largest import partner.

Here is more information about prices and parcel services to Australia.

Sources: DHL / Transglobal Express

New Zealand Post ends business contract with DHL after eight years

Logo c/o NZP

Eight years after the New Zealand Post (NZP) and DHL embarked a joint venture, both carriers have agreed to end their contractual relationship.

NZP was formed back in 2004 and began joined DHL as a business partner one year later. It currently offers express delivery services in New Zealand, but also sends parcels internationally via the DHL Express network.

The courier service recently agreed to purchase a two new subsidiaries which are currently owned by DHL. Once the transaction is completed, Express Couriers Limited (ECL) and the Australian Parcel Direct Group Pty Limited (PDG) are going to be wholly owned by NZP.

“Express delivery is a core element of our current and future strategy. (…) Having full alignment between New Zealand Post and Express Couriers Limited will allow us to better match our product offerings to customers’ needs, and as we have previously indicated, explore the benefits of further aligning our postal and courier networks. We can only achieve this if we have full ownership of ECL”, explained NZP Group CEO Brian Roche.

In future, NZP customers can still benefit from DHL Express connectedness as NZP’s international parcel services will continue to utilise DHL’s global network whilst all parcels to New Zealand and Australia will be shipped by ECL and CPPL.

Source: NZ Post 

IMT facility to replace 1.2 million trucks with sea freight services

Soon Australia will be able to pride itself with, yet, another great sea freight facility, the Morebank Intermodal Terminal (IMT). In 2017 the IMT is said to receive its first ocean freight shipments.

Not only is the new facility going to cope with approximately 1 million containers per annum, but it also going to incorporate environmental safety and sustainability in its operations. Once up and running the IMT sea freight terminal is supposed to replace 1.2 million trucks.

Those trucks usually transport freight on Sydney’s roads. However, they are going to be replaced with the IMT’s new freight forwarding and connected rail services. In fact, last mentioned will transport the goods directly to the terminal.

By the end of 2014, the School of Military Engineering (SME) will be located to a new facility near Holsworthy Barracks in order to make room for the Morebank Intermodal Terminal.

Any interested freight forwarders, logistics groups or construction companies are invited to join the next IMT meeting on 21^st May. (For further information, please contact Rebecca Drescher-Boulos – rdrescherkpmg.com.au.)

Source: handyshippingguide.com / finance.gov.au

Tip: Send a Parcel to Australia from UK

Sending a parcel to Australia from the UK via courier? Many businesses have recognised the advantages that come with booking their parcel deliveries online. Not only does it save a lot of time but one can take advantage of reduced rates of up to 67% on international delivery charges.

Let us have a look at the benefits of using couriers for your parcel delivery to Australia:

1. Experience & Safety

Australia’s landscape and extensive road network connects coastal cities with desert lands, also known as the Outback. Today, a population of about 690,000 still live in Australia’s outback.

In order to delivery parcels to such isolated parts of Australia, courier drivers have to have a thorough knowledge of the desert and its road network.

Therefore many customers entrust their consignments with Australia’s very own TNT as well as DHL and UPS who are amongst the leading carriers to service this area.

2. Speed

With Perth bordering the Indian Ocean and Sydney being located on the south-east coast, parcel deliveries can easily take 1 to 2 weeks. Fortunately, the express parcel services offered by TNT, UPS or DHL make it possible to have your parcels delivered to anywhere in Australia within an estimated time of 3 to 4 working days.

Frequent direct flights from Australia’s major airport enable these couriers to service any area quickly and efficiently.

3. Discounted Prices

Thanks to eCommerce courier companies, sending parcels to Australia no longer needs to be expensive.
As a business you can save more than 1/3 on international delivery rates when booking your parcel delivery online on Transglobal Premium.