TNT announced recently that it will make a further €4.5 million investment in its Asia Road Network (ARN), which currently serves six countries and 127 cities in Southeast Asia and southern China. This brings the total investment to date in the fully integrated ARN to morethan €12.5 million.

Most of the new investment will be to acquire a fleet of trucks specially designed to suit pan-Asian routes. The 41-foot trucks and trailers are larger and more environmentally friendly than their predecessors. This announcement coincides with the fifth anniversary of TNT’s unique road network.

TNT said it has experienced brisk and growing demand for its road solutions in the past five years. Capacity on the ARN has grown over 20 per cent year-on-year, while volume between 2009 and 2010 (year-to-date) has grown by 70 per cent. In Singapore alone, volume growth increased by 52 per cent between January 2009 and January 2010.

“Five years ago, we announced our intention to develop a road network in Asia, very much like our Europe Road Network,” said Onno Boots, regional managing director of TNT Southeast Asia and India. “Over the years, we have seen the profile of freight diversify to include more high-value goods, such as electronics, healthcare products and automotive and industrial equipment.”

Transporting goods by road on the ARN is, on average, 30 per cent cheaper than air transportation and three times faster than sea transportation. In the future, TNT expects to see a further shift in transportation from air to road as the ARN and other international transport routes continue to develop. “TNT understands that air freight will continue to be an attractive proposition for companies with time-sensitive requirements. To facilitate a complete door-to-door solution within Asia, TNT decided to invest into the development of a Regional Hub located in Singapore two years ago. This integrated air and road hub was specifically built, at a cost of around S$20 million, to allow a seamless link between our air and road services. Basically, if the trucks were any closer to the planes, they’d be on them. The idea being, of course, to minimise handling times and costs and allow our customers unparalleled reach and access across Southeast Asia and India either by road, air or a combination of both,” said Boots.

In a related development, TNT has achieved the highest validation that the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) awards in its Trucking Security category — Level One — for trucks operating on its Asia Road Network in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. This security level demands 100 per cent compliance from participating companies and their suppliers in meeting stringent security measures.

This validation is of particular interest to customers from the hightech, automotive / industrial, healthcare industry as well as those who require day-definite secure transit for high-value and time-sensitive commodities.

DHL focuses on domestic express in China DHL Express is working to expand its Chinese domestic express volumes through its joint venture with Sinotrans. In early July, Shanghai Quanyi Express and Beijing Sinotrans Express – both owned by DHL-Sinotrans – launched Sinotrans- Apex to develop its domestic express delivery business.

“It’s a new foray for us,” said Charlie Dobbie, executive VP for global network operations and IT at DHL Express. “It’s only over the last 12 months we have decided to take that step, so it’s very early days. The new brand will only concentrate on premium end of the market,” he added.

Currently, Sinotrans-Apex provides services in 662 major Chinese cities and economic centres. But it plans to expand to 800 cities over the next two years, to cover developed regions such as the Pearl River and Yangtze River deltas, Beijing and Tianjin, and by the end of 2011, Sinotrans- Apex aims to have a network of 25 hubs and sorting centres across the country.