UPS has announced an addition to its China-to-Europe rail shipments as the new modal option continues to gather steam as a both a reliable and viable addition, or alternative, to ocean shipping and air freight. UPS’ Less-than-Container Load (LCL) service offering is available from Zhengzhou to Hamburg and becomes part of the UPS Preferred multimodal freight services portfolio.

UPS established a Full Container Load (FCL) solution for China-to-Europe in June 2014. Full Container Load solutions are offered from Chengdu to Lodz, Poland, and from Zhengzhou to Hamburg, Germany. Combining the rail movement with origin/destination trucking networks enables UPS to provide service to customers throughout China and Europe.

The weekly door-to-door service is supported by UPS tracking technology that delivers full visibility and real-time updates regarding shipment progress via both UPS.com tracking and the use of GPS technology. It also includes security measures and temperature-control options. The UPS Preferred portfolio combines air, rail, ocean and/or ground transportation to help companies balance supply chain speed and costs to meet customer needs.

The largest global trade partners in the last 10 years, China and the European Union’s trade growth was valued at more than US$600 billion in 2014 and is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2020. UPS’s expansion of its rail product portfolio in China reflects the company’s commitment to infrastructure developments along the Silk Road Economic Belt, it said. This expansion coincides with the transformation of China’s manufacturing industry from a low-cost and high-volume model to a more innovative, quality-focused and customer-centric approach.

“China’s manufacturing transformation, which UPS refers to as ‘Made in China 2.0’, is driving our customers’ need for multimodal transportation options,” said Jeff McCorstin, president of Freight Forwarding, Asia Pacific, UPS. “The UPS Preferred LCL rail service will help our customers manage costs and optimize the time-in-transit needs of their customers, especially for smaller shipment sizes.”

UPS said customers who have taken advantage of UPS’s China-to-Europe FCL rail service have experienced cost savings of up to 65 per cent versus air freight and time savings of nearly 40 per cent compared to traditional FCL ocean service on the same routes. “In addition to providing faster and more economical options to customers, these rail options also are a much more environmentally friendly alternative to air and ocean freight, consuming less energy and producing lower carbon emissions.” UPS added.