15 days and 10,000 kilometers, "truck flight" goes all the way from Germany to China.
a truck loaded with precision instruments, aerospace materials and electronic products has become the fourth choice for China-Europe cargo transportation.
March 01, 2019 05: Focus/Special Article Source: Jiefang Daily
■ Our reporter Wang Li
In the past two days, Dai Daobin, a businessman who is an international trade agent, has been looking forward to it in Shanghai.
On February 28, local time, a truck loaded with precision instruments, aerospace materials and electronic products departed from Dortmund, Germany, passed through Poland, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and other countries, and changed trains at Horgos Port in Xinjiang, my country. Nearly 10,000 kilometers, it is planned to arrive in Shanghai before March 15.
The truck's cargo delivery included two loading box deckers ordered in Germany by a technology company in Yangpu District, Shanghai, and it was the first European-to-Shanghai waybill executed by China-Europe Caravan Logistics Services, operated by Dai Daobin.
Traveling 10,000 kilometers along the Silk Road and transporting goods in a truck sounds a bit like a "fantasy". A truck from Dortmund to Shanghai, what kind of journey is this?
Why do Central European trucks go
After my country joined the "International Road Transport Convention", it has promoted the level of global trade facilitation and improved the safety of international road transport. The truck freight business in China and Europe has the first batch of "crab eaters".
How difficult is it to drive a car from Germany to Shanghai?
Previously, the owner of the Shanghai C license plate drove a car from Shanghai to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which once caused a sensation. Self-driving car owners have no time constraints. They drive all the way along the Silk Road. Although there are risks of one kind or another, they can be said to be unrestrained.
In contrast, the wagon's trip to central Europe is much more difficult. The driver needs to drive the whole journey non-stop within half a month. Although two people change shifts, in addition to driving, they basically sleep in the carriage, which is a great test of physical strength and patience.
The self-driving of private car owners is an adventure, and few people will try it a second time. However, it is a long-term business for trucks to open a round-trip line between China and Europe. Safety, stability, and economy are the necessary conditions for the line to continue for a long time. Compared with the existing freight channels between China and Europe, no matter the traditional air, ocean, or the China-Europe train railway transportation that has emerged in recent years, most of them are "national teams". To support a trade route that runs through the Silk Road, can it be done by relying on a new private enterprise from the Yangtze River Delta?
"It is the national policy that gives us confidence and also gives me an opportunity." Dai Daobin said that this seemingly impossible task can be started, first of all, because my country actively participates in international cooperation and promotes a series of reforms.
On July 5, 2016, China joined the Convention on International Road Transport (TIR Convention) and became the 70th contracting party. The TIR Convention is based on the United Nations Convention and aims to promote global trade facilitation and improve the safety of international road transport by simplifying customs clearance procedures and improving customs clearance efficiency. At present, most of the contracting parties in the "TIR Convention" are located in important areas along the "Silk Road Economic Belt.
After joining the TIR Convention, the General Administration of Customs of China and the International Road Transport Union have coordinated and docked for many times, and identified Horgos Port, Ilkeshitan Port, Erenhot Highway Port, Manzhouli Highway Port, Suifenhe Port, and Dalian Harbor Customs as the pilot ports for TIR transportation, which were launched and implemented in May 2018. Dai Daobin's China-Europe truck freight business started in the second half of last year. He has been engaged in foreign trade logistics for a long time and seized the opportunity to become the first batch of "crab eaters" in the market ".
"At present, after Chinese trucks have completed customs procedures at domestic ports, they do not need to open the box for inspection when they pass through the contracting state, and enterprises should not pay huge transit deposits without delay." Dai Daobin said that this key change is the basis for the smooth travel of trucks to Europe. "Without a new policy, business cannot be done".
The connection of the "Shuangxi Highway" is also an important prerequisite for the realization of road transportation of goods between China and Europe. The full name of the "Shuangxi Highway" is the "Western Europe-Western China" highway. It starts from Lianyungang in China in the east and St. Petersburg in Russia in the west. It is connected to the European highway network and passes through dozens of cities in China, Kazakhstan and Russia, with a total length of 8445 kilometers. Among them, Russia is 2233 kilometers long, Kazakhstan is 2787 kilometers long, and China is 3425 kilometers long.
In November 2006, China and Kazakhstan jointly proposed the construction of the "Shuangxi Highway" expressway transportation corridor. In August 2018, the domestic and overseas sections of the "Shuangxi Expressway" were opened. In September 2018, after a period of trial operation, the Chinese joint inspection area in the south of Horgos and the Noerraur Highway Port in Kazakhstan were officially opened. The opening of the new road not only shortens the distance between China and Europe, but also reduces the time cost. The smooth road also avoids the collision of goods caused by road bumps, making road transportation the fourth choice of goods transportation between China and Europe.
Since the announcement of the General Administration of Customs to implement the TIR Convention, Dai Daobin has considered the feasibility of opening up "truck flights" between China and Europe. After many demonstrations, on August 22, 2018, the first truck operated by the company departed from Stuttgart, Germany, passed through Poland, Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan, and arrived at the Khorgos port in Xinjiang, China on the evening of August 29. Send to Suzhou. "At that time, the'Shuangxi Highway' was still in the trial operation stage, and no one ran such a line. It was also the first time that the customs at Horgos Port encountered a freight truck from Europe to Suzhou." Dai Daobin said that since everything was still in the exploratory stage at that time, customs declaration took nearly four days, but now the enterprise has matured and customs declaration has been basically reduced to less than one day.
Four chapters and more than a dozen chapters
Compared with railway transportation, truck clearance becomes very convenient without unpacking inspection. The truck starts from China and can go directly to the customer's European factory or warehouse as long as it changes once in Kazakhstan.
Why can trucks be faster than trains? In order to explain this problem, Dai Daobin turned up two photos in his mobile phone. One was a customs declaration form for truck transportation. On the declaration form, German customs and Chinese customs each had one chapter, and Kazakhstan customs had two chapters. The other is the customs declaration form for railway transportation, which is densely covered with more than a dozen chapters. Some belong to the customs of the country passing through, while others belong to different railway companies.
Due to China's accession to the TIR Convention, it is very convenient for trucks to pass the customs without unpacking inspection. The truck starts from China, and only needs to change the car in Kazakhstan on the way, and it can directly reach the customer's factory or warehouse in Europe.
The railway's China-Europe trains have a lot of "rich" experience along the way. Although theoretically the Yangtze River Delta to Europe's China-Europe trains run for 15 to 17 days, the trains have requirements on the quantity of goods and must be filled with a whole train before they can leave. Bulk customers generally need to make orders, so the departure time cannot be determined, and sometimes they may have to wait a few days. Even if you start on time, because the standards of China's railways are different from those of Central Asia, and the standards of Central Asia's railways are different from those of Europe, the Central European trains usually need to be changed twice at a time, and the operating companies of the railways along the way are different. When the train passes by, each railway company will check and stamp on the customs declaration form, so the actual time is generally more than 20 days to 30 days.
Dai Daobin said that the loading capacity of a truck is equivalent to two standard containers. As long as the goods are enough, the truck can start. If there are many goods, the company can increase the number of trains at any time, which is very flexible. This is a major feature of truck transportation. In addition, because domestic railway transportation and air transportation stipulate that lithium batteries and other live products cannot be transported, these goods can only be transported by sea for a long time in the past. There are no similar regulations for truck transportation. The transportation of live products by truck can not only ensure a certain degree of timeliness, but also save costs.
At present, "truck flights" mainly serve small and medium-sized business owners, but some large enterprises have expressed interest in this. According to Dai Daobin's experience as a freight forwarder, the freight rate for railway transportation is generally within 10 yuan/kg. The freight rate of air transportation is about 20 yuan/kg, but it fluctuates greatly due to the influence of light and peak seasons. Ocean transportation is the cheapest, generally calculated by volume, mainly due to some low timeliness or large quantities of goods. However, the current price of "truck flights" is around 13 yuan/kg, and the price is.
15 days, 10,000 kilometers, trucks operate 24 hours, across Eurasia, how to ensure the safety of vehicles and goods? Dai Daobin said that the current cars are mainly high-end brand trucks with guaranteed quality. The truck is customized, the cab is equipped with airbags, the driving experience is more comfortable, and the driver is not easy to fatigue; the car board is also equipped with air cushions to reduce bumps and prevent cargo from bumping.
In order to ensure that the goods reach the customers in time, the enterprise has also thought of some ways: if the front of the truck fails, the repair can be completed within 4 hours, and if the repair cannot be completed, the enterprise will directly find a supplier to provide the service of replacing the front of the truck. "We have signed an agreement with the supplier. The supplier has more than 200 service stations along the' Shuangxi Highway' and can deploy vehicles nearby." Dai Daobin said that the company also stipulated that the age of trucks should not exceed 3 years to reduce the failure rate and ensure transportation efficiency.
Because it runs 24 hours a day, each car of the Central European truck flight is equipped with two drivers who have been driving for more than five years, basically changing every four to five hours. Drivers are hard-working and paid relatively high, which is the bulk of the cost of the enterprise. In addition, each car is also equipped with a GPS device, which can be positioned at any time. The next step is to install a one-button alarm system on the car to make the safety of goods more secure.
Why is it called "truck flight"
Before the opening of truck freight, there was no "door-to-door" mode of transportation between China and Europe for about 2 weeks. The opening of road truck freight routes is not a "whim", but comes from market demand and actual pain points.
Once, ocean transportation was the cheapest mode of cargo transportation between China and Europe, followed by railway transportation, and air transportation was the most expensive.
If you calculate the "door-to-door" time for goods from Shanghai to Europe, ocean transportation takes about 40 days, railway transportation takes about 30 days, and air transportation generally takes about 5-10 days. Before the truck passes, there is no transportation method for about 2 weeks.
The opening of road truck freight routes between China and Europe is not a "whim", but comes from market demand and actual pain points. According to people in the international trade industry, with the rising trade between China and Europe in recent years, many customers complain that the cost of air transportation is too high and their goods do not need to arrive within one week. However, if it is replaced by railway or sea, it will take too long.
Dai Daobin said that truck transportation is only a little more expensive than railway transportation and more than 30% cheaper than air transportation. The time is relatively stable and can be controlled within 15 days, reaching in 12 days at the earliest. "We call it'truck flight', which is equivalent to using the price of trucks to achieve efficiency close to air transportation."
At present, Dai Daobin, who has tasted the sweetness, has begun to make his business bigger. His company already has the ability to operate routes between Suzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Tianjin and Xiongan to and from Germany. There are two trains of trucks bound for Europe and returning to China every week nationwide. The number of trucks per flight is determined by the order situation.
The ability to transport goods by truck between China and Europe is fundamentally due to strong market demand. According to data from the Shanghai branch of China Railway Container Transportation Co., Ltd., the Yangtze River Delta region opened a total of 1414 China-Europe trains in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 26%, and a total of more than 66,000 standard containers were transported. In addition to the increase in volume, the categories of goods carried by the China-Europe Express are also becoming more and more abundant-in terms of outbound travel, the categories of goods have expanded from a single IT product to clothing, shoes and hats, auto parts, food, chemicals, small commodities, machinery and equipment, etc. On the opposite side of the return journey, a return supply of goods mainly including auto parts, precision instruments, daily necessities, food and wood has been formed.
Industry experts believe that the current Sino-European trade is heating up, and this market is large enough that more and more customers may choose Sino-European truck transportation in the future.
