Office closures during the mid-autumn festival

Fundamental measures to cope with the current COVID-19 situation

After numerous countries have imposed restrictions on public life and some have closed their borders (currently for passenger transport), we are confronted with a number of challenges as a result of the current corona situation. Due to accompanying restrictions to contain the spread of the virus, DACHSER is faced with delivery restrictions in regions or recipient groups (e.g.: catering and retail trade with the exception of essential goods). We are therefore dependent on the support of our customers.

We ask our customers only to hand over consignments for transport where it can be guaranteed that the goods will be accepted by the recipient. If we are unable to deliver consignments due to restrictions in the destination area or closure of a business, we will return consignments already accepted for a fee so that they can be returned to the sender's care as quickly as possible.  Further shipments to these areas or to final recipients will then no longer be accepted. This serves to avoid idle times and thus damage risks in the interest of all.

Of course we also offer individual possibilities of interim storage in contract logistics if required. For the reservation of storage capacities we ask our customers to contact us. We regret the inconvenience this may cause, but we consider it our duty to point out possible scenarios.

Our teams worldwide will stay in contact with our customers. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with your contact at the relevant DACHSER branch to discuss your particular situation and make further arrangements for your freight shipments.

All news on the current situation can be found on our respective DACHSER country websites.

Hurricane Dorian affects Florida sea ports

Dorian, currently a Category 5 hurricane on Sunday night local time, is approaching the southeastern coast of the United States from Florida to the Carolinas.

The storm is expected to affect all Florida seaports on the Atlantic side. Below the ports that are currently affected:

Miami ports:

• South Florida Container Terminal – closed at noon, August 30, for vessel operations.
• POMTOC’s gate closed on August 30 to prepare the terminal for Hurricane Dorian.

Port Everglades:

•  Port Condition ZULU in effect since 6pm, September 1 –  sustained tropical storm force winds are expected to reach the port within the next 12 hours. Port Everglades will be closed to all operations unless specifically approved by the authority.

Jacksonville and Tampa:

• Port Condition WHISKEY in effect – still open to all commercial traffic and all transfer operations 

Florida airports are monitoring the path of the hurricane closely, but have not announced any closures yet.

We will continue to monitor the hurricane and will provide updates. Please contact your local DACHSER representative if you have any questions.

Coronavirus: updates on DACHSER’s operations in China

The Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia recently spread rapidly in China and many cities and provinces have confirmed cases. In order to keep the epidemic under control, the Central Government has announced the extension of the Lunar New Year holiday to February 2. Local authorities, however, have requested enterprises in that region to not have their employees return to the office until a specific later date, mostly on February 10.

DACHSER Branches

Most of the DACHSER branches will officially re-open on February 10. Starting from Monday next week, February 3, depending on cities and permissions from local authorities, skeleton staff will be arranged to enter the office building to manage critical shipments and minimize impact like detention, demurrage fee, TLX release and etc. We regret that we could not provide full operations but will try out best to maintain basic services.

The date for re-opening is changing on a daily basis and is subject to change depending on the situation. As of today, January 31, 2020, the re-opening date of each branch is as follows:

• Beijing: Feb-03
• Chengdu: Feb-03
• Dalian: Feb-10
• Dongguan: Feb-10
• Guangzhou: Feb-10
• Nanjing: Feb-10
• Ningbo: Feb-10
• Qingdao: Feb-10
• Shanghai: Feb-10
• Shenzhen: Feb-10
• Suzhou: Feb-10
• Tianjin: Feb-03
• Wuhan: Feb-14
• Xiamen: Feb-10
• Zhongshan: Feb-10

Operations in Wuhan

DACHSER’s staff from Wuhan branch will work from home and part of the operations will be handled via our Shanghai team. Hubei Province Authorities announced that customers will need to apply transportation certificate from the local government and hand in the certificate to logistics company if they wish to have shipment to enter or exit the province by trucks.

General business in China

While we are trying our best to keep the operation as smooth as possible, please note that most of the factories in China are still closed; trucking services, flights and terminals are operating at minimum service level. Delays and other operational issues are to be expected.

We will continue to update you via our website with the latest information on how this is impacting your supply chain. Should you have any concerns and/or queries, please feel free to contact your local DACHSER representative.

Consequences of adverse weather conditions in Spain

Storm Filomena has affected Spain in recent days and especially the Community of Madrid, we would like to give you some information about the restrictions on logistics.

Road Transport:

• Difficulties in distribution activities throughout the week, mainly throughout Madrid
• Restrictions on access to industrial estates due to accumulation of snow and vehicles
• Difficulties in collections, deliveries and shipments to other delegations. Journeys to and from Madrid may suffer significant delays
• Traffic restrictions for heavy vehicles (partially open on some roads)
• Temporary reduction of long-distance routes between delegations

Air Transport:

• MAD airport starts operating slowly but suffers long delays due to canceled flights
• Handling personnel are severely restricted and therefore air cargo operations start to run very slowly
• Customs operations are giving priority to express shipments
• Road access to and from Madrid suffer significant restrictions

During this week, the alert is still active due to very low temperatures (in some places below -10ºC), so please expect strong restrictions and incidents in all transport and distribution services.

If you have questions, please feel free to speak to your DACHSER representative. We hope that the situation will normalize as soon as possible, and we will keep you informed.