Trucker, Ocean Carrier Team Up

OD Global and Hanjin Shipping are partnering in a less-than container load service from China to the United States to speed international transit times.

Starting April 1, OD Global, a division of less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion Freight Line, and Hanjin Logistics, a subsidiary of South Korean container liner Hanjin Shipping, said the service, called “Pacific Promise,” will allow importers to move LCL quantities faster and more consistently and supported by a money back guarantee.

“(Customers) will be able to remove days and dollars from their supply chain while placing their products on U.S. shelves sooner,” said Greg Plemmons, vice president of OD Global. The service could cut transit times by 10 days or more between China and the United States.

The service will be offered initially from the Chinese ports of Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong to the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Customers can check a rate, create a booking and track their shipments from the port to the door online at both Old Dominion’s and Hanjin Logistics’ Web sites. Rates are expressed as a simple single rate per cubic meter that will be slightly greater than standard LCL but up to 75 percent less than air freight.

The two companies said importers of high-value products, time-sensitive and seasonal goods, and shippers moving product from a single origin to multiple destinations have been most interested in using such a service.

The service will compete with other partnerships among container liner companies Matson and NOL and trucking companies Con-way, J.B. Hunt, and Averitt Express.