SEA Transport has taken the concept of ship to shore to a new level. The Felixstowe-based road haulier is serving its customers with a spot of lateral thinking. They’re serving their customers with a service, that takes containers from the hold of the biggest ships alongside the quay, to the key logistics destinations in the rolling countryside of Northamptonshire.
There are not many cranes on the market that have an outreach of a hundred miles. Even the biggest STS movers at Britain’s biggest intermodal port would be exercised to match that performance.
However, SEA Transport, with its distinctive white and blue liveried trucks is doing the next best thing, and moving containers from the port to its own distribution hub in the heart of England – coincidentally one hundred miles (160km) due west.
England’s Golden Triangle
Everyone knows that the longer a container remains in port, the more it costs – and the less it earns. So, hardly has the ship tied up, when SEA Transport is ready to roll, and get their consignments off the quayside and on the road to Rushden, a place that’s nowhere near the coastline, but right in the heart of an area well known as a sweet spot for logistics shipment, England’s Golden Triangle.
British ports are accessible, but they tend not to be in the places where customers want their goods. “Moving our customers’ containers is what we’re all about,” said Mark Binge, Business Development Manager for SEA Transport.
“We have valuable customers all over the UK, and having a base in the Heart of England is particularly important to help us serve them better. Having our own secure distribution facility off port, and on our own land makes economic sense for us. For our customers, it puts their goods in their hands faster.”
Customer-centric supply chain
The wider benefit lets SEA Transport connect container traffic with ports across the UK.
Their Rushden site, roughly midway between London and Birmingham, stores and moves containers, and even provides repair shops for boxes and trucks, all under round-the-clock manned security.
Rushden is for goods that have already been cleared for matters of customs. The Felixstowe facility will remain the company’s External Temporary Storage Facility (ETSF) as a warehouse designated by the UK ruling body, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
“This is a fantastic opportunity to expand the SEA Transport network,” said Binge. “The Rushden facility is seven hectares. It’s not just a storage site. It allows us to trunk boxes between ports and provide inland storage and a customer-centric supply chain solution.”
SEA Transport has an operational head start, and it’s safe for now. Safe that is, until someone delivers an STS that can outreach a hundred miles.