Air cargo is not an end-to-end solution. Each port on the Cathay Cargo network acts as a hub taking in or sending out shipments to and from the surrounding region. “Typically we fly to major cities, but manufacturing doesn’t take place in the heart of London, for example,” says Robbie Blackwood, Cathay Cargo’s new Commercial Manager, Trucking & Intermodal. “Although some production intentionally takes place close to hubs, you might be drawing in cargo from outlying regions, so trucking is absolutely crucial.” Indeed, most air cargo begins and ends its journey on the road, sometimes across significant distances.

Network-wide, Cathay Cargo operates more than 800 unique trucking routes. The bulk of these, around 70 per cent, connect different Cathay Cargo online ports as a way to balance load-factor capacity. For example, Cathay Cargo operates at around 10 ports in the Americas, but the potential hinterland is vast and sometimes cross-border. Blackwood recalls another example from his past experience as Cathay Pacific’s Country Manager Malaysia when manufacturing production increased in Penang.

“Because export demand exceeded the capacity of our mix of freighter and passenger flights from Penang, the team developed a trucking solution to Singapore to access the additional capacity there,” he says.

Additionally, some shipments, such as lithium-ion battery consignments, can only be flown on freighters, so these are trucked from passenger-only ports to those with a freighter service.

Extending network reach 

Of the remaining 30 per cent, 20 per cent link Cathay Cargo online ports with offline ports selling into new markets, while the final 10 per cent connect offline ports to those served by Cathay, selling from new markets. These trucking routes effectively extend Cathay Cargo’s intermodal network. The recently launched Munich service, for example, opens up the sales opportunities from the extended reach into Eastern Europe, which the Cathay Cargo service to Frankfurt – which lies further north-west – could not. 

Of the 800 or so unique trucking routes worldwide, Europe accounts for the most with 358, followed by the Americas (US, Canada and Mexico) with 278. There are 55 in SAMEA (South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa), and 48 between the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong.  

The need for a trucking standard

With substantial customer cargo on the road at any time and a growing demand for greater visibility in air cargo shipments, Blackwood’s long-term aim is to develop trucking so that it has the same level of importance in extending Cathay Cargo’s reach as interline airline partners, and to meet the same high standards.

“Trucking has happened for decades but the responsibility has been shared across different departments and regional teams,” he says. “My role is to centralise it and help teams to provide a better, more consistent trucking experience for our customers.”

Blackwood says that most of the trucking companies used are specialists in providing services for air cargo, but nevertheless there is an opportunity to improve and standardise processes. “There is a need to look at trucking and intermodal as a whole, and see how it can become the best possible product for customers,” he says.  

Keeping eyes on the road

Improving visibility is one area of focus. When shipments are in transit to an offline port, customers don’t necessarily have access to status updates in every case. So they will typically call sales teams for information on where their shipment is. “If you’re in Penang and getting asked that, and the shipment is in Central Europe, you would need to message the Cargo team in Central Europe, who then messages the trucking company. With time-zone differences, it can take hours,” says Blackwood. “We’d like to provide customers with as much transparency as possible and as consistently as possible.”

His initial research shows a trend for digitalisation in the trucking sector and a lot of trucking companies offer live GPS data. “We want to partner with trucking companies that share our vision for customer service, and we are already looking at how we could integrate this information into our own website,” he says. Then there are other factors up for consideration, such as the potential of trucks to serve as branding tools – 38-tonne, 15-metre billboards taking the Cathay Cargo message out on the road. Nothing is off the table.

On the waves and in future skies 

Intermodal links go beyond trucks. Cathay Cargo introduced bonded transfers by sea between Cathay Cargo Terminal Dongguan and Hong Kong International Airport a few years ago, and recently added the Air-Land Fresh Lane for perishable imports into the wider Greater Bay Area, in another role for the truck.

While there are no immediate plans to introduce other modes, Blackwood recently had a meeting with a European manufacturer of drones. The drones in question are not like those designed to make final mile parcel or fast-food deliveries, but in this instance a 2,400km-range craft capable of carrying 350kg, or the equivalent of a small delivery van. “I think advanced air mobilities like drones are still a way off as an intermodal option,” acknowledges Blackwood. “So far, test flights have been from smaller, rural airfields, so not really aligned with our strategy of operating at tier one airports. But it’s something we’re definitely keeping tabs on.”