Blog

8th March 2019

Your supply chain — are you in for the long haul or open to ideas?

Business Development Director, Nolan Gray, explains what are the options to get to market faster.

If there’s one thing we are all longing for in these uncertain times, it’s something we can be sure of. Importers and exporters alike need clarity, consistency and reliability. And yet, in a world of complex, opaque supply chains, those vital ingredients are often missing.

Some cargo owners and shippers have handed the entire logistics puzzle over to others – that means they have little control over events, and no idea where or why any slip-ups or delays may be happening.

However, more shippers are getting involved, and that means they are taking a closer look at the options before them.

So, the classic pattern: cargo arrives in containers or on curtain-siders at one of the UK’s southern ports. Much of it then goes on a long and arduous journey by road to a final destination hundreds of miles away in the northern half of the country.

Is that route to market really the most efficient? Your container may well be on solid ground in the South today, but it certainly isn’t a given that it will arrive in the North tomorrow. Thanks to shortages of trucks and drivers, it might be left languishing on the quayside for a week or more. Road congestion can then see the truck held up in a traffic jam for so long that the driver reaches their maximum driving time and must park up in a layby – with your cargo.

The consequences of these delays are felt throughout the supply chain. There is a price to pay: not just the estimated £1 per minute cost of being stuck in a traffic jam, but also the cost of any delays in your production, and even the cost of ‘extra time’ built in, when a truck actually arrives too early to ensure it meets a timed delivery window. And on top of all that, there is the cost in CO₂ emissions and environmental damage.

At the Port of Tyne, we encourage you to do something different. There is an uncongested, easier, more efficient, reliable and cost-effective way – bringing cargo by sea into the Port of Tyne. You won’t find congestion in the North Sea, you can take advantage of regular services, and by bringing your cargo closer to its final destination, you can dramatically shorten the road leg of the journey.

Where the road journey from South to North takes up a driver and truck for two days, one driver and truck operating out of the Port of Tyne can make as many as ten deliveries in the same time. That’s a crucial advantage for lean manufacturing customers looking for timed deliveries – fewer miles and far less congestion.

Short, sharp and efficient. Many savvy shippers are already importing or exporting through the Tyne. Why not you?

Don't hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss that further.