Attention, foreign trade professionals in the Yangtze River Delta! This city is rewriting the logistics rules

"Mr. Zhang's container was detained at the port for a whole week, with a daily loss of nearly 10,000 yuan; Ms. Li's goods missed the shipping schedule due to transportation connection errors, and the order had to be cancelled..." Such foreign trade pain points are being rewritten by an innovative model - Huai'an sea-rail intermodal transport export agency. When the stability of the railway meets the cost-effectiveness of the sea, how many opportunities that foreign trade professionals don't know about are hidden in this logistics channel running through the inland and the ocean?

Sea-rail intermodal transport is not a new concept, but Huai'an's special location makes it a logistics hub in the northern wing of the Yangtze River Delta. Through direct railway connection to Shanghai Port and Ningbo Port, it has achieved the whole-process service of "one declaration, one box to the end": The goods complete customs declaration and packing locally in Huai'an, and are directly loaded onto the ship after being transported to the port by railway. The whole process saves more than 20% of the time cost compared to the traditional road transfer.

• Cost advantage: The freight of the railway section is only 60% of that of the road, and it is not affected by oil price fluctuations
• Stability guarantee: The railway schedule is accurate to the hourly level, and it can still operate in rainstorm and foggy weather
• Green plus: The carbon emissions are 30% lower than those of pure road transportation, in line with the international environmental protection trend

A senior operation manager of Zhongshitong revealed: "80% of customers initially only pay attention to the freight, and later find that hidden cost control is the key." The value of a professional agency lies in:

• Combination of dynamic and static plans: Dynamically match the best shipping schedule and railway schedules according to the product category to avoid "goods waiting for the vehicle" or "vehicle waiting for the goods"
• Integrated customs affairs: Pre-audit documents in advance and use the Huai'an Free Trade Zone policy to achieve "direct loading upon arrival at the port"
• Abnormal response mechanism: During last year's typhoon season, by diverting to Nanjing Port temporarily, a loss of 3.8 million yuan was recovered for a certain electronic parts customer

Not all goods are suitable for sea-rail intermodal transport. Current data shows:

• Mechanical and electrical equipment (accounting for 35%): A stable vibration environment reduces cargo damage
• Chemical products (28%): The railway has more complete dangerous chemicals transportation qualifications
• Cross-border e-commerce goods (annual increase of 200%): The "mix" mode of the China-Europe freight train + sea transportation is on the rise

Sea-rail intermodal transport is not a panacea. A certain food exporter once failed to consider the pre-cooling time of the railway refrigerated container, resulting in the goods exceeding the temperature standard upon arrival at the port. Professional suggestions are:

• First, conduct a logistics audit: Compare the total costs of transportation, warehousing, and capital occupation of the existing mode
• Then, conduct a small-batch test: Select a batch of goods in the off-season for full-process verification
• Finally, conduct dynamic optimization: Negotiate the freight rate step by step according to the growth of the cargo volume