CLECAT | All news & events

Press releases | 08 February 2010

Press Release: CLECAT and FERRMED, good cooperation leads to membership

CLECAT FERRMED press release  

Press releases | 20 January 2010

Logistics Best Practice Guide

var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-12603328-4"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {} CLECAT has published its Logistics Best Practice Guide. This is an extensive and thought-provoking review of existing best practices in the area of freight logistics. CLECAT has produced this guide for its own Member Companies. The Logistics Best Practice Guide is a compilation that is meant to be inspirational: it will guarantee interaction with a wide range of companies and publicity in exchange for information: your efforts to promote sustainable logistics solutions will be rewarded by being publicised and disseminated through the CLECAT information network. This will be a living document made publicly available. It is also evidence for the public that the industry is aware of its environmental impact and has the intention to deal with it effectively. Not only does the Best Practice Guide include many specific examples, it also contains a general section, providing food for thought for new ideas and/or incentives to report to CLECAT any positive achievements in sustainable business practice. The challenge to mitigate the consequences of human activities on the environment has become one of the major concerns characterising and influencing today’s business world. The battle to preserve our environment has gained momentum over the years and is now part of the policy of a growing number of enterprises. The ongoing battle against climate change owing to GHG emissions has also come to the fore in policy and business alike. These two different yet intertwined predicaments have not failed to impact upon logistics activities, questioning some of the basic principles of this discipline. Transport services appear to be one of the biggest sources of CO2 emissions and some of the transport emissions are also pollutants. This is however an industry, which is, on the one hand, indispensable for growth and employment and yet on the other hand has enduring difficulties freeing its dependence on fossil fuels . This being said, logistics is not only transport: a more wide-range view on what can be done to improve the environmental performance of logistics can contribute to our industry’s footprint in an area where legislation is finding it increasingly difficult to step in. The need to decrease emissions, but also to save energy and money, should be at the heart of our companies’ thinking. Luckily these needs – lessening emissions, decreasing the use of energy and saving money – are connected and may respond to the same drivers: not only the logistics service provider, but also the transport user are likely to benefit from savings that may be environmental as well as economical. There is an abundance of possibilities and many companies have already found ways to improve their business models with individual solutions, which have the potential to be developed into best practices. Their experience is the source of the best practice models that benefit and encourage others to do the same. In other words we are not trying to re-invent the wheel in this booklet: we are trying to disseminate the best practices that we have managed to collect from different sources, and make them available to others, whether they are logistics service providers or users. Whilst this may appear a minimalist approach, we believe it can be extremely helpful in an area where sharing knowledge and know-how is crucial. The Logistics Best Practice Guide  (V.1.0) can be downloaded here. THE NEW 2nd EDITION IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE: CLECAT's Sustainable Logistics Best Practice Guide (2nd edition) Additional information can be found in the relevant Press Release.

Press releases | 20 January 2010

Supply-Chain Security Compliance Handbook

CLECAT launched its Supply-Chain Security Compliance Handbook. The aim of this handbook is to provide freight forwarding companies with a practical guide, to show them which security initiatives they have to be aware of, which of them are mandatory, if they want to legally conduct their business, and to show where they can get further information on how to comply with security rules. CLECAT has always acknowledged the importance and necessity of a functioning security programme, which besides protecting infrastructure, assets and different interests has in the protection of citizens its main objective. This is not only essential to counter possible acts of terrorism, but also to benefit from the additional advantages that a security programme may bring to day-to-day business: theft prevention, decreasing insurance costs, advantages granted by Customs (faster clearance of goods, less/no screening, less documentation, smaller financial guarantees), etc. Whilst fortunately cargo operations have not been the target of terrorist actions so far, there is no certainty that the cargo supply chain may not be used to perpetrate such actions. The reason why this document is created is to provide some guidance to CLECAT Members in an area where it is increasingly difficult to avoid losing orientation and where it becomes increasingly easy to embark in time consuming (and often very costly) endeavours for little or no avail. We shall try to keep a practical style and we shall be pleased to prepare new versions of it in future, by inserting our Members’ observations as well by disposing of information which has become obsolete. For more information, please download the latest version of CLECAT's Supply-Chain Security Compliance Handbook (2nd edition) Date of last edit: November 2010

Press releases | 08 December 2009

CLECAT Members elect new President and new Board

CLECAT Members elected a new President and new Board on the 2nd of December. The new elected President is Mr. Clive Broadley (left) from the UK, who succeeds Mr Jean-Claude Delen (Belgium). For more information, please see the Press Release.

Press releases | 04 December 2009

Launch of CLECAT's Supply-Chain Security Compliance Handbook

Yesterday CLECAT launched its Supply-Chain Security Compliance Handbook. The aim of this handbook is to provide freight forwarding companies with a practical guide, to show them which security initiatives they have to be aware of, which of them are mandatory, if they want to legally conduct their business, and to show where they can get further information on how to comply with security rules. CLECAT's Supply-Chain Security Compliance Handbook

Press releases | 04 November 2009

Press Release: CLECAT Publishes Release 1.0 of Logistics Best Practice Guide

CLECAT issues a press release on the publication of its Best Practice Guide (V.1.0) CLECAT Publishes Release 1.0 of Logistics Best Practice Guide The CLECAT Best Practice Guide is now available for download here: CLECAT BEST PRACTICE GUIDE

Press releases | 08 September 2009

Press Release: CLECAT welcomes the Communication on "A sustainable future for transport"

CLECAT issues a press release on the Communication of the Commission on "A sustainable future for transport: Toward an integrated, technology-led and user friendly system" CLECAT Press Release

Events | 08 September 2009

CLECAT's Freight Forwarders' Conference - FFC 2009

Press releases | 24 June 2009

CLECAT speaks at Workshop on the European Modular System (EMS) - Joint Industry Position Paper

CLECAT has today given a presentation during a workshop on the European Modular System (EMS), organized by the European Commission (DG TREN). You can find the presentation, as well as the Joint industry position paper on the EMS, below for your information. CLECAT Presentation on the EMS Joint Industry position paper on the EMS              For further information on the EMS, please see also http://www.modularsystem.eu/

Press releases | 18 June 2009

Announcement of winner of the ?Innovation in Transport and Logistics along the Global Supply Chain?

  At the recent 2009 International Transport Forum held in Leipzig, Germany, the winner of the prize for “Innovation in Transport and Logistics along the Global Supply Chain” was awarded. The prize was commissioned jointly by CLECAT, FIATA and the ITF. The aim of the project was to recognise innovative logistics initiatives to meet the challenge of supplying efficient and sustainable logistics solutions across the global supply chain, particularly in the current economic context.   The winner of the award was Baxter International Inc. The Belgian-based European distribution centre for Baxter International, a global healthcare company, launched an innovative initiative called Transportation of healthcare products by inland navigation in 2007. This initiative was designed to improve speed and reliability, lower transport costs and emissions, and improve overall efficiency of the Baxter distribution centre’s supply chain in the Benelux region.   Through this initiative, Baxter shifted all of its incoming containers from the deep-sea ports of Antwerp-Rotterdam and Zeebrugge away from trucks and onto inland navigation barges. With this container traffic now entirely on the inland waterways, Baxter has decreased its transport costs by 23 percent, while maintaining efficiency through increased reliability – a clear preference for consistently on-time deliveries over speed – virtually no congestion costs, and huge reductions in CO2 emissions.     Website: www.baxter.be/en/about_baxter/sub/distribution.html www.baxter.com              Photo Marco Urban, OECD/ITF The award was presented by (Back row left to right)   Mr Binali Yildirim (President of the ITF, Minister of Transport, Turkey)   Mr Wolfgang Tiefensee (Minister of Transport, Germany)   Mr Etienne Schouppe (Secretary of State for Transport, Belgium)   Mr Jean-Claude Delen (Senior Vice-President of FIATA)   Mr Jack Short (Secretary General of ITF)   Mr Heiner Rogge (Secretary General of CLECAT)   Mr Ray La Hood (Secretary of Transportation, USA)   Mr Ron Widdows (CEO, Neptune Orient Lines)     And the award was accepted by Mr Menedeme and Mr Scollaerts on behalf of Baxter International Inc.     The jury also awarded a special mention to APL Logistics, a unit of Neptune Orient Lines Ltd, for the achievements obtained in their innovative service from the Far East to North America. The service was designed to create an ocean-based alternative to air freight for shippers from Asia to North America of less-than-container-load (or LCL) cargo. It offers a faster LCL service with day-definite delivery guarantee not offered before to shippers in this geographic zone.  