DACHSER Supply Chain Forum in South of India

Coronavirus: updates on DACHSER’s operations in China

The Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia recently spread rapidly in China and many cities and provinces have confirmed cases. In order to keep the epidemic under control, the Central Government has announced the extension of the Lunar New Year holiday to February 2. Local authorities, however, have requested enterprises in that region to not have their employees return to the office until a specific later date, mostly on February 10.

DACHSER Branches

Most of the DACHSER branches will officially re-open on February 10. Starting from Monday next week, February 3, depending on cities and permissions from local authorities, skeleton staff will be arranged to enter the office building to manage critical shipments and minimize impact like detention, demurrage fee, TLX release and etc. We regret that we could not provide full operations but will try out best to maintain basic services.

The date for re-opening is changing on a daily basis and is subject to change depending on the situation. As of today, January 31, 2020, the re-opening date of each branch is as follows:

• Beijing: Feb-03
• Chengdu: Feb-03
• Dalian: Feb-10
• Dongguan: Feb-10
• Guangzhou: Feb-10
• Nanjing: Feb-10
• Ningbo: Feb-10
• Qingdao: Feb-10
• Shanghai: Feb-10
• Shenzhen: Feb-10
• Suzhou: Feb-10
• Tianjin: Feb-03
• Wuhan: Feb-14
• Xiamen: Feb-10
• Zhongshan: Feb-10

Operations in Wuhan

DACHSER’s staff from Wuhan branch will work from home and part of the operations will be handled via our Shanghai team. Hubei Province Authorities announced that customers will need to apply transportation certificate from the local government and hand in the certificate to logistics company if they wish to have shipment to enter or exit the province by trucks.

General business in China

While we are trying our best to keep the operation as smooth as possible, please note that most of the factories in China are still closed; trucking services, flights and terminals are operating at minimum service level. Delays and other operational issues are to be expected.

We will continue to update you via our website with the latest information on how this is impacting your supply chain. Should you have any concerns and/or queries, please feel free to contact your local DACHSER representative.

Statement on the current situation in regard to the spread of the COVID-19 virus

With this announcement, DACHSER is providing information on action to be taken to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus (also known as the coronavirus) within the DACHSER organization and in regard to the current status of operational activities as well as any possible impacts on our customers’ shipments.

In view of the current situation, specific guidelines for conduct and precautions have been rolled out within the global DACHSER organization. The actions to be taken include the establishment of a central reporting management system, regular assessment of the situation, and definition of additional action according to the situation. The relevant activities were also expanded and intensified on the basis of the existing hygiene management in the various areas (human resources, operational, and process hygiene).

In addition to these actions taken internally, DACHSER is complying with all current official regulations and taking appropriate precautions. In the event of restrictions applicable to individual locations, action plans are ready to be implemented in order to ensure that our network can continue to operate.

To enable a smooth process, we depend on being able to work together with all parties involved in the supply chains, including cooperation with truck drivers so that they will also be able to comply with increased hygiene regulations. We also fully integrated the drivers into our hygiene management and provided hand disinfectants at all locations.

We are doing everything possible to maintain our customers’ supply chains and prevent delays in shipments. If supply chains are to be affected in any way by checks, controls, flight cancellations, or the like, we will work to find alternative ways to ship the goods. We would also like to point out that the delivery times for consignments could be extended. However, the measures we have taken so far make us feel well equipped to deal with the current situation.To make this possible, it is essential that we maintain close coordination with our customers.

If you have any questions about your freight, please get in touch with your local point of contact at the respective branch of DACHSER.

Lunar New Year 2024 - Key dates and impact on logistics

“Year of the Dragon” begins on February 10, 2024. It is the biggest festival in Chinese communities where people celebrate the beginning of a new year with their families.

During the festive period, most businesses and factories in mainland China will be closed, and production will be suspended.

• Chinese suppliers start to wind down operations one to two weeks in advance of the public holiday. Even though the official holiday only lasts for a week, most factories close for an entire month and some even longer.
• While businesses are closed and there are minimal production from mainland China, carriers will deploy less capacity to and from mainland China.
• Holiday impact is about two months. Therefore, companies that are dependent upon Chinese or Asian suppliers are likely to stock up inventories, this leads to a pre-holiday cargo rush, and it will also take some time after the festival to normalize the market conditions.

• While we try our best to minimize any possible interruptions to your supply chain, you can also help us by considering the following:
• Communicate with your suppliers and customers to make arrangements for sufficient stock and manage expectations
• Discuss your planning with us and prepare an accurate shipment forecast for long-term planning, so we can offer you the most suitable solution that fits your budget and schedule
• Place your booking earlier and pay attention to the cut-off dates.
  • For sea freight, it is recommended to book 4-6 weeks before the start of holiday
  • For air freight, it is recommended to book 1-2 weeks before the start of holiday

Apart from Mainland China, other regions in Asia Pacific also celebrate the festival, please refer to below public holidays where DACHSER branches will be closed:

• Mainland China - February 9 - 17
• Hong Kong - February 10 - 13
• Taiwan - February 8 - 14
• Indonesia – February 9-10
• Korea - February 9 - 12
• Malaysia - February 10 - 12
• Singapore - February 10 - 12
• Vietnam - February 8 - 14

If you have suppliers or production lines in China or in APAC countries, please get in touch with us to work out an operational logistics plan, and we can collaboratively make a robust forecast through the Lunar New Year period and beyond.

At DACHSER, we work at our best to ensure the flow of goods before, during and after the Lunar New Year holiday.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with your local DACHSER representative to plan the next steps together.