Old Dominion expands LCL service in Asia

   Old Dominion Freight Line has expanded its Pacific Promise less-than-container load (LCL) service to 10 additional ports in Asia.
   The ports covered by the expanded service include Manila, Singapore, Jakarta, Surabaya, Penang, Port Kelang, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, and Busan. The service, launched in China in 2009, now covers 23 ports across Asia.
   Old Dominion said it saw a 40 percent increase in shipments from Asia in 2011.
   “In an average month, we move shipments between the U.S. and more than 40 countries, with a significant amount of that freight to and from Asia,” said Greg Plemmons, vice president of OD-Global, an international shipping division of Old Dominion. “Expanding Pacific Promise to include the countries in Asia to which our customers most frequently ship gives them greater access to our reliable and cost-efficient service.”
   The service provides shippers with standard guaranteed transit times and simplified rates, including a money-back guarantee, with port-to-door tracking of all shipments.
   “The service’s advantages, such as efficiency and port-to-door tracking, benefit companies shipping from a single origin to multiple destinations, or those that are using air freight because they cannot entrust time-sensitive shipments to a traditional LCL service,” the company said. “Rates for Pacific Promise are expressed as a simple, single rate per cubic meter. While they are slightly more expensive than standard LCL, the transit times are up to 40 percent faster and the rates are up to 75 percent less than air freight.”