CaroTrans starts N.Y.-St. Petersburg LCL service

   Non-vessel-operating common carrier CaroTrans will start a new direct less-than-containerload service from New York to St. Petersburg, Russia, on Nov. 23.
   This fortnightly service has a 21-day transit.
   CaroTrans said once cargo arrives in St. Petersburg its staff will manage bonded and customs cleared on-carriage to Moscow and any warehouse or store door in Russia.
   “We’ve developed our service network in this significant growth region, Central Europe, the Baltics and Russia, over the past several years,” said Greg Howard, global chief executive officer of CaroTrans, in a statement. “This new service features reliable transits and a transparent rate structure. Early 2014, we plan to increase the N.Y.-to-St. Petersburg service frequency to weekly.”
   In May, CaroTrans announced its entrance into the Baltic, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Russia markets with a weekly LCL and full-containerload export service from New York. Currently, this service calls the Port of Riga in Latvia. This service marks CaroTrans’ first step in its development and investment in this growing market.
   In North America, CaroTrans has a network of 14 branch offices and 24 container freight stations.