Old Dominion announced the expansion of its Pacific Promise less-than-container load service to Taiwan’s three main ports, in addition to 10 ports in China where the service already is offered, to meet increasing shipping demand from Asia. The Taiwanese ports of Taichung, Keelung and Kaohsiung join the ports of Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen/Yantian, Xiamen and Xingang in China, where Old Dominion already offers the Pacific Promise guaranteed LCL service.
Launched in 2009 and expanded in 2010, Pacific Promise provides businesses with standard guaranteed transit times and simplified rates from the 13 Chinese or Taiwanese ports to any U.S. destination. The offering also includes port-to-door tracking of all shipments.
Old Dominion says it has seen a more than 30 percent increase per year in shipments from China and Taiwan. “Given the tremendous growth we’ve seen from Asia, we’re always looking at expanding Pacific Promise to additional origin points,” says Greg Plemmons, vice president of OD-Global, a division of Old Dominion. “This most recent expansion of Pacific Promise will help us better serve the needs of our customers by expanding our faster, more cost-efficient service to include Taiwan’s three main ports.”
The service targets importers in a number of categories, including shippers of high-value products, time-sensitive goods and seasonal or promotional items. Pacific Promise also is geared toward companies that are shipping from a single origin to multiple destinations or those that are paying air freight rates because they cannot entrust their time-sensitive shipments to a traditional LCL service.
“With Pacific Promise, customers can reliably ship their goods in less time and with more visibility than traditional LCL services,” Plemmons says. “By increasing supply chain efficiency while maintaining dependability, companies can save time and money and more quickly place their products on domestic store shelves.”
Rates for Pacific Promise are expressed as a simple single rate per cubic meter. While it is slightly higher than standard LCL, the rate is up to 75 percent less than air freight, according to Old Dominion. Customers can check a rate, create a booking and track their shipment from the port in Asia to their door by visiting Old Dominion’s Website at www.odfl.com.
