► Vanguard certified as service provider for Hong Kong logistics department

► Vanguard South Pacific expands reach with new agents

►UK office strengthens team for coming year

► Vanguard launches weekly service to Genoa with exclusive partner

►Global Resource Centre welcomes Chairman

►Vanguard Australia helps frame new path for GE Rail

▪ New Orleans agent a step closer to a functioning facility
▪ Nationwide NACA USA donates supplies and support to hurricane victims
▪ NACA USA bolsters company operations structure
 

Vanguard certified as service provider for Hong Kong logistics department

▪  Vanguard vies for opportunity as service provider for major economic region.

anguard Logistics Services (VLS) Hong Kong announced it has been officially certified as a service provider for the Government Logistics Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), which provides logistics support services in the areas of procurement and supplies, transport operation and management as well as printing services. VLS will reportedly begin service as the departments logistics service provider in early 2006.

“We saw an immense opportunity to work with the Hong Kong Logistics Department and went for it. We should see our first tender bidding this month,” said Jackson Yeung, general manager for the Hong Kong office, “The team is excited to begin work with the department.”

The Logistics Department is responsible for supplying the materials and other documents to different government departments such as the Hospital Authority for medical items and the disciplinary forces for their special goods.

HKSAR imports most items from worldwide countries, adding to large volumes per year, said Yeung.

Vanguard South Pacific expands reach to Italy, Spain and Taiwan

“These new alliances have further strengthened our reach of services in Europe and Asia,” said David Keen, sales director for the South Pacific, "We saw there was an area which could be strengthened for our customers and these new partnerships will suit the growing demand for direct services in those regions. It has already benefited our team immensely."

Agreements with Combile Italy and Uniexco Spain have now

 enabled Vanguard Logistics Australia to market direct services from La Spezia and Barcelona to Sydney and Melbourne with Adelaide and Brisbane cargo onforwarded from these hubs. Fremantle cargo is serviced via Singapore.

"This is the first time in Vanguard Australia’s history that we have been able to offer weekly consolidation services from both countries,” said Keen.

Vanguard Logistics New Zealand has also recently strengthened its own Asian services with the inclusion of OWS and a significant agent in Taiwan, Oriental Pacific Logistics (OPL).

OPL has joined the partnership with VLS to provide consolidation services on every direct sailing from both Keelung and Kaoshung to Auckland with onforwarding destinations, including Wellington and Christchurch, New Zealand.

VLS stated it is currently exploring new relationships in Germany and France to further extend its European network and services.

UK office strengthens team for coming year

Jeffery has 20 years experience in commerce and industry and as finance manager was brought on to oversee financial control for UK import and export operations for Brennan International Transport (BIT), Direct Container Line (DCL), Conterm Consolidation Services (CCS) and Vanguard Logistics Services (VLS).

As a management accountant Jeffery has earned a successful track record with global experience in a variety of business sectors and business sizes. He hopes to expand upon and continue the progress already made in making the UK a primary hub for NACA in Western Europe.

Ryan Murphy, general manager for the UK office, with  Jeffery

onboard has initiated plans to continue the momentum in building the office as a primary hub for OTS LG in Western Europe.

“Sound financial procedures and control are essential to the success of any business” said Jeffery, “ Now  this is firmly in place as a model.”

In growing the UK team Murphy said the office will have equal focus on both import and export sales in the UK market as well as develop agent relationships  under the brands of CCS and VLS.

“With NACA’s strategic approach to answering the logistics’ needs of customers, combined with Martin's knowledge of the business, we’re confident in further growing our already strong customer base. We have our finance department in order with Martin and expect to see continued growth this coming year.”

Vanguard launches weekly service to Genoa with exclusive partner

anguard Logistics Services (VLS) Singapore recently partnered with General Export, Italy's leading NVOCC  with developed transatlantic eastbound lanes, to launch its first Europe trade lane offering for both import and export. The weekly Freight All Kinds (FAK) service connects customers to Genoa, Italy.

"VLS Singapore’s relationship with General Exports has been flowing smoothly and their working relationship has been very positive," commented Roy Chew, South Asia regional director.

Due to the success with General Export and positive customer feedback, VLS has stated plans to increase the sailings to twice a week to offer their customers increased flexibility.

Vanguard Singapore also offers weekly services into Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand with plans to launch weekly services into the secondary ports of each country.

“We are always looking to extend our reach. That is why we are continuing efforts to service several ports in heavy traffic countries,” said Chew.

With the increasing market in Singapore and through out Southeast Asia the team is working to satisfy demands and better serve customers needs. Customers should expect to see a continued growth of offerings.

Glenn Family Foundation mobilizes medical camp for remote Indian villages

Just over 650 people from near by villages lined up to register for medical check-ups, some walking two or three hours from villages stretching up to 20 km away. Many have not had a health check up in years. For residents at Latpanchar, the nearest fully operating hospital is 80 km away in Darjeeling. The local clinic is visibly dilapidated.

The local hospital above is normally residents only option.

Saom Tshering Namchu, medical camp organizer and Rotary Club of Darjeeling member, was key in organizing the camp and heavily collaborated with the Glenn Family Foundation in arranging for funding to make the camp possible. We had been trying to get sponsors to support this camp, said Mr. Namchu. The hospitals are either nil or in battered condition, he explained.

“I was at the reception and within an hour I had registered 200 people. The whole day people poured up from different villages,” said Saom Tshering Namchu, medical camp organizer and rotary club member, “We also saw some people reserving vehicles and coming from very far places which took them 2 hours.”

Residents of Latpanchar and surrounding villages line up to register for medical attention

A team of seven doctors, two paramedics and two nurses roughed 13 km of the way through rugged roads crossing thick forest. The traveling time took no less than three hours but over the course of one day a total of 47 medical practitioners and Rotary members had arrived to ensure the medical camp had sufficient help on hand.

The team set up at the high school to provide medical exams and supplies to the residents surrounding the town of 15 shops. The team dispensed crucial supplies such as antibiotics, anti hypertension medication, cardiac drugs, anti-inflammatory, nutritional supplements and medication for diabetics.

The doctors provided full health checks and treated more serious respiratory, cardiac dental and nutritional conditions ranging from pulmonary tuberculosis, anemia, and hypertension.

A Johnson and Johnson representative who traveled with the Rotary Club of Darjeeling tests the blood sugar of a local resident

The healthcare and medication was all free. The people thanked the team through hospitality and prepared food for them during their stay.

“The camp was a great success. To our surprise, this camp recorded the highest [patients] from any other camp we've held,” said Mr. Namchu.

Global Resource Centre welcomes Chairman

uring a recent business trip to Asia, the

“The last visit Mr. Glenn made to Zhuhai was in April before the fit-out was completed and we have made a tremendous amount of progress since then, meeting all of our goals including the first stage in recruiting the curent GRC team of 30,” said Haydn O’Brien, Senior Vice President Global Operations.

The GRC staff welcomed Mr. Glenn by singing a traditional Chinese song called "Tomorrow will be a better day". All enjoyed a traditional catered Hainan lunch together.

More singing followed from Terry Huang and Andy Ou of the import operations department, who gave a light-hearted performance of "Careless Whispers" by George Michael. Not to be outdone by the Zhuhai staff, Mr. Glenn, Mike Dye CEO Asia Pacific, Laura Ede Executive Assistant to the Chairman, Sahra Kearney a personal friend of Mr. Glenn and Mr. O’Brien gave a performance of "We Did it Our Way", adapted from Frank Sinatra's hit, "I Did it My Way".

"Senior officials from the Zhuhai Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Mr. Xiong Can Jun, Mr. Peter Lee, Mr. Wade Wu and Ms Cricket Wen, who were instrumental in the GRC being established in Zhuhai, came to meet with Mr. Glenn," said O‘Brien.

Mr. Glenn was also welcomed by Mr. Jian Cai and Ms. Livia Chen from the Zhuhai Southern Software Park (SSP), which is where the GRC is located.

Fifteen recently hired GRC staff begin training on the Directions Sea Import Module as Owen Glenn personally watches progress.

Vanguard Australia helps frame new path for GE Rail

▪ Vanguard Logistics Australia handles yet another unusual shipment, challenging the team's skill in large-scale projects.

anguard Logistics Australia has successfully  handled four unusually sized airfreight shipments of railway carriage frames from Sydney, Australia to Chicago on behalf of GE Rail USA (NYSE: GE), a global supplier to the railroad, transit, marine and mining industries.

The 13,871 kilo rail carriage frames stand ready to be trucked  to Sydney airport.

All four 13,871-kilo shipments were sent on Cathy Pacific, via Hong Kong to Chicago. The coordination was a challenge

with each frame traveling over 350kms for the first part of the route to Sydney airport. The frames and parts were then consolidated onto 20-foot airfreight pallets, by crane, said National Airfreight Manager, Collin Rozario.

"These large consignments have given us the opportunity to really prove what we can do," said Rozario, "Again and again our team has illustrated our ability to serve our airfreight customers on limitless large-scale projects and it has paid off through the satisfaction of our customers and seeing them continue to challenge us with new projects. It is never a quiet day and we like that."

The rail carriage supplier expects to ship frames for GE Rail to the end of 2006 with a total of 300 frames being moved to the USA. VLS noted the majority of the frames will be moved by sea freight, secured onto 150 foot by 20 foot flat racks.

New Orleans agent a step closer to a functioning facility

▪ NACA USA works with New Orleans agent to retrieve cargo.

Described as resembling a ‘war zone’, New Orleans has experienced the worst natural disaster on record in United States history. Hurricane Katrina halted all forms of commerce and lead to the temporary closure of the port. NACA USA and its New Orleans agent, South West Freight Inc (SFI), feared for the safety of colleagues and the condition of cargo. Thankfully everyone was reported safe.

A truck sits crushed by the storm at an empty weigh station in New Orleans.

"All our own staff in Miami are safe and luckily Ernie informed me that everyone at SFI in New Orleans was safe. Unfortunately the severity of the storm has displaced so much of their staff ," said Tim Tudor, NACA USA vice president for  the Eastern region, " For all the hardship they are experiencing it has been easy to work with them and obtain updates on the cargo we had in their facility. All of our customers are taken care of."

New Orleans began re-opening zones via postal zip code. Zone 70129, where SFI’s facility stands, has recently opened to the general public. SFI reported that their facilities are still without utilities, however, the warehouse is ready for operation once the area receives power.

“By law all facilities must be inspected before the electricity is turned on once again,” said Ernie MacDonald, vice president of South West Freight,” We have already taken that step. Once power is on in our area we will be ready.”

Most of NACA USA customers’ cargo had been removed before the hurricane, save for four bookings, which were not damaged. Two shippers picked up their cargo and the other two shipments were safely transferred to World Trade in Houston to be processed for export.

Before the city had issued approval for the general public to enter the zone, it took much energy and planning for SFI to gain access to it’s own property.

When Butch McCracken, SFI New Orleans terminal

manager, first returned to his home in Metairie, La., he found furniture gone and a littered mess from the hurricane, but the utilities were restored and he fared better than all other colleagues. Given Butch’s ability to stay in his home, SFI chose him as their field contact and formulated a plan to enter the New Orleans facility.

Seemingly unreal like a scene from an action movie, SFI sent Butch as a scout supplied with documents to attempt passing the police barricades in place to block the public from entering an unstable environment. The air was described as foul and officials were still determining if it would pose a health risk. Butch was able to legally enter and began to carry out the plan to rebuild.

Butch’s mission was to first salvage electronic files from the office computers to provide the status of each shipment in the warehouse for both import and export. Butch surveyed the warehouse to verify the condition of all cargo on hand. Flooding into the facility was assessed as minimal and all cargo on pallets was dry. Fortunately, there was no evidence of looting.

SFI is now able to allow cargo to be picked up from its New Orleans terminal with proper documentation. There will be minimal staff on hand and no further cargo will be received or processed. Communication with employees at its warehouse is impossible as cell phones and two-way radios are still not functioning in that section of the city.

“This is still not business as usual,” stated Ernie MacDonald, Vice President of South West Freight.

Stacks of containers were toppled like children's plastic Lego blocks by Hurricane Katrina's force.

“This may be a slow process as we are still subject to the handicaps of restricted access to this section of town, no utilities and safety factors. We will work with all [companies] to the extent that circumstances allow to transfer your cargo to your possession as soon as realistically possible,” said MacDonald.

The Port of New Orleans handled its first commercial cargo vessel Sept. 14 and traffic grew as nine ships called on the port on Oct. 4. The Port of New Orleans reported that 90 percent of the railroads were open, aiding in resuming normal services. As of Oct. 10 the port handled 35 percent of its normal traffic before the hurricane.

NACA USA unites nationwide to help hurricane victims

▪  NACA USA offices pool resources in act of generosity for citizens affected by the infamous Hurricane Katrina.

Across the United States, employees making up NACA Logistics (USA) Inc. have joined efforts to aid fellow Americans affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Employees have stepped in to give both supplies and monetary donations.

The combined efforts of the Eastern Region resulted in a generous monetary donation to the Red Cross on behalf of hurricane victims. In particular, departments responsible for these donations were LCL Customer Service and Traffic.

With the suggestion of Dawn Brackett, agent accounting for NACA USA Los Angeles, West Coast and Midwest employees gathered backpacks full of school supplies for Do Something (www.DoSomething.org), a charity dedicated to inspiring young people to change their world. The backpacks were donated to children displaced by both hurricanes who were preparing to start school in a new city with no supplies.

Brackett first heard of the organization on a morning news program and said she felt it was more personal than only donating money.

“I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose everything, have to go to a new city and state. It just seemed like a small thing you can do to help them get reoriented,” said Brackett.

Helle Sullivan, Director of Global Services, aided in ensuring the Rancho Donimguez office was able to transport the backpacks and Monica Hamilton arranged to take the

donated cargo from Houston to Hogg Middle School in Houston, Texas.

“Helle made the call to Rancho and got them to ship the backpacks and Todd Pakulski was really enthusiastic about it,” said Brackett, " Many people helped out and we received some backpacks which were completely full. Derek Moore filled his with all kinds of thoughtful things that will really make a difference to a child."

Unfortunately Hurricane Rita was to hit just before the backpacks could be delivered at the school.

“I had originally called the school where the backpacks were designated to go and they said they were no longer accepting donations at that location. They wanted me to send them to Louisiana, which would have been more delay so I decided to start calling around,” said Monica Hamilton, Operations Manager for Houston.

Hamilton took it upon herself to make sure children would receive the donated supplies. She called schools in the area to find out who was in need of the backpacks. Cy-Fair school had just enrolled 2,300 Hurricane Katrina victims and 300 Hurricane Rita Victims. The school was badly in need of supplies and gratefully accepted the backpacks, thanking Hamilton profusely.

NACA USA bolsters operations with new appointments

▪  NACA Logistics (USA) Inc. has restructured company operations with two new managers in the Midwest and Eastern regions.

Olivia Fidler, previously the customer service manager for the Midwest was recently named Midwest Operations Manager by Jeff Lee, Chief Operations Officer. Ms. Fidler has worked with the company for five years. She now expands her role to include responsibility for all departments, facilities and regional budget. Ms. Fidler said one of her focuses will be to research import and documentation challenges in order to build upon their strengths as they are both vital contributors to the company’s bottom line.

“My goal is to improve the communication and morale in the region,” said Ms. Fidler, “We have a great staff and they need to be recognized for all their achievements and contributions.”

Another priority for Ms. Fidler is to ensure all departments are able to help contribute to company sales goals, “By keeping everyone focused on our customers and opportunities, we will grow the business and ensure all are successful.”

The Eastern region recently reorganized, adding a new operations position, Operations Manager. Vice President for the Eastern region, Robert Sutton, appointed Karl Laufer to the position.

Mr. Laufer has been with the company for just over 10 years. He has experience in all aspects of the business, holding a variety of positions such as import manager, traffic manager and full container load manager.

“Karl first came to the company in our management trainee program. He has always been incredibly reliable and competent,” said Mr. Sutton, “Karl is customer focused and is just a great person to have on the team.”