Old Dominion Expands Pacific Promise Service To Taiwan

Company sees more than 30 percent growth in shipments from China in last year.

Thomasville, NC: To meet increasing shipping demand from Asia, Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. has expanded its Pacific Promise less-than-container load (LCL) service to Taiwan’s three main ports, in addition to 10 ports in China where the service is already offered.

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 – a service many providers do not offer.

Old Dominion has seen a more than 30 percent increase per year in shipments from China and Taiwan. Over the next five years, industry analysts predict that shipments from China to the U.S. could increase by 28 percent while shipments from Taiwan are projected to increase by 16 percent.

“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 is also 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. 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 (www.odfl.com).

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