International freight shipping has come under increased scrutiny in recent years due to its negative impact on the environment. Busy shipping lanes are a source of oceanic pollution, consume huge quantities of fossil fuels, and the noise produced by large liners is disruptive to sea life.

The global classic and luxury car market is a big one, and this involves a lot of shipping, particularly in the EU. Traditionally, classic and luxury vehicle consignments are shipped by Ro-Ro ferry on short ‘hops’ to their markets in the Middle East, with strong dependence on road transport for much of the road.

The consumer car and vehicle industry is globalised to a high degree. Vehicles from Korea, Japan, and China are frequently sold in dealerships in the UK, the USA, and South America, while British-made Range Rovers and German-made Audis are frequently seen on the streets of Tokyo, Singapore, and Adelaide.

Shipping cars to markets around the world is a risky process, and the more vehicles in your consignment, and the more transitions they have to make, the greater this risk becomes.

When you’re transporting high volume car consignments using container shipping, it’s important to do so in an efficient manner to reduce your costs and eliminate the possibility of damage in transit. 

High-quality, reliable, and with excellent ROI, steel transportation racks have opened up exciting possibilities for the automotive industry. But what exactly are they, and how do they work?

By the one-hundredth anniversary of the People’s Republic in 2049, China hopes to have completed the world's first seamless transcontinental cargo transportation network. Commonly referred to as the ‘new Silk Road’, after the famous medieval caravan route, road, rail, and sea routes will join together to ship freight and vehicles between Chinese manufacturers and markets in Europe, and vice versa.

Traditional wooden racking systems did little to improve the PR of containerised vehicle transport, due to their high instances of collapse and damage to vehicles in transit.

Indonesia is a hub for car transportation in East Asia, with many cars being shipped into Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta, and from there to Asia, Australia, The Americas, and other locations. The shipping lines throughout Indonesia – the largest island archipelago in the world containing over 14,000 islands– are also busy with car shipments going from island to island, especially the population centres of Sumatra, Java, and Kalimantan.

The Covid 19 pandemic has had a massive impact on the global car manufacturing industry. With so many supply chains dependent on Chinese manufacturers, the sector was feeling the pinch as far back as January, before most of the world had even woken up to the threat posed by the virus. Since then, and especially over the past three months, shutdowns across Europe, India, the UK, and the USA have forced many factories to close or reduce production, and have played havoc with global transportation routes.