TNT starts new service brand after HOAU acquisition

TNT has started a new service brand in China after it regrouped the acquired HOAU Logistics.

With the acquisition in March, the global giant has not only obtained the big ground transportation network and the huge customer base from the biggest freight and parcel delivery operator in Mainland China, but also successfully marched into the fragmented Chinese ground transportation market.

HOAU Logistics, headquartered in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, has controlled 56 subsidiaries and 1,250 locations with a business network covering over 400 large and midsize cities.

In order to regroup the HOAU Logistics business, TNT has earmarked CNY 50 million to consolidate information systems and train related employees, disclosed Pang Fuxing (transliterated), new president of the regrouped HOAU Logistics.

Millions of US dollars are expected to be injected further in the following years, part of its efforts to create the biggest ground transportation network in the country.

The Dutch company has put into operation 260 trucks, the first batch purchased after the acquisition, under the new brand since last week. In the months to come, 1,250 branches and 3,000 across the country will start service with a new logo.

But the Chinese fragmented market is much now filled with not nice competitions. TNT will try offering time-definite ground transportation service in the country, just as it has done in the express delivery sector, in a bid to form advantages with rapid and reliable diversified service.

Meanwhile, the global giant has adjusted its express delivery business in China when other rivals like UPS and FedEx entered the Chinese express delivery sector in succession.

TNT will not expand in future beyond current partners and it has even ceased cooperation projects in some regions, told Michael Drake, managing director for TNT’s operations in the Greater China.

The growth is more optimistic in the ground transportation sector than in the express delivery section in China, and the company will focus on the less-than-truckload ground transportation service in the country, the managing director elaborated.

The Dutch company has undergone great changes these years. In December 2005, it announced the sale of its contractual logistics business to focus on its core delivery operations.

By now, the global giant has already set up a strong air and ground transportation network in Europe and is expending it to Middle East and Asia. It is set to connect China with other Southeast Asian countries by a ground transportation network in Asia.