COVID-19 - UPDATE

All Woodland Group offices and warehouses worldwide are open and will continue to follow respective local government, state or federal regulations. The transport industry is key in supporting our communities and social and economic infrastructures through this pandemic, and as such, our staff are considered 'key' or 'essential workers' and will continue to work to keep your supply chains going.

• All but our 'key workers' are working remotely and still available via their usual contact details with all phones, emails and internal software fully operational.
• Our teams across the globe can provide agile transport and fulfilment solutions to support you through these unprecedented times.
• We have introduced additional strict site protocol and have put measures in place to avoid external and internal third-party contact for our drivers and warehouse staff who continue to move product and meet public demand.
• Please find below a global overview - please don't hesitate to contact your local Woodland representative should you have any questions.

General Airfreight

Global air cargo capacity of the last two weeks declined 22% compared to last year but is at its highest level since Mid-March (as of 2nd October 2020). Due to restrictions on international travel, most airlines are still operating on the reduced schedules that were introduced in March/April. We are not seeing any further contraction of these services just yet, but that said, we are heading into peak season in Asia and so we will likely see price increases on east- and westbound services out of key China hubs and Hong Kong in the next 4 weeks. 

General

Find our latest transatlantic sailing schedule eastbound and westbound here.

In general, industrial trends continue to improve as manufacturing becomes acclimatised to the new conditions. States continue to follow CDC guidance and implement restrictions subject to a collective of their individual conditions and statistics covering, state, county and city-wide development.

Los Angeles

• Ocean Freight – LA/LGB ports remain open and operational. The Container Freight Stations have warehouse operations open, office hours are back to normal, but office staff is still mainly working remotely. Release of import cargo is taking a bit longer than normal due to office staff capabilities being reduced. Terminal closures are being rotated, so they can be cleaned and sanitised.
• Air Freight – capacity from LAX continues to be limited, although services between major domestic gateways continue to be added. Internationally, passenger airline services remain on limited schedules to all major destination with limited cargo capacity. Cargo only charter carriers continue to establish scheduled services from LAX & SFO to certain destinations. 
• State regulations remain in place, although the mandated “stay home order” has been relaxed subject to regional / county control orders. The general guidance for businesses continues to encourage reopening with caution and recommendations are in place to “Reopen your Business and Facility Safely” with guidance provided by the state.  Our LAX staff continue to work remotely, all staff can be contacted via their usual contact details and the office phone line is open as normal.
• Our LA warehouse is operational as normal, receiving goods between 8am to 5pm.

Chicago

• Ocean Freight – The Chicagoland Rail Ramps/CY’s remain open and operational. The Container Freight Stations have warehouse operations open with some office staff working remotely. Release of import cargo is taking a bit longer than normal due to office staff capabilities being reduced.
• Air Freight – capacity from Chicago continues to be reduced however flights and volume are both slowly trending back up.
• Our warehouse is fully operational and office staff are working partially remotely.
• All our staff can be reached via their usual contact details and the office phone line is open as normal.

New Jersey Office/Warehouse

• Warehouse – we are operating as usual, receiving hours 7:30AM – 4PM.  We are fully staffed and will continue to move airfreight / ocean consols as usual, taking space / booking limitations into consideration.
• Office – Staff returned to operate from our office as per our ‘Covid-19 secure return to the office’ guidance and we remain fully operational.
• Ocean Freight - NJNY Ports remain open as will local Container Freight Stations. Import releases may be delayed.

Woodland NYC

• Our office staff continue to work remotely. All phones are diverted and will be covered remotely by staff. 

Woodland Atlanta

• Our office remains open, with partial staff in the office and partial working remotely.

Woodland Boston

• Our office remains open and is fully staffed.

USA Trucking:

Truckers across the US remain operational. 

Woodland Group UK:

• All staff not required in the warehouse as 'essential workers' are working from home 
• Staff working remotely are still available via their usual contact details with all phones, emails and internal software fully operational.
• All UK warehouses are fully operational.

Woodland Logistics / UK trucking

• Our office-based staff are working remotely and available via their normal contact details with operational fleet planning and management going ahead as usual
• All of our drivers have been working tirelessly alongside our warehouse staff and global teams to supply the public and public services with much-needed goods safely and timely.

• Ports and airports remain operational and the Department of Transport has confirmed that deliveries to non-essential business can be made throughout Ireland also.
• There's is significant pressure on obtaining both space and equipment for ocean freight, with rates for October having increased along with possibilities of carriers implementing a PSS (Peak season surcharge). 
• Ireland has put in place a 6-week national lockdown with level 5 restrictions, set to last until 1st December.
  • All non-essential shops will be be closed
  • Schools and childcare facilities will remain open
  • Most manufacturing and construction sites will remain open
• As an essential business, Woodland Group Ireland will remain open and the latest government guidance around the logistics and transport industry remains the same.
• As per the guidance around the first lockdown in March, non-essential businesses need to close but they can and should make arrangements to still receive inbound shipments, thus aiding the operational flow of the supply-chain for essential food and medical supplies.
• Our Woodland Ireland team are continuing to provide supply chain solutions nationally and internationally while working remotely and can be contacted via their normal email and phone numbers, with office numbers being redirected.

• Across Europe, lockdown measures are being re-introduced following a sharp increase in cases with travel corridors closing between European countries and ROW.
• Transport across Europe currently remains operational with Woodland's European team processing enquiries as normal, and our our warehouses and transport fleet fully operational
• Most European countries have an un restricted movement of vehicles however border checks are creating extra waiting times and adding to transit times door-door. Increasing border restrictions are leading to potential cargo blockage on the following borders: Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Greece, Turkey
• While transport and supply chain companies remain operational across Europe, there are country specific restrictions being enforced/introduced including rules around vehicles transiting and/or maximum operating times of international drivers from certain countries before having to exit. 
• Couriers across Europe are experiencing delivery delays (between 2-4 days) due to reduced staffing levels and some postcodes in France and Italy are not receiving home deliveries due to lockdown measures taken locally.

• Over 70% of air trade from Asia Pacific to USA now originates from China. Japan is one of the countries with the strongest decline, with almost 14 p.p. lost in market share; market share fluctuations in February are mainly caused by Spring Festival
• Airfreight rate increases between Asia Pacific and Europe showed signs of slowing down last week as coronavirus lockdown measures began to be eased. This is the first decline on the trade since February 24, but prices are still far above the $2.47 per kg achieved for the week last year.
• Freight capacity is an issue that is continuing, reductions of around 25-30% on Asia/UK/Europe trade mean space is very constrained with demand exceeding supply.
• The impact on port terminals due to congestion can result in potentially longer transit times (due to slow steaming, port omissions or additional port inclusions as a result of service mergers, sudden/unexpected delays in uplift, less frequent departures and higher rates. Please contact your local Woodland representative to discuss options and alternatives.
• Space Protection: we can guarantee space protection for priority products over any other product currently moving – ideal for shipping PPE

Ocean freight update

In addition to the continued severe capacity shortage on ocean services from Asia as per our previous advisories, and carriers being delayed and/or diverted affecting importers using any of the China ports, further delays at destinations ports have added increased pressure to this trade lane. A full overview can be found here and the latest schedules here. 

Hong Kong

• Our Hong Kong office is fully operational.
• Air-freight rates are much more stable now than early in the summer. 
• Face masks required in public spaces
• Restaurants and bars are open but with restricted numbers

China

After almost a year of local restrictions, lockdowns, and restrictions on movement, China expects a lot of national travel around its 8-day Golden Week public holiday. Our Golden Week shipping advisory can be found here. 

• In September, China announced that Beijing would be reopening to international flights from 8 countries ending 5 months of lock-down in the Chinese capital.
• The Civil Aviation Administration of China said that it would reopen to the countries based on their low rate of COVID-19 and flights would be permitted to land in Beijing only. 
• The following countries will be permitted to fly into Beijing, China: 
  • Canada
  • Thailand
  • Cambodia
  • Pakistan
  • Greece
  • Denmark
  • Austria
  • Sweden 
• As of August 27, China has opened its borders to 36 European countries and 13 Asian countries (pending visa status).

• The Home Ministry has announced these guidelines for the careful re-opening of businesses, schools and public spaces throughout October (from 30th September - 31st October) in areas outside of the Containment Zones
• Inside the Containment Zones, lockdown will continue until 31st October 2020
• State governments are not permitted from imposing any localised lockdown at state, district, city or village level outside of the containment zones without prior consultation with the Central Government
• There are no restrictions on intra & inter-state movement of goods and people, including those for cross land border trade with neighbouring countries
• The ban on scheduled international flights continues until 31st October, except for those flights established under the 'air bubble' arrangement with 15 countries (the US, UK, Canada, the UAE, Qatar, Nigeria, Maldives, Kenya, Japan, Iraq, Germany, France, Bhutan, Bahrain and Afghanistan).
• Air / Sea capacity remains at a premium and the air freight rate is high due to limited international flight operations.
• There is severe shortage of inventory with carriers.
• Our team in India remains operational, with all staff working from home. If you have essential goods that need delivering or need support with documentation or other supply chain services, please contact us here. 

Rail