Schneider to serve as domestic logistics service provider in China

Staff -- Logistics Management, 2/16/2007

SHANGHAI, China and GREEN BAY, Wis.—Transportation and logistics services provider Schneider National Inc. said yesterday it has officially been granted authority to set up shop as a domestic carrier and logistics services provider in the People’s Republic of China.

The company’s China entity is named Schneider Logistics (Tianjin) Co. Ltd. By obtaining licensing to operate in China, Schneider said it is the only North American truckload provider to establish a domestic business in China.

Schneider Logistics opened a Shanghai representative office in May 2005. The company’s objective with this office was to use it as a base for learning about the Chinese transportation market. After opening that office, Schneider was granted a consulting license and began advising U.S.-based companies on domestic transportation and logistics.

Since that time the company has actively been looking for China-based investment opportunities in three areas: domestic distribution, trucking and warehousing services; port services such as drayage, transloading, and warehousing; and freight-forwarding.

Schneider Logistics (Tianjin) will offer domestic transportation, logistics (warehousing, crossdocking and third-party logistics) and other related services, according to a company press release. The company added it will build these services through a combination of organic growth and acquisition in China. It also mentioned that it plans to provide customers with international logistics services, which are still under development.

"We see this as a great opportunity for customers in China, whether they be foreign-invested companies or Chinese-based businesses,” said Martin Winchell, managing director of Schneider Logistics China, a part of the Schneider National enterprise, in a press release. "We will now be able to help customers build out their intra-China network and grow their business in the various provinces.”

And the company has established a new office location in the Tianjin Economic Technological Development area to spur regional development in the BinHai region in Northern China, which houses many foreign-invested companies in the country.