Nippon Express said Wednesday it has started a new road transport service linking Hanoi with Bangkok.
The service, called the Mekong Land Bridge Express, will ship goods between Hanoi and Bangkok in three days using the east-west corridor between Da Nang, Vietnam and Mawlamyaing, Myanmar, that has come under the spotlight since the December 2006 opening of the Second Mekong Bridge. The principal modes of transport between Hanoi and Bangkok have been air and ocean, with door-to-door ocean transport service taking 14 days.
"The new service will reduce lead time substantially, to about one-fifth, using a land route," the Japanese company said. "We will also provide services incorporating containers with the same specifications as marine cargo containers to meet the demand for large-volume transport. The launch of this Mekong Land Bridge Express service opens the last remaining Thailand-Vietnam section of SS7000 (the collective designation used at Nippon Express for the 7,000 kilometers of road transport routes that connect the businesses serviced by Nippon Express Shanghai and Nippon Express Singapore logistics centers) and marks the completion of a long-haul transport route traversing six national borders. The need for a transport route linking China, Vietnam and Southeast Asia has risen sharply."
American Shipper