Overland Total Logistics Group
An Alternative to Air and Sea Freight within China and ASEAN

Cross-border trucking within China and ASEAN has been around for more than 20 years. This transport mode occupies a niche position between sea and air freight, with lead time comparable to air freight at 30 to 50 percent of air freight cost.

Cross-border trucking has gained a loyal customer base across diverse segments such as technology, machine tools, apparel, automotive, as well as even medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Highly sensitive cargo, like hard disks and semiconductor production equipment are routinely carried by cross-border trucking across multiple countries.

Established in 2001, Overland was one of the pioneers in the industry, paving the way for the long haul routes connecting Singapore/Malaysia/ Thailand to China. Unlike many newer competitors, Overland owns trucking assets and border facilities in all key countries of operation. The company also maintains operation teams in each country, including 24/7 command centers ready to resolve any problems that might arise on the road.

“With a fleet of over 300 trucks and 400 containers, we operate in nine Southeast Asian nations and China, making us one of the fastest growing logistics companies in Indo-China and the ASEAN region”, states Jen Siang Kong, the group CEO of Overland Total Logistics Services (M) Sdn Bhd.

Over the last 20 years, the key product of Overland was full-container-load service (FTL). With owned assets and teams in every country, it could deliver stable lead times with low damage-in-transit to the most demanding customers. For example, the standard lead time between Shanghai and Singapore for its FTL service is seven days door-to-door, which is extremely close to air freight’s door-to-door lead time once the first and last mile are factored in.

During the worst of the pandemic, many customers turned to cross-border trucking to keep their supply chains running as air and sea freight choked up. Today, some of these customers are keeping a portion of their supply chain with cross-border trucking as a BCP measure.

In 2017, Yamato Holdings, a Japanese logistics powerhouse, acquired Overland Group. With Yamato’s support, Overland has been growing its new product line “Less-than-Truck-Load (LTL)” service, and targets to integrate the service into Yamato’s last mile network in each country.

The LTL service is similar to a cargo bus service. Overland has LTL hubs in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Bangkok, Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Customers can lodge loose cargo into any of Overland’s hubs and expect to receive the cargo at the destination hub within a fixed lead time. All cargo form factors are accepted, including pallets, cartons, rolls, and crates, although surcharges will apply for Out-of-Gauge (OOG) cargo, much like sea LCL.

The advantages of LTL service over air and sea freight:

1.30 to 70 percent of air freight hub-to-hub cost at a comparable lead time

2.Comparable cost with sea LCL at 1/3- 1/2 of sea LCL lead time

3.Frequent departures; for example, three southbound departures from Shenzhen to major Southeast Asian cities

4.Once lodged in Overland’s hubs, cargo is under its care till the destination, unlike air or sea LCL, which goes through multiple handling parties

5.Full trackability throughout the journey

6.Easily accessible hubs compared to air or sea freight that is further from industrial centres and has more onerous entry/exit requirements

7.Environmentally friendly compared to air freight (20 percent of air freight GHG emission on a per tonne basis)

8.Ability to handle lithium-ion batteries (within certain limits)

With a fleet of over 300 trucks and 400 containers, we operate in nine Southeast Asian nations and China, making us one of the largest cross border trucking company in the ASEAN region

For example, users with loose cargo from Shenzhen into Hanoi, Bangkok and Penang can lodge everything into Overland’s Shenzhen hub, and Overland will handle all documentation and transportation to each destination hub. This compares well with air and sea LCL, which typically requires the cargo lodgement to three different service providers, one for each lane.

In logistics, exceptions happen. Sometimes, users might not be able to get their cargo ready for scheduled departure dates. With LTL service, should cargo not be ready for one departure, customers will only have to wait 2-3 days for the next departure, compared to typically one week for sea LCL.

With widespread interest to reduce total supply chain cost, Overland’s LTL service can help reduce expenditure on urgent air shipments, and also help manufacturers reduce inventory holding through more frequent and visible small lot cargo movements throughout Asia.

And that is probably the reason for the strong growth of Overland’s LTL product over the last 3 years. For more information contact marketing@otlgp.com