APL will be launching a new weekly EAGLE EXPRESS X Service (EEX) starting in July 2018. The service is said to be faster than other carrier’s service with 11 day transit time from Shanghai to Los Angeles and 12 days transit time from Ningbo.
EEX service will offer a 24/7 cargo pick up in the port. Containers will arrive at Los Angeles port on Tuesday mornings and will be discharged during the day on APL chassis. The port of Los Angeles will provide dedicated off-dock facility to store containers that are discharged overnight and they will be ready for pick-up on Wednesday morning from 6am.
Given the recent shortage of airfreight capacity from shanghai to Los Angeles, APL believes that this service will attract some U.S. air freight importers. APL’s chief executive officer, Nicolas Sartini said “The cargo can be ready on Wednesday afternoon, which is a total of 12 days. With airfreight, the flight is only one day but it takes four to five days to bring the cargo to the airport and then pick it up from the airport on the other side. So we have 5-days by air, and 12-days by sea. Our fare is higher than the other port pairs on the trans-Pacific, but it is much lower than air freight.”
EEX will be using smaller vessels with about 2,000 TEU of capacity and are planning to set a premium price for this service.
CMA CGM acquired APL in 2016 and currently operates 120 services with 40% in the transpacific trade.
