Struggling Long Beach logistics firm UTi Worldwide Inc., which brokers freight deliveries with trucking companies and ocean shipping lines, is trying on e-commerce for size.
It might be too little, too late.
In South Africa, where UTi already delivers to more than 1,400 towns, the company is installing lockers for customers to receive and return packages ordered online as an alternative to going through their home addresses or post office boxes.
UTi sees potential in the venture due to the growth of e-commerce in South Africa at a time when local mail delivery does not reach many homes, said Katie Quinlan, the company’s global marketing and communications director.
“It’s a click-and-collect delivery option, in convenient locations, 24-7,” Quinlan said. “The concept of electronic lockers has taken off globally and we believe the same will happen in South Africa.”
UTi has installed its first locker at a gas station in Johannesburg and plans to expand to more than 450 lockers in retail centers, business parks and university campuses throughout the country. UTi makes money by charging the shipper a rental or delivery fee to deliver packages into the locker, Quinlan said, and UTi just piggybacks deliveries on existing delivery services to the areas. It’s also considering expanding lockers into other parts of Africa and other emerging market countries.
But analyst Kevin Sterling, who follows UTi as managing director of BB&T Capital Markets in Richmond, Va., said it was unlikely the new service will pull the company out of its current struggles.
“They’re trying to right-size the ship, and I think these boxes are one example so that they can say, We’re doing everything we can to satisfy customer needs,” Sterling said. “I don’t think this is a new or innovative idea that’s going to drive new business their way.”
It could help down the line, he added, if UTi’s customers are happy and the service expands into stronger e-commerce markets such as Europe and Asia. UTi lost many customers during a years-long, companywide information technology expansion.
“It might be too little, too late,” Sterling said. “At this stage, it would be best for UTi to partner with a stronger partner.”
On Time, Budget
On time and on budget is a phrase rarely heard in big transit construction jobs.
But that’s what Pasadena engineering and construction firm Parsons Corp. and its Omaha, Neb., partner did last week when they completed the second 11.5 mile-extension of the Metro Gold Line light-rail system on time and on budget.
Under the $515 million contract to add service from Pasadena to Azusa, Parsons and Kiewit Corp. designed and built six passenger rail stations, an operations campus, 28 miles of track, 24 bridges and 14 street crossings, and also relocated four miles of existing track. Parsons did the design while Kiewit acted as the general contractor for the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority in Monrovia.
Kevin Haboian, a Parsons senior vice president, said completing the project on time and on budget could help the firm get more business from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority as the transit agency continues to build and expand rail lines throughout Southern California. That includes Metro’s plan for a third Gold Line extension, one that would connect Azusa to Montclair.
“Anytime you can deliver a large-scale complex project within budget, and the schedule you identify upfront, is very important,” Haboian said. “It provides some assurances to the local Metro clients here in the area that we’re a firm that can deliver. We will be using this as proof.”
More Cargo, Rail
With container cargo traffic on the rebound at the Port of Long Beach, the addition of six more miles of railroad couldn’t’ have come at a better time.
The port recently finished a $93 million rail project that added a third rail line under Ocean Boulevard, six miles of track and realigned a pathway that had in the past caused rail cars to bottleneck. Shipping terminals in the southeast section of the port and the new Middle Harbor terminal stand to benefit the most from the upgrades, port officials said.
“This project will help us to reach our goal of moving 35 percent of our intermodal containerized goods via on-dock rail in the coming years,” said port Chief Executive Jon Slangerup. “Eventually, I want to see half of our imports move out of here by rail.”
Staff reporter Carol Lawrence can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.
