TNT Fast News

16 May 2013 - TNT Express is to transport twin panda brothers from Madrid to Chengdu, six years after bringing their parents from China to Spain. The 2.5 year old Po and De De are among the few pandas born in captivity outside China.

TNT Express’ special services teams have made thorough preparations to ensure a safe and comfortable journey, including customised routes and temperature controlled vehicles. Po and De De will leave Madrid on 16 May around 4:00 pm local time. They will board an air-conditioned truck that will take them to Amsterdam. They will then fly to Chengdu and spend a few hours at the airport before reaching their destination, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Delivery is scheduled for 18 May in the afternoon. A Madrid veterinarian will accompany the bears during the trip.

In September 2007, TNT Express transported Po and De De’s parents Hua Zuiba and Bing Xing from Chengdu to Madrid as part of a giant panda loan programme. The giant panda is listed as endangered in the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN’s) Red List of Threatened Animals. There are about 1600 left in the wild. About 341 giant pandas live in captivity (breeding centers and zoos), 44 live in zoos outside of China.

25 April 2013 - TNT Express delivered emergency x-ray equipment to Cameroon to help save a young gorilla that had been shot in the jungle by poachers. When TNT Express was called for help in the treatment of 10-year-old Shufai, who required vital surgery to his injured arm, the company’s Special Services division swung into action. TNT Express collected the specialist x-ray kit from the zoo in Warwickshire and flew it to Yaounde via Paris. Twycross Zoo turned to TNT Express because of its expertise in international deliveries of out-of-the-ordinary parcels.

The young gorilla, whose mother was killed by hunters, was rescued by conservation group Ape Action Africa. Three British vets, including Sharon Redrobe, Zoological Director at Twycross Zoo, flew to Mefou to operate on Shufai’s damaged arm.

Sharon said: "Pre-surgery x-rays on Shufai showed the damage to his wrist had worsened and soon after starting the operation we had to make the difficult decision to amputate his arm above the elbow. We wouldn’t have been able to establish the extent of the injury without the machine TNT kindly shipped for us.”

Shufai is now healing well from his surgery and he has even been spotted in the forest chest-beating with one arm.

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28 January 2013 - TNT Express has started to use road trains between Helsingborg, Sweden, and Puttgarden, Germany, to lower fuel consumption and emissions. Each road train consists of a conventional tractor pulling one trailer and one "box". This is an efficient alternative to the three trucks previously used to travel the 200km distance. Next to cost savings, the result is better allocation of equipment and drivers, who can return home more often. Transit times and service levels remain untouched.

Before January 2013, TNT Express trucks loaded with freight for Norway and Sweden drove all the way from Arnhem (Netherlands) and Hannover (Germany) to Helsingborg, TNT Express' main hub for the Nordic countries. The vehicles and their drivers would take the ferry in Puttgarden before continuing northwards to Helsingborg, a 13 hours journey from Arnhem (one-way). Today, they stop in Puttgarden, swap trailers and boxes with the road trains coming from Helsingborg, and return to their home base by the end of the day.

Road trains are a common sight in Australia, the US and Canada. In Europe, they are being debated. Proponents of road trains say they reduce road congestion and pollution, as fewer vehicles transport the same amount of goods. Critics argue they affect road safety, damage roads and increase the share of road transport in freight movement. However, a study by Sweden's Transport Research Institute (TFK) in 2007 indicated that longer vehicles may actually improve traffic safety because they reduce the number of vehicles on the road.

Today most EU countries have limited the length of vehicle combinations to a maximum of 18.75 m. On the other hand, Scandinavian countries have been traditionally open to using long freight vehicle combinations, the longest of up to 25.25 m. The Netherlands have conducted several successful trials of so-called "Longer and Heavier Vehicles" since 2000.

22 January 2013 –  TNT Express has put four new de-icing trucks into service at its air hub in Liège, bringing its fleet to ten. The four new Vestergaard Elephant Beta vehicles allow TNT Express to de-ice its airplanes nearly fifty percent faster than last winter. TNT Express is now able to de-ice a Boeing 747 aircraft in only two minutes, using six trucks simultaneously. Most de-icing operations are performed on TNT Express' dedicated "de-icing zone", where three aircraft can be treated simultaneously. De-icing crews undergo several days of on-the-job and simulator training.