HULL, UK: July 02, 2019. DSV has begun a daily truck/rail service from Hull or Tilbury in the UK to via Zeebrugge to Italy with a transit time of five to eight working days.

From Zeebrugge (pictured) the trailers are transferred to a train for onward delivery to Novara, Italy where the trailers are unloaded prior to final delivery. The company says the same route is used for Imports from Italy to the UK.

DSV says the rail option offers flexibility in pricing and transit time plus CO2 savings over truck-only services.

“Following the launch of the rail freight solution between the UK and Spain, we have been very happy with the service and have received many positive responses from our customers,” commented DSV Senior director Denise Clarke. “We believe that adopting the same approach utilising rail between the UK and Italy will be the perfect solution to further improve our environmental footprint.

“Similar to the UK/Spain service, we will operate to and from certain postcodes in each country and as the operation is developed further, we will expand the coverage further,” she added.

In preparation for a no-deal Brexit as threatened by British prime ministerial candidates Jeremy Hunt and Boris 'Mr Blobby' Johnson, DSV has posted an invitation on its UK website inviting shippers to provide written authorisation to enable DSV to act as a Customs Agent on their behalf. "This will apply to both Export Declarations and Import Clearances. Failure to authorise DSV to act on your behalf will have an impact on transit times in the event of a 'No Deal' Brexit," according to the company.