UK-BASED independent freight and logistics company Davies Turner achieved in May a record transit of 18 days for its fixed-day, weekly rail import service for less-than-container load (LCL) cargoes from Wuhan, China to Dartford, UK. Head of supply chain services Tony Cole said in a company statement: "Having reviewed the statistics for our Express China Rail import service for the first five months of 2019, the scheduled transit time from the Wuhan rail hub to our Dartford depot has been beaten on 16 out of 22 weeks. "Whilst the scheduled transit time from the Wuhan rail hub to our Dartford depot is 22 to 24 days, we are regularly seeing transits of 19 or 20 days, and in May achieved a record transit of 18 days." The express China rail service transports containers by rail from Wuhan direct to Duisburg in Germany. They are then trucked under bond to the port of Rotterdam and carried by ferry to Purfleet, near Dartford for on-carriage by truck to the company's main distribution centre, where they are discharged, customs cleared and delivered. Mr Cole added: "The more direct method of moving the container from Wuhan to the UK that we introduced in November last year enabled us to offer lower rates to the market, and reduced the possibility of delays, as well as strengthening security."