Carotrans Teams Up With Leading Middle East NVO, The CSS Group

Union, NJ, August 8, 2011 – CaroTrans, a leading global NVOCC (Non vessel operating common carrier) and ocean freight consolidator, announces today a new alliance with the CSS Group (Consolidated Shipping Services Group), a fast-growing NVOCC and total logistics company based and headquartered in Dubai, UAE. Together, these well-established NVOs will deliver the most comprehensive FCL (full container load), LCL (less than container load), and breakbulk, out of gauge and ro-ro cargo handling services to and from North America, Middle East, and Africa. CaroTrans has been involved with the Middle East trade for over 16 years.  Now with CSS, CaroTrans expands its service capabilities to include a seamless network of offices in the Middle East and Africa region, as well as a team of dedicated ocean transportation experts with local market experience and knowledge.  CaroTrans offers weekly direct consolidation services to Dubai from their primary gateways of Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, Charleston and New York.


“We are excited to be partnering with CSS, an industry leading NVO in the Middle East.  Both our companies have similar cultures focused on customer care, best in class service and the highest quality standards. This partnership enables us to provide the high level of service and support our customers are accustomed to,” said Greg Howard, CaroTrans, Global CEO.


The Chairman of CSS, T.S. Kaladharan, commented, “CSS is delighted to partner with CaroTrans.  The synergy of CaroTrans and CSS provides first class service, resources and expertise to the marketplace. The senior management teams of both companies have worked hard on this project and are 100% committed to making this a major success for our customers.”


CSS enhances CaroTrans’ position in the Middle East market and opens new markets including Iraq.  CaroTrans’ overall global network of import and export operations consists of the United States, Europe, United Kingdom, Africa, India, Japan, South America, Oceania, Asia and Middle East.  CaroTrans strategically partners with premiere neutral NVOs, regional leaders with strong brand recognition, in key global markets where it provides for the best customer service.


About CaroTrans


Established in 1979, CaroTrans International is one of the world’s leading NVOCCs providing global LCL, less than container load, and FCL, full container load services.  Through our network of offices in Asia, South America, Oceania, and the United States, along with our strong local partners, we offer a global reach that is truly unique.


CaroTrans is a people driven company with dedicated, experienced and knowledgeable team members who engage customers with passion and experience on a local level.


For additional information, please visit www.carotrans.com


About The CSS Group


Consolidated Shipping Group is one of the fastest growing NVOCC in the region it operates. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  With a team consisting of over 750 experienced and dedicated professionals, across 20 offices, CSS has what it takes to meet your freight forwarding requirements, be it by sea, land or air. CSS has always adapted itself to the latest trends in the industry to offer efficient and most feasible solutions to its clients’ and associates.


For additional information, please visit www.cssgroupsite.com


CONTACT


CaroTrans  | Greg Howard   |  9082061067  |  gregh@carotrans.com

CSS Group  | Ken Dinnadge  |  971504564390  |  ken@cssdubai.com

CKL Communications  | Carol Lerner  |  9736356923  |  ckl.communications@gmail.com

CSS Group Marketing  | Amith Horra   |  971504567536  |  amith@cssdubai.com

Relief Mission

Disaster recovery and Business continuity


As part of the business continuity process CSS has launched its Disaster recovery sub site at Twin Info Solutions, its business continuity back office in Kerala, India. Disaster recovery is the process, policy, procedure and early planning of the company to protect its business critical data or technology infrastructure from loss or from any outside threat. As information technology systems are growing with mega bytes or terabytes of data, a fast growing organization like CSS needs to take strategic steps for protecting its essential data in a highly secured area.

This was the compelling factor for creating a replica of its production environment. CSS was following the off-site backup technique for quite a long time till they created its own backup site in 2010. The company allocated 10% of its annual IT budget for disaster recovery planning and measurements.

In the event of an unexpected stalemate, the IT infrastructure will start working within no time from its back office location and take control of the situation, preventing the loss of data of all CSS offices. The backup sites can be categorized into three. They are cold sites, hot sites and warm sites. CSS has setup a hot site which is a replica of the original site of the organization, with fully automated systems. The capacity of the hot site may vary from that of the original. This type of backup site is very expensive to maintain as well. CSS is also planning to go for disaster recovery sites for its entire IT related business process support systems such as portal solution to customers, communication servers, file servers, etc.

FPS Rotterdam Visit @ CSS

It is with great pleasure that CSS Group welcomed Paula Van Der Werf and Saskia De Jong from FPS Rotterdam who visited the CSS UAE offices in March 2011.  Since the early years the association with FPS Rotterdam has created new business opportunities and mutual benefits. The agenda of the visit was to discuss the future developments of import/export routings and new target market/customers.   The CSS Sales Team Managers and staff in Dubai, Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi, UAE participated and discussed various subjects, interests and business strategies with FPS Rotterdam during their UAE visit. As per Siby Kurian, General Manager, Sales and Marketing, “It was a great opportunity for the CSS Sales Team Managers and staff to discuss the current trends in the Freight Forwarding industry and to develop new and exciting strategies that will mutually benefit CSS and FPS.”

Projects At A Glance

CSS Group’s Sales team Jebel Ali was contracted to move four Pressure vessels. These were transported from the client’s yard to Jebel Ali port and were then loaded onto the Break-bulk vessel on a direct delivery basis for discharge at Kandla Port. The cargo included Slug Catcher – 164.8 Tons (31 length x 6 width x 7 height meters), Production Separator – 157.61 Tons (31 length x 6 width x 7 height meters), Dehydrator – 68.8 tons (26.7 length x 4.25 width x 4.3 height meters) and Degasser – 14 tons (10.1 length x 3.32 width x 3.42 height meters). The operation extended for three days started from 9th to 11th March 2011. The movement included the use of special transport equipment’s like Hydraulic trailer and Dolly trailer to transport these units to Jebel Ali port. The whole critical operation was supported and coordinated by the CSS staff onsite to ensure smooth operation. This Project movement is yet another example of the exemplary services provided by CSS Group.

UAE Ministry Of Foreign Affairs – DP World

Public – Private Counter Piracy Conference

An international conference was held in Dubai from April 18-19 at the prestigious Mina A’Salam, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai under the patronage of his highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.

The event brought together high-level government and industry leaders,  as well as recognized experts in the area of maritime security, information  systems, international law and economic development, to share experiences  and strategies and to identify compelling opportunities for multilateral action.  Piracy has an enormous financial and human cost and the problem is growing  in both scope and scale.  The counter-piracy conference aimed to broaden the  discussion, highlight key impediments to action and develop partnerships  between industry and governments to help create viable counter-piracy strategies.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and DP World were pleased to invite the only freight forwarder CSS Group to this invitation only conference.  Ken Dinnadge, VP Business Development attended this significant conference and he added, “CSS Group is highly honored and thankful to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and DP World for inviting us to attend this important conference. It was an excellent avenue to discuss the issues on hand with high-level delegates as well as to promote CSS Products and Services. It was truly an exceptional international conference and we look forward to attend more of the same in the near future.”

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers

Cargo On The Move From India To Dubai VIA CSS

CSS Group was recently appointed to secure a suitable vessel to load and ship a large shipment of 777 Caterpillar machines ex Mumbai to Jebel Ali (BREAKBULK) on behalf of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. Due to the cargo being time sensitive,  the cargo was required in Jebel Ali for a major auction. It had to be completely  dismantled, trucked from Hyderabad to Mumbai in order to meet a specialized CSS Chartered vessel at Mumbai port. This encompassed a considerable amount of preparation work to secure the right vessel tonnage, on behalf of our client, capable of being able to accommodate 777 Machines, which are some of Caterpillar’s largest dump trucks. Also CSS executed the complete coordination with the suppliers for the transportation across India as well as export documentation, the port, the police, the border crossings and then the actual vessel loading.  This was done with the help of CSS India offices and coordinated the entire project out of head office in Dubai.

The vessel was sourced and secured through reputable brokers and all relevant subcontractors were pre approved by the CSS Group in order to ensure that physical transportation was handled and the actual vessel loading. The CSS Group Team right from the Chairman to the Senior Management oversaw all infinite details in each and every step in order for Ritchie Bros to focus on the auction aspects as opposed to the actual shipping aspect. This was done through the specialist CSS Project Division which is now rapidly becoming one among a few project forwarders who is specializing in the international movement of heavy machinery using their own regional offices combined with our international partners. In fact moving heavy machinery across the world is what CSS Group do well i.e. shipping new and used mining machinery, construction earth moving equipment, cranes, plant equipment/machines exploration and drilling equipment as well as agricultural machinery, every day of every week. Whether you are shipping a Caterpillar dozer, a Hitachi excavator, a Komatsu dump truck or a Tadano crane, the very experienced crew of projects department knows exactly what is required to transport your heavy equipment in the safest and most economical shipping configuration.

CSS Group maintains an extensive technical database with machinery specifications of nearly all major earthmoving, construction and mining plant and equipment. This means our customers don’t have the hassle of having to provide technical drawings or machinery spec’s whenever they are shipping machinery internationally. The operations crew of CSS boasts average industry experience exceeding 20 years per person.  A third of the crew has more than 25 years experience, much of that time directly involved with shipping heavy equipment using scheduled RORO Services specialized break bulk and container vessels  and dedicated charters for larger parcels.

Whether it’s CSS Group or one of the competitors, we strongly recommend using heavy lift specialists when moving your valuable heavy machinery and other challenging cargoes, internationally.

For any enquiries about shipping various types of equipment, construction machinery and all types o f earth moving machines, transporting drill rigs, relocating a drag line, decommissioning a mine, relocating a manufacturing plant, repositioning military equipment, importing farm machinery, exporting generators or simply moving very big things the crew at CSS Group will always consider it as pleasure and great opportunity to handle this with utmost care. CSS Group is your service provider in this sector Door to Door worldwide.

Please send in enquiries to infoprojects@cssdubai.com.

Sailing Starts

Perfect Start Info the New Year For CSS And Peters & May

With the alliance with Peters & May, CSS had created a new business opportunity in the Yacht and Marine Logistics sector which has been highly beneficial. In the beginning of this year the CSS Group was assigned the responsibility of full door to door service of a Luxury Tecnomar Nadara 24 Yacht from Genoa, Italy to Jebel Ali. The yacht weighing almost 70 Tonnes and 25 meters in length was imported by the local Tecnomar dealer. CSS was appointed to coordinate the delivery from the factory up to Genoa, export clearance, supervision of the loading and providing a cradle for the yacht and ship it to Jebel Ali. A team of three loadmasters was appointed by Peters & May/ CSS and worked hard under the supervision of Rouben Brosen, General Manger of Yacht & Marine Logistics who made sure that the boat was delivered to the customer’s hands in a perfect condition. Apart from that Peters & May and CSS were involved in the export of several tender boats and containers for BMW Oracle and Emirates Team New Zealand on their appearance in 2010 AC Louis Vuitton Cup held in Dubai. During the month of January, Peters & May and CSS have handled the shipment and clearance of more than 12 yachts and boats are looking forward to an exponential increase in the volume of business due to the upcoming boat shows in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The new Moody 45 Sailing Yacht that arrived straight out of the Hanse Factory in Germany, was shipped, cleared and delivered as an all in one package for the local customer, thanks to the combined effort of Peters & May Germany and Peters & May Middle East/CSS Group.

For further information in reference to shipping your boat or spare parts please contact:
petersandmay@cssdubai.com.

CSS Sales Strategy Meet 2011

The annual CSS Sales Strategy Meet 2011 was held at the Jumeirah Meydan Hotel in Dubai UAE, on the 25th & 26th of November. In attendance at the event were CSS Senior Management and Department Heads from the Middle East and the Indian Sub Continent. In addition, special guests Oliver Hahn from IFS Doha, Dean Landers from CSS Kuwait and Wendy Hain from Spatial Group were also present.

The theme for this year’s meeting was “Tomorrow is Yours” – CSS is starting a Green Tomorrow for All, Today.

The Annual Strategy meet held every year is a platform on which the key players within the CSS Group present their achievements of 2010 and the annual budget followed by their action plan for the year 2011 and receive feedback from other departments. The core purpose of the Strategy Meet is to evaluate the performance and to analyze the new market trends and the areas of business that are a crucial element of the continuing development of CSS core businesses.

On the 25th evening a Gala dinner was organized for the meet attendees and the main attraction was the live horse racing from the Jumeirah Meydan Hotel racetrack.

Amith Horra, Cheryl Annes, Chandra Kala and Deepu S Dev headed the CSS Sales Strategy Meet organizing committee. CSS extends its gratitude to all those who had participated and truly appreciate everyone’s support and cooperation in making the annual CSS Sales Strategy Meet a success.

Seeking Success ? Then Understand The Importance Of Sales

With over 8 years in the organization, Siby C. Kurian has been a key player of CSS Group’s aggressive sales strategy.

Sales is a vital component to the success of an industry, regardless of the type of industry (i.e. service, manufacturing etc.) or location. In economics, sales are the activities involved in selling products or services in return for money or other compensation. However as economies have grown and become far more competitive this definition is not as simple as it was a few years ago. Sales in the shipping industry, like any other competitive global industry, relies on specific personality traits and complete business know how to be successful. Nowadays it is not enough to be knowledgeable about the business, to a prospective client one must be honest, must hold a deep regard for the needs of the client and most importantly must deliver the service at the end of the transaction in the most efficient and effective way as possible.

Having been in the company for over 8 years, Siby has set the bar for sales achievement within the CSS Group. Talking about the importance of sales within the CSS Group “Sales is one of the most intergral part of any business. However there are many components to sales that are often ignored; for example the importance of sales forecasting in any business, which allows a business to identify future areas of profit for the company.”

Business sales skills are a little bit more advanced, as you will be dealing with large corporations where sales pitches are delivered in meetings to a group of potential investors or clients. In this instance, sales skills are not just important, but they are vital. Imagine walking into a board room full of people who are all there just to listen to you. How do you command the room? How do you initiate conversation and begin your presentation? What do you wear? How do you walk? Do you look people in the eye?

Siby recounts his first sales pitch in CSS Group, almost 8 years ago and gives newcomers a few helpful tips. “Its only natural to be worried before meeting your first client, everyone is! The trick is to act out the situation the prior day, and most importantly know the business, as you don’t want to seem surprised when asked a difficult question by the client. Once you gain the trust of the client it is also vital that you nurture and grow that trust as client recommendations are an important factor in meeting sales targets.”

Achieving sales in today’s harsh economic climate is not easy, but many people are selling. To help you out we listed out what some experts feel are the four most important tips to selling better.

Buyer-Seller relationship

The problem with many sellers are that they really don’t care about their clients and they are more concerned in making a sale. Good sellers understand the value of walking through the entire sale with their clients from start to finish. They don’t just push these people to make a purchase instead; they work together with these people to find solutions to their problems. As a result, they are able to earn the trust of these prospects and they easily convert them to buying customers.

Sales call planning

It is very important that you have specific action plans or an effective selling process. You need to know what to do when and what to do next. An effective sales process looks like this; initial contact, meeting with decision-makers, proposal meeting, sales presentation, and delivery.

Questioning skills

As a seller, it is very important that you know the right questions to ask to discover the needs and demands of potential client. This is very important when your prospects are unable to properly communicate what they are looking for. Keep in mind that poor questioning will not help you properly identify the needs of your potential client, therefore when you return with a proposal it will most probably not be converted to a sale.

Presentation skills

You need to have great presentation skills to influence the buying decision of your prospects. Don’t forget to communicate all the benefits that your products can offer. Also, make sure that your presentation is interesting and engaging so you will not bore your audience.
So on behalf of CSS Group. Happy Selling!

Cargo Ball

CSS Group and NAFL(National Association of Freight and Logistics) in association with Arabian Reach to participate in the Cargo Ball charity gala dinner to raise funds for Al Noor Training Centre for children with special needs.

NAFL, founded in 1992 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is born to bring together in one body all major players in the UAE’s Freight Forwarding and Shipping Industry. NAFL strives to ensure UAE’s leading position and Dubai’s pre-eminence in the international freight and transportation fields.

This gesture by NAFL and Arabian Reach which is to be held on October 28th, 2010 in Dubai, UAE is aimed at reaching out something for the disadvantaged and this explains why Al Noor Training Center will be privileged to receive 20% of the profits from this gathering.

Al Noor Training Center for children with special needs has been in existence since 1981 and provides quality and effective training to the special needs community of Dubai. The center supports children with challenges such as Downs Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Autism. These are addressed through special education methods, physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy. Al Noor also has its own work placement unit, which trains children with an aptitude for open employment.

CSS Group since its inception has continually worked closely with the Al Noor Training Center to raise awareness about children with special needs not only through gala dinners, but also by way of souvenir magazines, directories and advertisements.

Ahmed Al Rais, Sr. VP-Air Freight, CSS Group adds, “The Al Noor Center is one of the oldest special needs facilities in the United Arab Emirates. The dedication of the staff and the management towards its students and their families serve as an endearing example of hard work and determination for each and everyone of us in today’s world. We at CSS admire and thank the members of Al Noor Center and congratulate them on their achievements.”

Know me better

This section of the CSS Portal awareness initiative shows how to use the Sailing Schedule module.

Sailing Schedule

The sailing schedule module lists the inbound as well as the outbound cargo schedules, this is mainly for the sea cargo operations. The sailing schedule module can also be used to book cargo in the listed schedules.

From the top ‘Select’ area you may choose the ‘Inbound’ or ‘Outbound’. Select the ‘ORIGIN’ port as well as the ‘DESTINATION’ port from the list and click on the ‘Search’ button to get the desired schedule.

The above listed schedule is a routed schedule via ‘KUWAIT’. You can even book cargo to this particular schedule by clicking on the ‘Book Now’ button’ which will take you to the ‘online booking’ screen with the selected schedule.

CSS SALES STRATEGY MEET 2010

CSS Group recently concluded its Annual Sales Strategy Meet 2010 at the Jetwing Beach Resort, Negombo, Sri Lanka. The three day meeting was attended by CSS Senior Management and Head of Departments from the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent. The meet discussed the annual budget and accomplishments CSS SALES STRATEGY MEET 2010 Lighthouse6 of each team followed by a sales forecast and strategies and goals for 2010.

“Focus on the Future” was the theme adopted this year. Strategy Meet plays a vital role in evaluating team performances and highlighting strengths and weaknesses of the team. This provides a focus on the latest developments in areas ranging from sales strategy fundamentals to emerging IT technologies to prevailing competition.

Strategy Meet for CSS Group is more than presentations made by managers, analyzing previous year’s figures and forecasting budget. It also includes dissecting operational processes to review the excellence level attained. Although strategy takes account of the future, it takes place in the present. It is about making choices in the present with an eye to consequences these choices may have.

CSS Strategy Meet was organized by Marketing & Corporate Communications department of CSS Group headed by Amith Surya Horra, Unnikrishnan, Neyha Nurie and Cheryl Annes. CSS Strategy Meet is a well designed meeting structure that fosters opportunities for participation so people can be heard, questions can be asked and answered, discussion can take place, decisions are arrived at, and the most important items are attended to. It helps to collectively put together information from various sources to measure the impact and direction of strategies laid down and shape up new tactics based on imminent factors as per the current scenario and future analysis.

Sri Lanka was the chosen destination, for this meet by the Management and the Jetwing hospitality that catered to the group’s needs proved that the preferences were correct. Imran Naufal, the Resort Manager at The Beach Hotel, who needs a special mention, and his vibrant team, played a vital role in making this conference a success. The Sales Strategy meet was attended by Oliver Hahn from IFS Doha by special invitation.

Cruising Italian Style aboard Costa Victoria

It was one of the most exciting strategy meets, CSS Group had over the years. Yes, it was truly overwhelming, breathtaking and grand aboard The Costa Victoria. CSS group’s sales strategy meet was held from 14th to 17th December onboard this stunningly beautiful floating luxury to which the CSS Group boarded from Dubai and travelled through Oman & Fujaira to disembark at Abu Dhabi. It carries 1928 passengers and has 12 decks for you to explore, out of the 14 decks in total, while you are at sea. The 790 member crew will pamper you and see to your every need. The massive vessel takes you to the ports of your dreams as you sail away into the sunset. It is becoming too poetic when you describe about this floating extravaganza.
CSS strategy meet had seen an increase in the number of participants from 50 the last year in Goa to 61 this year. The team comprised of CSS group members from Middle East, India & USA. Associates of CSS group, from Doha and Kuwait also attended on an invitation for this meet. The meet was formally inaugurated with a welcome note from the Group Chairman T. S. Kaladharan, as he invited all to “Share the vision” of the group for the future, the motto being the theme this year. Amith Surya Horra, Asst. Marketing Manager, who was also the team head for the organising committee explained about the four days programme for the event, and the details about the Cruise Vessel.
From the breathtaking panoramic Concorde Plaza to the sparkling indoor pool, ultramodern Pompei Spa and incredible Planetarium Atrium spanning seven decks, the Costa Victoria cruise ship combines the elegance of European style with the sophistication of American comforts.
Day one saw the CSS Volume being presented by Paul D’ Souza, Senior VP for Sales & Marketing, followed by, the team from Projects Oil & Gas presenting their status with the current economic scenario and the figures they had calculated. There after presentations and figures from the sales team of Dubai was presented. The Captain’s night was the attraction for the evening where in the Crew heads introduced themselves to the passengers, which was followed by the Gala dinner organised by the Costa crew. The appetizers are good but sometimes unusual, along with desserts and salads. The Casino opened till early morning attracting many, to part with some good amount of bills, on the Black jack table.
Day two started with the Airfreight presentation from Sanal Haridas, Commercial Manager. Presentations and budget figures were later on presented from the Land Transport department, CSLC-1, Abudhabi, Bahrain, CSS Logistics, and Business development in USA. A scavenger hunt organised by the crew animators, was the team building activity for the day. CSS India presentations were started by Mumbai by Rampal and later on moved on to Kolkata and Delhi. The bar-be-que night organised by CSS Group topped up the day’s events.
Day three saw the presentations being continued from the Indian offices and then the group’s corporate communications department had its presentation. Marketing department had their presentation on Day four which was followed by the open discussion initiated by the Management
It was then time to pack back with lots of memories aboard this mighty liner. The team CSS disembarked at the Abu Dhabi port after the long four days of sail away parties and much more to remember. The CSS sales strategy meet 2009, can be remembered as one of the most exciting and stimulating of all the strategies meets we had over the years past.