By George Lauriat, Editor-in-Chief, AJOT America Feeder Lines (AFL) is closing on its service startup, says Andrew Haines, Vice President Line Management for the service. The container feeder ship service will link the Port of Halifax with Portland, Maine; Boston, Massachusetts and New York/New Jersey. According to Haines, “We [AFL] are targeting New York-Boston corridor truck traffic as we’ll be offering a service that has better transit times and is greener.” Although Haines has made many calls on regional freight interests, he’s quick to point out that AFL doesn’t sell slots direct to the BCO (beneficial cargo owner) but rather to the ocean carrier and NVO. “We are really complimentary to their services,” Haines added. This doesn’t mean AFL doesn’t have a wish list of potential freight clients. Haines said, “On the import side we are looking at wines and spirits, seaweed, garments and apparel, reefer and heavy or out of gauge freight.” “For exports, we are targeting forest products, scrap metal and just about any commodity that needs to better transit times,” Haines added. The real advantage to the AFL service is the ability to handle heavier loads than trucks can legally handle. For some commodities, like scrap metal or forest products, this is a key component to being competitive on the international market. The transit times are also important, and Haines says that by connecting with the schedules (Grand Alliance, for example) in the Port of Halifax, a significant amount of transit time can be cut at a price that is very competitive. He said they are expecting transit times of around six days to Europe. Although AFL is targeting the long haul dray, he doesn’t see the trucking business as a rival. “We are providing the piece in the middle, trucks are still running the first mile and last mile. The long haul is often congested and is the least profitable piece for the trucking company, and with fuel prices going up, sitting in traffic is getting more expensive and environmentally unsound.” AFL is negotiating charters for their startup, which is scheduled between May 1st and May 15th. The vessel is expected to be in the 1,000 teu range for the shuttle. AFL has already moved into a South Boston office at 212 Northern Avenue, Fish Pier, West Building, along with Atlantic Maritime Transit Agency (AMTA). AMTA, manager John Hudson, has handled a number of the shuttle services over the years and will be handling the agency side of the ship call. Haines says the AFL service will be “clean, green, fast, reliable and committed.” He emphasized that AFL is in for the long haul.