U&I Logistics: Inland Waterways for Agricultural Cargo - Low Cost, High Quality, and Green

English - Ngày đăng : 10:00, 13/11/2025

Amid accelerating digitalization and increasingly stringent “green” standards in global markets, U&I Logistics introduces a multimodal solution that combines inland waterway and road transport specifically for agricultural goods. The dual goal: cut costs and emissions while ensuring cargo arrives with the right quality, at the right time, as promised.

Inland Waterways: Optimizing Cost

Vietnam’s dense river network is a natural advantage for shifting part of the transport flow off roads - where congestion and volatile pricing are common. With the large carrying capacity of barges (500–1,000 tons, equivalent to 20–30 trucks), a waterway-plus-road model can reduce costs by 25–30% compared with road-only transport - especially well-suited to seasonal, high-volume agricultural shipments.

Beyond being “cheaper” and more time-stable, river routes also reduce the number of handling points and limit impacts - critical for maintaining consistency and packaging integrity for rice, coffee, cashew, fruit, starch, and similar products.

U&I Logistics’ Method: Optimize Each Leg, Mitigate Every Risk

U&I Logistics designs a door–waterway–port–door itinerary guided by the principle “the right mode for the right leg”:

With 20+ years serving Vietnam’s agricultural sector, U&I Logistics does more than “move cargo” - we “carry responsibility”: seasonal transport planning, end-to-end quality control, and standardized documentation so customers can access demanding markets under green FTA requirements.

Immediate Benefits for Agri Exporters

1. Cost optimization & price control
River routes offer competitive rates - especially at scale or when hedging against road congestion. Fixed cost per ton-kilometer is more favorable thanks to barge economies of scale.

2. Quality protection & damage reduction
Fewer handoffs mean fewer torn bags, moisture incidents, and contamination; containers are cleaned and fumigated as required for each commodity.

3. Elevated “green logistics”
Shifting from road-only to multimodal cuts CO₂ emissions, meeting sustainability expectations across global supply chains - a competitive edge with EU/CPTPP partners.

4. Transparency & shipment tracking
When requested, GPS/IoT monitoring and milestone reporting are available; a single operating lead reduces hidden costs from information gaps.

Infrastructure & Network: One-Touch Across Three Regions

From operations hubs to container depots and a fleet that bridges river terminals, highways, and sea ports, U&I Logistics builds a flexible, scalable network: easy to add sailings in peak season, diversify river corridors (Mekong Delta, Southeast, Central), and connect directly with major ports to shorten dwell time.

Service Commitments

Seasonal SLAs with time guarantees for each leg and contingency plans (weather/traffic management).
Safety and compliance: container hygiene standards; clear seal and handover procedures.
End-to-end optimization: tailored plans from farm/collection warehouses to export ports or domestic DCs, balancing cost, lead time, and quality.

Enterprises can run a 30-60 days pilot to compare cost, timing, and damage rates before and after adopting a waterway-plus-road model. Based on actual operational data, U&I Logistics will develop the next-season transport plan that balances unit cost, schedule discipline, and product-quality requirements.

By An Mai