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

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.