Reefer solutions make progress in Norway

In early 2023, Blue Water strategically entered the Norwegian market of reefer products going out of Norway. With base in Oslo, the manager of the new team, Erlend Pekeberg, was hired to build up the business model. 

Soon, the reefer team will be welcoming its ninth colleague, still experiencing market demand and business opportunities. All are experienced freight forwards with great knowledge of the Norwegian reefer logistics market. 

”When we started from scratch only a year ago, we did not have any distinct client base or revenue from reefer activities in Norway. But thanks to the colleagues in Denmark who had previously managed the traffics in Norway, and the members of our newly established reefer team – and the great dedication and drive, they have accessed Blue Water and the market with – we are today running a successful business with a great customer database. And it continues to grow”, explains Erlend Pekeberg, Head of Reefer Road Norway. 

From export to import

In the beginning, focus was on building a local setup. Blue Water’s reefer activities had previously been handled from Aalborg in Denmark, but now it was prioritised to have a team of locals carrying out the freight forwarding, improving supplier networks and naturally also benefitting the solutions offered to the clients. 

Starting up with freight forwarding of groupage cargo in and out of Norway, the team accomplished great volumes of freight. This was not entirely unproblematic as they thereby started to experience lack of equipment as it was sent out of the country. Therefore, the team began to explore import opportunities to get equipment back into the logistics loop. 

With more colleagues added to the team in the summer 2023, and by entering a unique supplier agreement of favourable traffics, this became possible, and today, the reefer road transports are powering ahead with a competitive market approach. 

Rail transport increases market shares further

Based on the success of the road transports, the team is now looking at rail transport of reefer products. Within the first quarter of 2024, Blue Water will start up rail solutions between Oslo and northern Norway. 

A minimum of 10 trailers weekly will be going north with dry goods and south again with sea food products, which can be further distributed to the rest of Europe. 

Rail transport has the advantage of being more climate friendly compared to other transport modes. Also, the reliability of deliveries as well as speed make it a popular transport mode, so Blue Water is happy to add this to the selection of solutions available to local and global customers with transport and logistics needs in Norway.