Freight terminals are the key factor in the logistics chain providing added value to transport services and to the distribution of freight to customers.
Intermodal transport requires at least two intermediate transfers of the cargo units which means additional costs. To reduce the negative impact of transfers on costs, it is necessary to develop and implement solutions to make activities more efficient and reduce costs.
According to the report “Thematic Research Summary: Freight Transport” (2010), over the past 25 years, only 20% of invented systems are currently used, the main grounds for failing to implement solutions are related to commercial issues: some technologies demand the re-design of existing units or the manufacturing of new vehicles. Because of high costs, players refused to implement these solutions. Other technologies demand the acquisition of specific equipments, such as intermediate platforms between unloading units and the transfer system whose costs affect implementation once again. Last but not least, we can talk about other methods relying on the equipment of special railway/road vehicles requiring major investments with a guarantee of the long term return of investments.
“handling solutions in freight terminals have to be efficient at minimum costs and to significantly contribute to reducing time, as the customers is only interested in the timely delivery of goods”, declared Eric Possegger, Director of Terminal Service Austria, Rail Cargo Austria.
Irrespective of the type of solution, the target is to provide technical solutions which allows easy and cost-effective handling of cargo, especially to load not-cranable trailers on rail. This is the basement for sustainable shift of freight from road to rail and an intermodal transmission from accompanied to unaccompanied combined transport.
For example, Metrocargo’s technical solution to load/unload the trains in a fast and economic way, by using an innovative horizontal handling technique, that can be operated without shunting while the train is under the electricity track. The implementation of such system will permit a higher speed translation of load units (reduced loading/unloading time) and a cost reduction for handling and shunting operations. The construction of a single terminal requires about EUR 10 to 15 Million according to its size, while the implementation cost in the starting phase is about EUR 3-5 Million.
Also, the Modalohr solution is based on the use of special railway wagons enabling the transportation of standard roadway semi-trailers on the existing railway network. The main objective of the solution is to provide an alternative to intermodal transport and it is implemented on two relations, between Northern France and Spain and between Savoy and Lombardy. This enables in theory the whole train to be loaded or unloaded in about 15 minutes. The whole process is automated. The cost of Modalohr system exceed those of the traditional combined transport by three or four times. This because its transport capacity is between 15 to 66% less than that of other systems, while the costs per transported tonne is at least twice as high.
Terminals need efficient technical solutions for the shift of goods from roads to railways with minimum impact on costs and maximum impact on efficiency and performance, especially since the transport of freight is a strategic element in the national and regional economic development.
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