In order to provide efficient transhipment during transport, the technological systems play a major role in increasing freight transport attractiveness, especially in ports. This way, transhipment becomes faster and more efficient for transport operators and customers alike.
The “Mobiler” system implemented by Rail Cargo Austria is an innovative transhipment technology for intermodal transport and allows an active management of the freight supply chain along the logistics segment. This system optimizes freight traffic and contributes to cost-efficiency, combining the advantages of moving freight on rail and also efficiently transferring freight from road to rail.
This system also helps move freight for those that don’t benefit from their own sidings, and for those that do benefit from them, their transhipment possibilities are greatly expanded. The system can be used in terminals and inside the stations equipped with loading/unloading equipment, thus allowing the transhipment of containers of up to 8 m in length, which should be equipped with two side channels in the lower part. Tank cars or containers can be equipped with permanent or adapted fastening systems used during transhipment.
Standard freight cars should be equipped with welded plates along the loading surface for “step-by-step” transhipment. This technology can help move units with a total weight of up to 32 tonnes, within a time framework of several minutes (around 10 min to unload an empty unit and load a full unit). This transhipment system could also be used together with a GPS system for Internet location and positioning, electronic customer data collection systems and transhipment monitoring systems.
Another method of transhipment which contributes to an increase in freight volume and improvement in terminal activity is the Cargospeed system. For instance, a 40-freight car train can be loaded and unloaded in only 8 minutes (a total of 20 minutes, including terminal entry and exit). This helps improve flexibility in terminals and also reduces costs for additional constructions. Seeing as this system is designed for combined Roll-on/Roll-off/rail transport, diesel traction is not necessary.
How does it work? A train with freight cars that have detachable boards stops between two uplifted platforms in the terminal. A mobile hydraulic pipe is placed between the tracks, which lifts and rotates the board of the freight car, allowing the truck to be loaded. The use of several hydraulic pipes can accelerate the loading/unloading process.
However, in order to maximize the freight volume, it is necessary to use technology as well in order to reduce time and costs, to have an efficient management and also to hold control over the
execution of the transhipment procedure in terminals.
by Pamela Luică
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