8 September, 2023

Cargo Owners Encouraged to Shift to Rail

Posted on 8 September, 2023 by David Priestman

DP World has launched a new programme in the UK to help cargo owners reduce their carbon emissions by shifting from road to rail freight.

The Modal Shift Programme, which is being trialled at DP World’s Southampton Logistics Hub, offers customers a financial incentive to move their imported goods off the road and onto rail, cutting carbon emissions and air pollutants – the programme could prevent as much as 30,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted per year. The financial incentive will be paid for by a relatively small charge on all import laden containers coming through DP World Southampton.

Under the scheme, customers whose import-laden containers are moved by rail to a railhead within 140 miles of DP World Southampton will receive a £70 incentive. Containers that are moved by rail to a railhead more than 140 miles from DP World Southampton will be reimbursed the £10 fee on each container.

John Trenchard, UK Commercial & Supply Chain Director at DP World, said: “DP World will help mitigate the impacts of climate change by becoming a net zero logistics organisation by 2050 and continue to support our customers on their own decarbonisation journeys. We invite supply chain partners to review if rail can play a bigger role in their UK supply chains.

“Southampton has traditionally moved more containers by rail more than any other UK terminal. Over the last few years however, there has been a gradual decline in rail share – a consequence of the wider nationwide challenges facing rail freight at present. Through the Modal Shift Programme we aim to increase the rail share up towards 40% by the end of 2025 – supporting the UK Government’s ambition to drive the modal shift from road freight to more environmentally sustainable alternatives like rail.”

DP World was named ‘Sustainability Company of the Year’ at Multimodal 2023 thanks, in part, to the Modal Shift Programme. The company was also recognised for delivering a 55% reduction in net carbon emissions from its fleet and installations at Southampton in 2022 after transitioning to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) and its £12m investment at London Gateway in the first all-electric fleet of straddle carriers to go into commercial operation at a port anywhere in the world.

In addition to its UK hubs at Southampton and London Gateway, DP World’s offer includes logistics, forwarding and European transport capabilities, all of which are being integrated into the company’s global network. Operating in 78 countries, DP World now handles 10 per cent of world trade.

Cargo Owners Encouraged to Shift to Rail

Posted on 8 September, 202331 July, 2025 by David Priestman

DP World has launched a new programme in the UK to help cargo owners reduce their carbon emissions by shifting from road to rail freight.

Highrunner: Containerised Logistics Palletiser

Posted on 8 September, 2023 by David Priestman

CKF Systems are delighted to introduce the new palletising solution developed by Qimarox for logistics operations where palletising goods from containers happens frequently. The Qimarox Highrunner HR9 comes complete with a unique pattern generator allowing the system to stack boxes of almost any size on pallets at high speed without specially trained technicians generating a fresh pallet pattern for each new product.

CKF Systems is the sole Silver Partner for Qimarox in the UK and has a wealth of experience integrating Qimarox product lifts and layer palletisers. The manual unloading of ‘loose loaded’ containers is physically demanding, time-consuming and unattractive work. The removal process from the containers one by one and then manually stacked onto pallets, can lead to damaged packaging and goods if stacked carelessly or dropped.

Investment in the automation of the palletising process will provide companies the solution necessary to meet the increasing demands of the global supply chain to empty containers more efficiently and improve the working environment for personnel.

Smart pattern generator with 3D scanner

CKF Systems design and build the conveyor systems supporting the Highrunner HR9 palletiser and integrate a 3D case product scanner which automatically captures the contours and dimensions of the cartons. The data forms the input for the pattern generator which calculates multiple stacking patterns based on that information, this is then displayed to an operator highlighting the preferred pattern. The pattern is selected to offer the best stability, pallet utilisation and speed of case handling. Once selected the pattern can be saved into memory against that product and recalled, as required automatically, on recognising the product barcode. This process no longer requires highly trained and experienced technicians or callouts from specialist programmers each time a new product is received.

CKF Systems has been operating as a leading turnkey automation provider in the UK since 1988 and has a wealth of experience integrating state of the art automation solutions for our customers who range from SMEs all the way up to some of the biggest global corporations. CKF are pleased to have achieved some of the highest accolades and partnerships with Qimarox, Intralox, ABB and Interroll for many years, demonstrating their commitment in supporting CKF’s capabilities. With the introduction of the Qimarox Highrunner HR9, CKF can expand their container unloading offering to customers throughout the UK who require a robust and reliable solution to palletise varied and ranging products.

Highrunner: Containerised Logistics Palletiser

Posted on 8 September, 202329 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Smart pattern generator with 3D scanner

Transaid Welcomes New Corporate Member

Posted on 8 September, 202331 July, 2025 by David Priestman

International development organisation Transaid has welcomed Iron Mountain as the latest supporter to enrol in its corporate membership programme.

Iron Mountain, a global leader in innovative warehousing, storage and fulfilment, data centre infrastructure, asset lifecycle management and information management services, will help support Transaid’s critical work in sub-Saharan Africa through its membership. The aim is to support the charity’s primary goals of improving commercial driving standards and ensuring people in rural areas have access to healthcare.

Through this partnership, Transaid can test and implement new projects to understand their impact and appropriateness – as previously achieved through the MAMaZ Against Malaria (MAM) pilot programme, which first trialled its innovative, community-led response and use of bicycle ambulances to improve severe malaria case management in rural Zambia.

Maria Torrent-March, Warehousing & Logistics Strategy Director, Iron Mountain, says: “I am delighted to support Transaid in their commitment to improve global road safety and access to healthcare. We are looking forward to being involved in Transaid projects and to working with the Transaid Road Safety Advisory Board sharing expertise, resources and best practice to help them deliver its professional driver training.”

Florence Bearman, Head of Fundraising at Transaid voiced her appreciation for the company’s commitment, and says: “Our corporate members are fundamental to the success of our operations, and we are incredibly excited to have the opportunity to work closely with Iron Mountain. They bring a wealth of new expertise to our membership base and will enable us to extend our reach into more communities in sub-Saharan Africa, with the aim of improving even more lives.”

Transaid transforms lives through safe, available, and sustainable transport. Founded by Save the Children, The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), and its Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, the international development organisation works with communities, partners, and governments to solve transport challenges throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Transaid works in two core areas, road safety and access to health, to solve two of the biggest transport challenges in sub-Saharan Africa. Transaid’s road safety work focuses on influencing safe driver behaviour with long term programmes in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, responding to local needs for improved training for drivers and riders of trucks, buses, motorcycles and forklift trucks. On the access to health side, Transaid is working with local partners and communities to strengthen access to health services, primarily in rural areas. They are also working to strengthen health supply chains in collaboration with local partners and governments.

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