intermodal Archives

Mediterranean Shipping Company (UK) Ltd. (MSC) and GB Railfreight (GBRf) have announced a new five-year deal, further strengthening their long-established relationship and joint commitment to delivering sustainable solutions for customers.

GBRf has been a provider of rail services to MSC since 2002. Its knowledge and expertise in supplying locomotives and wagons combined with MSC’s extensive line haulage services enables the two companies to deliver market leading door-to-door services to their customers.

The new agreement will be volume-based and is expected to increase wagon utilisation that in turn will help further reduce carbon emissions.

MSC commented: “MSC is once again delighted to confirm a new five-year deal with GBRf, who have been supporting MSC with our intermodal rail services since 2002. Our priority was to continue to offer unparalleled capability and flexibility to our line haulage customers in a fast-paced and ever-evolving UK intermodal market. Increased wagon utilisation was a key component from the start, and engagement with ports and inland terminals to support this initiative took place early on.

“We are delighted that our new shared contract will allow both MSC and GBRf to continue our work in taking steps to reduce CO2 emissions by moving containers via rail, closer to final destination.”

The services will operate from Felixstowe and London Gateway to both the Midlands and Yorkshire, with a minimum commitment of five days a week. Over the course of the next five years, the deal will remain agile and be able to provide flexibility to changing market dynamics while supporting MSC’s intermodal volume growth.

John Smith, Managing Director at GB Railfreight, said: “We are thrilled to have signed this contract with MSC. They are a long-standing partner and one of the leading shipping and logistics companies in the world, and we are delighted to be able to continue working with them for the next five years.

“Given MSC’s projected future growth, we have struck a flexible agreement which will allow both parties to make better use of the services we share. As a business we always put the clients first and we are delighted to be able to cater to MSC’s needs with this contract renewal.

“With the economic picture looking uncertain, I am pleased we will continue working with MSC – a move which shows that the rail freight market is in good shape and will be needed more than ever as we begin the road back to recovery.”

With proven records of ability to adapt to fast-paced, changing economic and market climates, both GBRf and MSC will be further supporting their customers’ supply chains with increased stability, flexibility and sustainability.

KTL Kombi-Terminal Ludwigshafen GmbH relies on optimization solutions from Inform as part of its digitalization strategy. Operating the intermodal full-service terminal within the world’s largest integrated chemical complex of BASF, requires precise planning and coordination. To best utilize a terminal of this size, the choice fell on a Terminal Operating System (TOS) with optimization capabilities based on AI algorithms.

KTL’s terminal is responsible for transshipment services of common European containers, swap bodies and semi-trailers, with particular expertise in the transport and transshipment of hazardous goods. INFORM’s TOS is a key element of KTL’s future strategy, serving as a central solution for managing and optimizing terminal operations. “In the past, we had to check up to four different systems to track a single container,” recalls Kai Rauprich, operations manager at KTL. “Now, it’s all in one system, providing 360° visibility into our business.”

With the help of INFORM’s optimization modules, complex and time-critical decisions can be made in real time. Work orders can be converted into shift orders either manually or now also by the integrated optimization systems and assigned to the most suitable resource (crane, terminal vehicle, reach truck). In practice, this means an optimized sequence of pick-up/drop-off points within the terminal for each individual truck. All containers and trailers are assigned the most efficient storing position and equipment operators receive the most precise instructions about their upcoming routes.

Pushing the Button

“Incredibly fast,” said Rauprich, as he described the speed of INFORM’s Train Load Optimizer (TLO), which now automates manual load planning. In the past, planning was significantly more time-consuming, required considerably more human resources and offered little space to react to disruptions or delays. “Today, we just push a button, and INFORM’s TLO generates an optimized train-load plan, plus an optimized sequence of move jobs for all terminal tractors and cranes,” says Rauprich.

Yard space is a valuable and scarce resource at the terminal and should be used as efficiently as possible to remain profitable in the long term. With INFORM’s Yard Optimizer, containers are optimally positioned right from the start and only moved when absolutely necessary. At the same time, with the help of INFORM’s Truck Sheduler and Vehicle Optimizer, KTL can reduce truck turnaround times to a minimum and maintain a high level of service quality at the same time.

Integrated Interfaces

The TOS combines all interfaces to other third-party systems along the intermodal supply chain in one central system. All information on incoming and outgoing train bookings from participating companies such as Hupac and Kombiverkehr is automatically uploaded. Updates in Visy’s rail crane positioning system and gate operating system (GOS) can also be retrieved. Even invoicing and reporting is automated using a Qlik-based BI tool from INFORM, permanently reducing manual effort and associated errors. INFORM’s solution offers sufficient flexibility to scale with KTL’s future growth.

Tag: intermodal

MSC and GBRf sign new five-year rail deal

Intermodal Terminal Pushes Boundaries

Subscribe