‘BOXING’ CLEVER
Investment in containers provides cost effective rail solution
Leading intermodal specialist P&O Ferrymasters has made a €3 million strategic investment in 500 new 45 ft ‘high cube’ (HC) rail containers to carry increased payload to key markets in Europe.
The move comes after the company reported a staggering 55 per cent increase in its expanding intermodal service since 2002. The 45 ft pallet wide containers offer up to 10 cubic metres greater capacity than the existing boxes to deliver more for less.
The new investment has resulted in P&O Ferrymasters being able to switch 70 per cent of its container capacity to the new HC containers which means that the average age of the fleet is less three years old resulting in consistent and up-to-date equipment benefiting its broad customer base.
When in service the boxes will service the busy European intermodal corridors stretching from northern Europe - including the UK - to Spain, the southern tip of Italy, and into Greece and Turkey. The bespoke containers are being manufactured by the Jindo Corporation in Guangzhou, China on a dedicated production line, and supplied into Europe via intermodal equipment specialists Unit 45.
All HC containers include the latest in ‘load lock’ technology that provides a versatile locking configuration to secure a wider range of consignments than conventional trailers.
The new ‘boxes’ build upon customer demand for fast and efficient shipment as more customers seek more cost-effective and, with renewed emphasis upon climate change, more environmentally-friendly intermodal options to move shipments across Europe.
Ostensibly, the figures appear at odds with the latest EU study that predicts truck traffic will continue to grow and that 45% of all goods will be carried by road by 2020.
But P&O Ferrymasters has seen an average annual increase of around eight per cent in intermodal shipments and is expecting to register 60,000 rail freight movements during 2006 (which equates to 135,000 TEU Twenty Equivalent Unit loads), compared to 36,372 four years ago.
“Our customers are asking for more rail, not less, which is why we have made a €3 million investment in the 500 additional containers,” says Bart Verbeke, director for P&O Ferrymasters Intermodal services.
“Along with our customers, we are committed to greater intermodal activity which makes perfect business and environmental sense in terms of more value for money. This way they can reduce costs and road congestion around Europe through fewer rail movements,” adds Verbeke who predicts a 15 per cent growth in the service as a result of the new containers.
“Ten years ago intermodal activity was negligible per cent of our business. It now represents around 15 per cent and is growing exponentially year on year and I see it breaking through the 20 per cent mark by 2007,” he adds.
The move comes after the company reported a staggering 55 per cent increase in its expanding intermodal service since 2002. The 45 ft pallet wide containers offer up to 10 cubic metres greater capacity than the existing boxes to deliver more for less.
The new investment has resulted in P&O Ferrymasters being able to switch 70 per cent of its container capacity to the new HC containers which means that the average age of the fleet is less three years old resulting in consistent and up-to-date equipment benefiting its broad customer base.
When in service the boxes will service the busy European intermodal corridors stretching from northern Europe - including the UK - to Spain, the southern tip of Italy, and into Greece and Turkey. The bespoke containers are being manufactured by the Jindo Corporation in Guangzhou, China on a dedicated production line, and supplied into Europe via intermodal equipment specialists Unit 45.
All HC containers include the latest in ‘load lock’ technology that provides a versatile locking configuration to secure a wider range of consignments than conventional trailers.
The new ‘boxes’ build upon customer demand for fast and efficient shipment as more customers seek more cost-effective and, with renewed emphasis upon climate change, more environmentally-friendly intermodal options to move shipments across Europe.
Ostensibly, the figures appear at odds with the latest EU study that predicts truck traffic will continue to grow and that 45% of all goods will be carried by road by 2020.
But P&O Ferrymasters has seen an average annual increase of around eight per cent in intermodal shipments and is expecting to register 60,000 rail freight movements during 2006 (which equates to 135,000 TEU Twenty Equivalent Unit loads), compared to 36,372 four years ago.
“Our customers are asking for more rail, not less, which is why we have made a €3 million investment in the 500 additional containers,” says Bart Verbeke, director for P&O Ferrymasters Intermodal services.
“Along with our customers, we are committed to greater intermodal activity which makes perfect business and environmental sense in terms of more value for money. This way they can reduce costs and road congestion around Europe through fewer rail movements,” adds Verbeke who predicts a 15 per cent growth in the service as a result of the new containers.
“Ten years ago intermodal activity was negligible per cent of our business. It now represents around 15 per cent and is growing exponentially year on year and I see it breaking through the 20 per cent mark by 2007,” he adds.