Rail solution bears fruit for inland haulage operator

Three years since its launch, intermodal inland haulage operator CMKCD is reaping the rewards of its commitment to rail. “When we started, it was our intention to move traffic from road to rail because of the deteriorating road infrastructure,” director Kerwin Naidoo told FTW. The company’s Kaserne depot has two rail sidings and is customs-licensed, handling cleared and uncleared cargo and specialising in customs examinations. “We sat down with Transnet Freight Rail and put a plan together,” Naidoo told FTW. “For us it was critical to shorten the dwell time from rail to final delivery, which is why we have our own facility where we offload containers from the rail siding directly onto road transport for delivery to final destination.” There are clearly many challenges to surmount, but CMKCD has been equal to the task. “There have been a few delays – but we have ways of dealing with them. For example, if we know the containers are still in Durban we look at option B which is to bring the box up by road. “At the end of the day the customer wants his box and delays are unacceptable.” In cases where the box is already on rail and there are train delays en route, the customer is kept informed constantly. “We feed the information from Transnet straight to the customer so that he is aware of exactly what is happening,” said Naidoo. In Johannesburg the company has its own cartage fleet for deliveries not only in the Gauteng region but further afield. It’s all about working with TFR to achieve the best possible result for the customer, which is why CMKCD diverts rail traffic to the City Deep terminal to help Transnet achieve its objectives in terms of the Superhighway project designed to run more traffic within the Natcor corridor between Johannesburg and Durban. “The rates are lower than running to the depot siding and because we have a contract with Transnet Freight Rail to run into the City Deep terminal we pick up the containers and deliver to our customers both on imports and exports.” CMKCD is also involved in the domestic market, moving the likes of fibres, paints and cargo for the automotive sector. “We are actively involved with TFR and are looking at moving maize from silos to Maputo. “We’re trying to design containers because there’s a shortage of breakbulk wagons.” It’s all about proactively finding solutions for the client. “Wherever we see an opportunity to help the customer we work with TFR to devise a tailor-made solution.”