Reefer shippers welcome new inner-city freight rail service

The launch of a ‘last leg’ rail transportation service between the Belcon Rail Depot in Belville and Cape Town’s Ben Schoeman and Combi Terminals is saving time and money for exporters of perishable and general cargo, says originator of the concept Andre Visser. “Not only is the rail service helping to reduce inner city traffic and congestion at the Cape Town Container Terminals, but has improved truck turnaround times while providing a solution to the perennial problem of container weight misdeclaration,” Visser told FTW. Visser founded United Logistics at the beginning of April this year. “Rather than transporting containers all the way to Cape Town where trucks can spend hours waiting to gain access to the port, shippers have the option of ‘gating in’ their full export containers at Belcon where they are loaded onto a dedicated rail shuttle service which then takes the containers directly to the Cape Town port,” he explained. “By using rail instead of road for the ‘last leg’ journey to the port, shippers are not only helping to cut down on inner city traffic and terminal congestion, but they’re also able to optimise loads and truck turnaround times – and reduce their carbon footprint while doing so.” Visser’s United Logistics’ service makes it possible for transporters to drop off full containers and pick up empties at the same location, thereby reducing potential port and depot waiting times (usually between four and six hours) down to a mere 30 minutes. “These time-saving advantages not only benefit the shipper, but the entire supply chain. Optimal planning of loads is possible because loads can be staggered throughout the day and multiple loads – using a single truck – can be achieved because of shorter truck turnaround times.” Visser says the frequency of the service is currently dictated by demand – and that Cape-based reefer exporters were the first to take advantages of the new rail option.