Lift trailers easily
Most brilliant ideas are simple. The German rail logistician VTG, for example, has developed a solution, together with the logistics provider Vega International, which makes non-craneable semi-trailers craneable (see also ITJ Daily of 10 February 2021). VTG Rail Europe’s Marc Hunziker reports on why it’s easier than people assume to shift trailers to the railways and further strengthen the intermodal shift.
Mr Hunziker, what is behind your ‘RoadRailLink’ R2L?
One of our major goals is to further promote combined transport and to give further impetus to the intermodal shift. In Europe, freight transport is mainly carried out with trailers of various types, but only a very small proportion of the units in action – actually only about 5% – are ready for intermodal operations.
Thus we’ve teamed up with the logistics services provider Vega International and have developed a solution to make the majority of these non-craneable trailers suitable for loading onto wagons, thus shifting them to the railways. With our solution, up to 200 t of CO2 savings per R2L basket are already possible today.
The R2L technology involves a fully galvanised loading basket that can be lifted vertically into or out of a double pocket wagon, using terminal cranes or reach stackers. The basket can be positioned on the ground in the terminal without any complications and the semi-trailer can drive into it. The semi-trailer is secured and then lifted into the double pocket wagon by crane.
What are the special advantages of this new technology?
This new transport and loading technology offers users several advantages. The first is certainly that the deployment of the R2L basket doesn’t require any additional equipment, such as ramps, nor any modifications to the trailer concerned. Handling is thus very easy and additionally, capacities in the terminals aren’t obstructed either.
Another economic plus is the fast loading time, as only an estimated five to eight minutes need to be budgeted per trailer lifted. Thanks to the use of laser technology to measure the distances involved the driver of the terminal tractor can read the exact position of the trailer on the R2L cage from the driver’s cab using a laser measuring device, so that precise and safe loading of the trailer on the wagon is possible in the shortest possible time.
We’ve taken a vertical approach with our R2L technology; we want to create added value in existing systems. In the EU, about 85% of all terminals are equipped with gantry cranes and reachstackers, and we aim to improve the utilisation rates in many terminals.
This is also why we aren’t in competition with existing horizontal transhipment systems or other intermodal offers. We too want to further promote the shift from road transport to rail.
What challenges does the ‘twin’ double pocket wagon pose for the system?
None really. The first R2L baskets were designed for the T3000 model, but they are not compatible with the ‘twin’, due to the different inner workings of the bag systems. We have therefore developed two prototypes with Vega for the ‘twin’ trolley, which are currently being tested.
How many loading baskets are already in operation with VTG, and where?
The baskets are offered in a package with our wagons, so a customer gets everything he needs for this new approach from a single source. The first 50 baskets are already in action in existing train systems. In addition, another 100 are being delivered and will gradually be hired out to other VTG customers.
The area of application is broad. The R2L technology is already in use between Rzepin and Tilburg (GVT) and on various train systems between Italy and Germany. We also offer the solution in Trieste, Bettembourg, Rostock and Kiel. In the near future, we’re planning to launch services between Germany and Poland.
How will R2L be rolled out?
We don’t think in terms of locations, but want to push for a nationwide intermodal solution. Our goal is to supplement as many existing continental trains as possible with R2L technology. At the same time, we’re developing train routes across Europe, in cooperation with future customers, major freight forwarders and operators, in order to provide further impetus for the modal shift.
