After less than a year of planning and organisation, Helrom’s first block train (a train used by a single shipper to transport a large volume of cargo from the sending station to the receiving station, without having to rearrange the wagons along the route) started its first route on 4 April this year.
Helrom, in cooperation with the Duvenbeck Group and Bayernhafen, is providing an intermodal service for German car manufacturer Audi. As part of this service, the train covers 1,000 kilometres round trip in 24 hours on the route connecting Germany and Hungary (Regensburg-Lébény-Regensburg). Loading and unloading operations are also carried out during this time.
Each convoy consists of eighteen wagons loaded with 36 semi-trailers. This takes 72 tractor-trailers off the road per day, which means a reduction in truck transport of around 185,000 kilometres per week. As an integral part of Audi’s sustainability strategy, the new connection between Regensburg and Lébény in Hungary, combined with the alternative drives of the Duvenbeck haulier’s trucks, is expected to save up to 11,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
This is a significant advance towards more climate-friendly and efficient logistics, made possible by Helrom’s globally patented trailer wagon technology. It enables all types of truck semi-trailers to be loaded onto the train without the use of special terminals and cranes.
“By eliminating the need for special terminals for loading trailers, we integrate into supply chains more intelligently, without detours. We are also faster and more reliable than existing intermodal transport,” says Roman Noack, CEO of Helrom.