International rail freight - who to contact?

[trebor79]

Mods, feel free to move this if it ought to be in another section.

As part of my work, I'm trying to get shipping quotes for moving 5,000te of baled biomass from Poland (area west and south of Gdansk) to the UK. This is proving tricky. Lorries across the continent are an option but very expensive, so we have been speaking to shipping companies. This is seemingly cheaper but encountering numerous issues such as ports not able to handle the material in bulk (there is an option to containerise). Now I have another shipping agent saying he can't even quote because all of his Polish hauliers are busy moving containers that are flowing into Poland by rail from China for distribution around Europe.

That's given me an idea - load containers onto a train in Poland and unload in the UK. I have no idea how feasible this would be or how to even begin to make arrangements. I guess there are companies that specialise in this sort of thing but who would be best to speak to?
It'll need moving in spring 2021 and is a one-off (albeit the 5,000te can be split into smaller consignments). I think they are likely to be high-cube containers if we go down that route.

 

[furnessvale]

Without wishing to advertise one company against another, I would suggest you start with DB, who have operations in the UK and continental Europe.

DB Cargo UK

We are the UK's largest rail freight company, offering our customers safe, sustainable, and innovative rail logistics solutions.

uk.dbcargo.com

 

[StephenHunter]

This is entirely feasible, although here we'd be more likely to describe the likely freight route.

 

[30907]

I am no expert on Channel Tunnel freight, but I am aware there is relatively little of it. However, it should be possible to get your containers to Daventry at least.

Failing that, you could consider using rail for the trunk haul across mainland Europe and then switching to ferry - Brexit issues might come into play though.

 

[trebor79]

I am no expert on Channel Tunnel freight, but I am aware there is relatively little of it. However, it should be possible to get your containers to Daventry at least.

Failing that, you could consider using rail for the trunk haul across mainland Europe and then switching to ferry - Brexit issues might come into play though.

Containers aren't brilliant for baled biomass because you end up with a lot of empty volume, that's just not quite big enough to gat another layer of bales in. It could work if the transport cost was low enough to compensate for the lower payload. Ideally they'd just be strapped onto flat waggons (this is how they are transported by lorry) but I doubt that's allowable, certainly not through the tunnel!

Without wishing to advertise one company against another, I would suggest you start with DB, who have operations in the UK and continental Europe.

DB Cargo UK

We are the UK's largest rail freight company, offering our customers safe, sustainable, and innovative rail logistics solutions.

uk.dbcargo.com

Thanks, have put an enquiry in and waiting to hear back...

 

[221129]

Indeed I think someone like DB Cargo or more likely DB Schenker would be a good first port of call.

 

[30907]

Containers aren't brilliant for baled biomass because you end up with a lot of empty volume, that's just not quite big enough to gat another layer of bales in. It could work if the transport cost was low enough to compensate for the lower payload. Ideally they'd just be strapped onto flat waggons (this is how they are transported by lorry) but I doubt that's allowable, certainly not through the tunnel!

Didn't realise containers weren't ideal, sorry. In which case my thought about conventional rail to a North Sea port might be more relevant.

 

[Cloud Strife]

Indeed I think someone like DB Cargo or more likely DB Schenker would be a good first port of call.

I'd actually try PKP Cargo as well. They're having a nightmare of a time recently, and they might offer a significant discount to get the business, even if it goes via a different carrier.

 

[DanielB]

PKP Cargo would probably at least be able to provide transport to a North Sea port, as they are active in The Netherlands and Belgium as well. Though they appear to have only three locomotives capable to run on the Dutch network.

 

[StephenHunter]

That's why loco swaps exist.