Container railway transportation

The cast-iron link

As a universal logistics company, Stoles Logistic uses every kind of transport to find the best solutions to the multimodal transport puzzle. And often the best solution is to transport the cargo, in a container, by rail, on domestic lines, whether for export or import.

Customers often ask:

– Why involve the railway, when there are trucks, and even more, your own modern container trucks?

It’s a natural question. But the fact is that no matter how large the truck fleet operated by the carrier, it can never compare with all the possibilities of transporting containers by rail. Of course, trucks with the Stoles Logistics logo are at your disposal and can handle a variety of operational transport tasks, on time and at minimum cost. But, in seeking to solve logistical problems, one thing is always our paramount concern – the interests of the customer.

Therefore, we will offer you container transportation by rail if:

• on the chosen route, the tariff for transportation by rail is lower than the costs of road transport
• the cargo consignment requires a large number of containers, needing simultaneous filing for loading-unloading
• the logistics scheme allows for not transporting the container along the roads (where there are restrictions on tonnage from 20 to 26 tons), and therefore permits the maximum possible loading of the container – with a corresponding decrease in the cost of transporting a ton of cargo
• the transportation may be endangered by extreme weather conditions, especially in winter; in such circumstances the railway is safer and the risk of disrupting delivery times is much lower
• the accumulation of the consignment at railway station container sites, or use of intermediate transit storage, costs less than renting warehouses
• the consignment of cargo requires the protection of a paramilitary escort …

And these are just some of the arguments in favor of transporting containers by rail, which we take into account in the process of finding the optimal solution for meeting your requirements.

But, once the decision is made to transport by rail, this raises another question:

– Why do I need a freight forwarding company, if the railway itself accepts cargo for shipment?

First of all, the answer to this question will be obvious, if you decide that:

• you need to coordinate the stage of container transportation by rail with all the other links of the logistics chain from the sender’s door to the door of the receiver
• you do not want to lose money and time on the registration and approval of the full package of documents required to accompany the consignment, including customs, licenses and certificates for the goods
• you want to monitor the progress of containers (surprisingly, it is often easier and faster for an experienced freight forwarder, rather than the shipper, to find out where a cargo is at any given time)
• it’s important to you that containers are competently and responsibly prepared for the placement of cargo (insulation, internal equipment, repairs, etc.) to prevent damage to goods in transit
• you want to use the established connections of the freight forwarder to pay only the required tariffs on the railway and avoid unnecessary payments
• you want to be sure that everything has been done to ensure the safety of the goods in transit, sealing has been done correctly, security has been provided, insurance has been properly structured, etc.
• you want the containers to be selected and loaded with maximum efficiency and in compliance with all requirements.

Secondly, in order to organize the transport of containers by rail, it is necessary:

• to receive accreditation from the carrier of PJSC “Ukrzaliznytsya” to obtain the codes of the payer, the consignor and /or the consignee
• to establish contractual relations with owners of rolling stock
• to get all the necessary permits for the carriage of container cargo (depending on the type of cargo) using the services of the Ukrainian Railways
• to enter and process information in the automated systems of UZ AS Client and AS Mesplan
• to draw up and compile all necessary rail transport documents, contact with numerous UZ structures for organizing the transport of goods from the door of the sender to the delivery of the container lot to the container terminal of the port, for further loading onto the ship (even when the dispatch station does not work with containers, in most cases, we find ways of obtaining one-time permits or facilitating the opening of a station to work with containers on an ongoing basis).

All this and much more you can only get from a competent, experienced and responsible freight forwarder, and if the freight forwarder also specializes in multimodal container transport, as “Stoles Logistics” does, then you don’t even have to think about how your goods are being transported – by rail, road or sea – we take care of this, and the solution to the logistical problem has already been found, in your favor.