NORTHEAST\\\


AV Dawson ready for a rail revolution


With AV Dawson poised to complete work on a new intermodal terminal, the serious work can begin on enticing a train operator to start a regular service, says managing director, Gary Dawson. AV Dawson is already a major user of rail for its bulk traffics and is probably unique in regularly servicing trains from all the four major UK rail companies - DB Schenker, Freightliner, DRS and GB Rail Freight. What Gary Dawson now wants to set up is a regular east-west link for container traffic. The Intermodal terminal is


the first stage of a three-stage investment that followed the award of £1.2m-worth of Regional Growth Fund (RGF) money by the Government’s BIS department last year. Following completion of the due diligence process, the actual cash is now starting to flow through, which has helped get the intermodal terminal part of the programme off the ground, says Gary Dawson. Phase One - Tees Riverside


Intermodal Park - is a four-acre storage pad with an 800m rail line direct out of Middlesbrough Goods Yard. Gary


Dawson


explains: “We have created an independent container base primarily for loaded box and tank storage and associated value added materials handling. This is business that has been nurtured on our existing sites to the point where we need to develop it further if we are to keep it cost- efficient.” He points out that that it will


be the only private storage and liſt facility on Teesside that isn’t operated by the port or a rail operator, whose pricing models are designed to


discourage


long-term storage, he says; AV Dawson, on the other hand, would positively welcome such business. The company also offers a box


stuffing business which, combined with the storage option, could help generate sufficient business to fill a regular train service to the North-West. At the moment, the transport business generated is exclusively road, but Gary Dawson is convinced that a significant


proportion can be converted to rail, provided the right operator can be found. While there are some rail links from Teesport to that region of the country, services that operate in and out of seaports are not particularly accessible to local industry and the new link would fill an important niche. Another


factor that could


be used to entice users is AV Dawson’s rigorous container condition monitoring and its recently upgraded IT system. There are cameras checking the condition of boxes on entry and exit to the terminal, and there is


also four acres of perfectly


level storage, along with top-of- the-range


reach stackers. “It’s


expertise we’ve developed out of our experience in working for the automotive industry; it’s helped us raise our game,” explains Gary Dawson. He adds that AV Dawson will


be able to offer a personalised service, with minimal delays in handling boxes in and out of the terminal: “There will be an equipment operator ready when you arrive; it will be a more customised service.” The terminal can also offer storage for hazardous products. Until now, the question was


largely academic, but now that the new terminal is in place, the serious business of marketing it can begin. “We’ll be able to invite them, show them what we’ve got.” The second phase of the RGF-


funded project will be to extend the quayside at AV Damson’s Riverside terminal by a further 150m. Work has already been completed to dredge the existing quayside to 8.5 metres, allowing it to handle conventional ships of up to 9,000 tonnes. Already, the facility has handled an 8,500t ship from the US, one of the biggest ever to be handled this far up the Tees. At the moment, the wharf has


to be shared between commercial vessels and AV Dawson’s other work of handling offshore supply ships, but the extended berth will allow both activities to operate simultaneously. Currently, AV Dawson is waiting


for the necessary consents that will allow it to start additional


Issue 3 2012 Masters of multimodalism


Multimodalism is the key to being a successful freight forwarder and DB Schenker Logistics’ Newcastle office is no exception. The office may be on-airport but it deals with all modes of transport, explains branch manager Jackie Sexton. “We do everything here - air imports and exports, ocean and road, plus intermodal services via DB Schenker Rail UK.” The direct Emirates flight to Dubai from Newcastle airport has been a boon, she continues. “We use it every day; it’s been a massive bonus for us.” Flights with useful freight


capacity to any part of the world have been sorely lacking at Newcastle since the demise of the Air Canada service over ten years ago, so DB Schenker still trucks a lot of freight to and from the south and consolidates it at Heathrow. But the direct flights to Dubai - and other points in Asia and the Middle East on the Emirates network - have been a definite bonus. Customer relations have also gained, Jackie Sexton adds: “Emirates do a ramp tour so we can actually show the


customer how cargo is loaded and what care is taken of it” - something that they would have had to have travelled to Manchester or London to witness before the Emirates flights started. “But we could always use more


direct capacity to other places - the States are a big market and we tend to send everything to London for that. It would be great to see some new airlines in here.” DB Schenker does use local


seaports where possible - Teesport rather than the nearer Port of Tyne as it happens - though again the lack of direct deep sea services into the north east region can sometimes be a drawback. “However via the extensive DB Schenker network we are able to achieve most customer’s requirements,” says Jackie Sexton. “We also have two large


land hubs at Immingham and Manchester which sometimes are a more practical solution, but I find that people in the north east want to deal with the Newcastle office. People oſten like to hear a Geordie voice at the end of the phone.”


dredging work for the new quay, expected by the end of July. “That would give us a window in which to work before the salmon spawning season starts at the end of August, when we would have to cease work” explains Gary Dawson. With the dredging complete, the new berth would be completed with a quay top and another new rail connection. This will make AV Dawson’s one of the few non-specialist berths to offer direct ship to rail transfer. Phase three of the RGF scheme


would be to develop 85,000sq ſt of warehousing between the new intermodal terminal and the quay. The overall RGF-supported


development will develop 39 jobs directly and generate around another 190 in the supply chain. AV Dawson’s


facility also


handles quite a lot of domestic business, including steel for the local Nissan car factory which is railed up from Port Talbot in South Wales. There is also potash business and soon Gary Dawson hopes to start bringing in trainloads of aggregates that


will be used in the construction of local offshore wind farms. Business on Teesside is


beginning to show some sparkle again, says Gary Dawson: “The Nissan news (that production of a new model is about to start) is fabulous, as is the resurgence of the steel slab plant.” While not all this new business will necessarily come direct to AV Dawson, it will create plenty of opportunities for other operators alongside PD Ports. Moreover, some of the by product exports generated by the revived steel plant would be eminently suited to AV Dawson’s facilities. Gary Dawson adds: “In the 12


months to the end of 2011 we handled 125 vessels over the quay, compared with only 80 in the year before that. But we should expect to top that in 2012 when we expect above 150.” The Cockfield Knight ships’


agency and forwarding business AV Dawson bought 18 months ago also had a good year and has taken on more staff and is also beginning to charter vessels.


SBS appoints in the North-East


Supply chain solutions


provider


SBS Worldwide has appointed Ian Hunt to the new role of business development manager of sales for its UK North East region. SBS Worldwide


is looking to drive expansion in new and existing industry verticals through its


complete supply


chain solutions service offering. Mr Hunt will be based at SBS Worldwide’s Manchester office and is tasked with identifying new business opportunities and expanding the level of service provided to existing customers. SBS Worldwide group chairman


Steve Walker said: “Ian has a wealth of experience in the logistics market and has expertise in


industry verticals that we have room to grow in. He is also


Ian Hunt, Business Development of Sales, UK North East


an experienced commercial account manager making him ideally positioned to help sell our full range of services – from freight forwarding right through to our ability to analyse, design, implement and operate complete logistics solutions utilising our supply chain soſtware.”


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