NEWS\\\


Issue 2 2017 - Freight Business Journal News Roundup


India’s Cabinet has approved the country’s accession to the TIR Convention. It follows a recent Motor Vehicles Agreement


Road & Rail


to improve cross-border transport between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal.


Pakistan has signed a guarantee agreement for TIR - an important step in making the global transit system a reality in the country. Signatories included the Federal Board of Revenue and the Pakistan National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce.


The Palletways Group has appointed Tomasz Cegielski as managing director for its new Polish network based in Lodz, Poland. He joins the pallet network with over 20 years’ commercial and logistics experience, including the past 11 years at DB Schenker in Poland as head of land transport in northern and eastern Europe.


Freight on Rail Manager, Philippa Edmunds, has described a planned 21% cut in rail freight grants from the beginning of April, as likely to force freight back onto congested roads. She argued that it was inconsistent with the Government’s own rail freight strategy of September 2016, and were counter-productive as it will result in more road fatalities, more congestion and pollution.


Forwarder Militzer & Münch is offering a container block train between Xuzhou, East China and Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. It aims to tap into growing trade between China and central Asia.


Ruediger Grube , the chief executive of the German state railways, Deutsche Bahn, which owns forwarder DB Schenker as well as the UK’s largest rail freight operator, DB Cargo, has resigned following a disagreement over the length of his contract. The state-owned company announced last year that it is planning to partly sell off its forwarding business.


Property developer Roxhill says it has started work on the first phase of East Midlands Gateway rail freight interchange near Castle Donington. Building of the opening phase is expected to be completed by October but the entire government-backed scheme is being built across six phases with all work due to be complete by the end of 2019. The completed scheme will have up to 6m sq ſt of space and a rail terminal with capacity for up to 16 trains a day.


Freight on Rail said it welcomed planning approval for a rail freight interchange at Howbury Park in South East London. It said it was an important element of the network of strategic rail freight interchanges being developed across the country to ensure that consumer freight can be transported long distance by rail to the edge of conurbations.


The IRU has published new international guidelines to reduce the number of people injured and to minimise transport disruptions resulting from load related incidents in the workplace and on the road. “Safe and Efficient Goods Reception for Road Freight” sets out standards on safe loading and unloading practices and promote safety and encourage sustainable improvements in transport operations.


The GreenBridge Multimodal joint venture has introduced a fourth intermodal rail and sea service between Turkey and Europe. The joint venture organisation between Samskip Multimodal and Intercombi Transport - a subsidiary of the Turkey Netlog Logistics Group - is now operating an additional round trip train to connect the Duisburg rail hub and the port of Trieste, where there are six weekly sailings to Turkey by UN Ro Ro.


Eurotunnel said its freight shuttle traffic remained stable in January 2017 compared to January 2016, with 131,117 trucks transported. It said it was the second best January ever despite the return to normal of the Port of Calais and the effect of severe weather on the production of fresh fruit and vegetables in Spain.


Insurance


Shipping strives to improve cargo integrity TT Club’s Peregrine Storrs-Fox explains the benefits of the container lines’ efforts to develop the Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS) and to share good operational practice, highlighting risks and improving safety of unit loads. The accumulated evidence points to a variety of safety issues and the Club is calling for a concerted effort to improve cargo integrity.


TT Club has long recognised the critical importance of sharing information about the causes of cargo incidents. Analysing what has gone wrong is a fundamental part of promoting loss prevention and developing good practice. Learning from problems and avoiding recurrences will enhance operational profitability and reduce business costs. Thus, TT Club readily


embraced the founding, by five of the top 20 liner operators, of an organisation that aimed to capture key incident data and provide an early warning of worrying trends, whether relating to cargoes that display dangerous characteristics or unsafe practices in the container supply chain. Now, five years later, the


CINS Organisation (www. cinsnet.com) has increased its membership to include 16 liner operators,


representing over


70% of container slot capacity. While structural changes and consolidation in the industry may affect these numbers, CINS’ penetration across the industry is likely to grow – not least because its value proposition is continually strengthening. At its core, CINS facilitates the


capture by liner operators of structured key causal information


about cargo and container related incidents.


This information


capture explicitly excludes any shipper data, to preclude any anti-trust concerns. The objective is to highlight the risks posed by certain cargoes and/or packing failures in order to improve safety through the supply chain and specifically on board ships. The aspiration is to report all significant incidents caused by the cargo itself or the container equipment relating to injury or loss of life, environmental concerns, or damage to cargo and assets, together with investigation conclusions that identify causes. The last twelve months have


seen important developments for CINS. Not only has the membership continued to grow on the strength of its demonstrable results, but analyses of the database, together with member meetings, have led to initiatives to improve safety and strengthen focus on good practice across the industry. TT Club has worked with CINS to update and expand the Club’s guidance in relation to safe transport of coiled materials (https://tinyurl.com/jqsaqqe), a non-regulated cargo that has led to numerous problems on board ship and on land. And,


following a Cold comfort


A new automatic visual warning system now being distributed in the UK and Ireland by Redruth, Cornwall-based Contract Signs could give users of ports, freight terminals and airports warning of icy conditions – reducing accidents and potential insurance claims. IceAlert can give early warning


to potential danger from freezing or near-freezing conditions. It has a three-stage indication


process utilising a temperature sensitive blue reflector, which revolves into place when temperatures start to move under 33 degrees Fahrenheit.


Above 36 degrees, Ice Alert


shows that conditions are normal, but as the temperature drops, the reflector moves to show that conditions are becoming colder and that there is a threat of freezing. IceAlert units can be mounted


in prominent positions and can show a simple message to back up the blue reflector indication, along with stickers and reminder signs. Ice Alert can be incorporated


into companies’ own signs with their own logo and branding and a full language translation service is available. The system has been deployed


spate of


fires involving a self-reactive cargo, Calcium Hypochlorite, CINS collaborated with the International Group of Protection & Indemnity Clubs (www.igpandi. org) to update and clarify the guidance that had last been revised in 2011. A broad range of stakeholders (including TT Club) compiled revised guidelines (https://tinyurl.com/zn9ze32) intended to be acceptable across the container shipping industry; these have recently been revised further. These two initiatives to put


out good practice guidance for shippers and packers demonstrate a range of matters of concern through the container supply chain. Experience from reported incidents is a key driver for the collation of guidance materials; problems that have arisen during the last year alone are motivating further working groups on topics


for


both regulated cargo, such as charcoal, as well as issues arising from packing and carriage of wet hides. Thus, while the common perception may be that those cargoes designated as ‘dangerous’ give rise to the greatest disruption, there are problems from other cargoes that are poorly packaged or packed.


at Gatwick Airport and is also being used by passenger train operator Chiltern Railways at its stations between Birmingham Moor Street and London Marylebone stations, including unmanned rural halts.


Furthermore, the drive to


set out good practice guidance inevitably extends beyond simply engendering good packing practices, as exemplified by the CINS’ work with theContainer Operators Association (containerownersassociation.org) and TT Club to identify the specific risks of using non-operating reefer containers to carry cargo that does not require temperature control. Such practice brings benefits to stakeholders, but needs to account for the differences and sensitivities of these specialised units. However, one of the more and


disturbing persistent


challenges apparent from the reports is the level of mis- declaration of shipments, whether through ignorance, error or fraud. Shockingly, many shipments that are identified as wrongly declared in the booking process will be cancelled prior to loading on board, merely exposing another – less vigilant – carrier to the problem. This matter alone is a reason to engage with CINS and its database, but added to the mix of issues relating to cargo packing and handling, it is clearly time to call for concerted attention to all aspects of cargo Integrity.


To date, over 60 IceAlert units


are in operation the length of the route and are now playing an active role in the rail operator’s stringent health and safety procedures.


Bad packing the culprit


About two thirds of damages to cargo result from poorly packed, blocked or secured cargo in containers and trailers, said a group of cargo experts ahead of European Shipping Week in Brussels in late February. Global Shippers Forum (GSF);


the cargo handling group ICHCA, liner shipping organisation World Shipping Council (WSC)and


international freight insurer TT Club said that an analysis of the latter’s claims records suggests that 65% of damage to cargo results from poorly packed, blocked or secured cargo in CTUs, particularly freight containers. However, this could just be


the tip of the iceberg, added the Club’s risk management director, Peregrine Storrs-Fox.


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