Avoiding congestion – but how?

Avoiding the impending gridlock by using the railways stands to reason. Today, however, only around 15% of all trucks involved in road traffic can participate in Unaccompanied Combined Transport (UCT) of road and rail, as only swap bodies, containers, modified semi-trailers with special reinforcements and biting edges are craneable.

CargoBeamer as part of a possible solution

CargoBeamer solves the technical problem by making all semi-trailers compatible with crane handling with its wagons and wagon bases. This means that 70% of the trailers currently found on Europe's motorways can take part in Combined Transport. The key: loading and unloading trains with the handling units takes place virtually silently in less than 15 minutes, as all wagons are loaded and unloaded in parallel and fully automated. CargoBeamer wagons also fit easily into other trains.

This combination of sophisticated loading technology and fast handling makes CargoBeamer the first technology to have the potential to really avert foreseeable gridlock.

Protect nature

Man, the environment and society are direct beneficiaries because each CargoBeamer train reduces CO2 emissions by 3,500 tonnes per year, the energy consumption decreases by 63% per shipment. Society will save around 3 million EUR annually, because, for example, road maintenance, noise control and consequential costs of congestion and accidents will be lower.

95% of all semi-trailers (incl. MEGA trailers, tank and silo trailers and refrigerated trailers) are not equipped for loading using cranes or reach stackers (mobile cargo handling equipment) and can therefore not be transported via rail.

Why should they? Up until now, the railways have not been in a position to take traffic from the roads under economically viable and technically feasible conditions to any appreciable extent.

Benefits for transport companies

CargoBeamer brings many benefits for hauliers and carriers:

• They can transport their semi-trailers by rail without having to invest in suitable loading units.
• They can significantly increase the capacity of their traction engines in a two-shift operating system.
• They have happier drivers who no longer have to sleep near noisy motorways and can be at home with their families after work.
• They reduce fuel and toll costs whilst protecting the environment.hey increase their profits.