Maersk Company, a subsidiary of Maersk and specializing in intra-European logistics, presents a new rail transport from Spain to the United Kingdom specially designed for temperature-sensitive cargo such as fruit and vegetables. The new transport option is tailored to fresh Spanish products, has a flexible capacity and will initially depart three times a week from the Valencia terminal to The Barking terminal in East London. The trains will also carry un-refrigerated cargo on their southbound journey from the UK back to Spain.
After successful trials in September with positive feedback from customers, regular departures will start at the end of October, just in time for the Spanish high season for the export of fruits and vegetables. More than 90% of these exports go north, with up to 1,400 trucks crossing the northern Spanish border daily to key markets in the UK, France, the Benelux, Germany and Scandinavia.
Diego Perdones Montero:
“Our new service solves several challenges faced by our refrigerated transport customers in Spain in their exports. First, many large retailers want to reduce the environmental footprint of the products they sell. Secondly, there is a predominant shortage of truck drivers, which means that cross-border road transport is currently often limited and unreliable. Thirdly, the capacity and quality of the major roads are limited, which leads to congestion. Our rail transport makes Spanish exporters independent of the driver shortage and bottlenecks on the road and offers more than 90% less CO2 emissions than a truck on the road.”
More destinations could follow, he adds, including Integrated Marine and rail solutions. “Large customers, as importers, growers and retailers, work with both sea and land freight flows. By offering them our reliable onshore rail transport network, we help create faster, more sustainable and efficient routes, regardless of the origin and destination of the sensitive cargo.”
In addition, Maersk simplifies and optimizes its customers ‘ supply chains with an extensive range of additional logistics services. These range from customs expedition or cold storage to Captain Peter, a technology that provides complete data transparency about the condition of the cargo in a refrigerated container throughout the journey.
