NEWS BLOG

One of the landmark events for Trans-Rak in 2023 was the launch of our new P-RAK system, or palletised cargo racking system, the latest in our range of customisable vehicle and cargo storage solutions for containerised transport.

In January 2023 we published an article about the fire that took place on the RoRo vessel Midnight Sun while moored in port at Tacoma Washington, USA, in September 2022. With all credit due to the port authorities and the crew of the Midnight Sun, the blaze was put out quickly without injury or loss of life, and no cargo was being stored at the time.

Hot on the heels of the Intermodal Europe trade fair this past October, Trans Rak MD Paul Donaldson flew from Amsterdam to Copenhagen to attend the 2023 ECG Conference on 12^th and 13^th October. This year’s conference, organised by the ECG – the Association of European Vehicle Logistics, drew nearly 500 attendees from across the European finished vehicle logistics sector.

2023 has been a busy year for the team at Trans-Rak, so much so, that we are only just getting around to catching up on two of the really interesting events we attended back in October this year: Intermodal Europe in Amsterdam on 10^th-12^th October, and the ECG Conference in Copenhagen on 12^th-13^th of the same month. It was a hectic few days!

With money and business reputation at stake, it may come as a surprise that many cars shipped by shipping container are not adequately secured during transit.

Over the past 25 years, cars on British roads have got progressively larger, with an ongoing trend for making cars bigger for the UK market. The average car has not only increased in width but also in length, fuelled by the growing popularity of robust SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles) among urban car owners.

One of the main reasons that automotive logistics businesses cite for choosing Ro-Ro (roll on, roll off) transport over containerised shipping for finished vehicle logistics is that Ro-Ro is cheaper and easier to arrange due to the large availability of Ro-Ro vessels.

Poor old RoRo shipping has taken quite a bit of flak on this blog and others over the past few years, for its deficiencies in long haul finished vehicle logistics (FVL) – especially between Far Eastern and European and American markets. While still a viable option for short haul shipments, generally speaking, RoRo has become more expensive, riskier, and – since last summer – more difficult to source than container shipping for FVL.

In an effort to reduce the environmental impact of shipping, many container shipping operations have been turning towards scrubbers as a means of reducing emissions. But what are scrubbers, and how do they help? Let’s take a look at the technology and its benefits.

Over the last year, shipping container prices have dropped significantly from their peak in early 2021. The decline came as a surprise to many in the logistics industry, who had expected prices to remain high and steady throughout 2022 and 2023. While the drop in shipping container prices is positive news for automotive logistics businesses, it’s worth exploring the reasons for the sudden decrease in rates. In this article, we’ll look at some of the reasons behind the shift.