We are delighted to announce that our new external racking solution, the EL-RAK, is available to order now. As regular readers of this blog will know, the EL-RAK has been in development for over 12 months. Development was carried out in consultation with key customers and stakeholders in the industry, and the product has undergone extensive testing and certification before being released to the market. Along with all Trans-Rak products, the EL-RAK is certified for quality internally by Singamas quality controllers and independently inspected by China Classification Society.

Trans-Rak International launches the new EL-RAK which is an exterior loading cassette system for loading all types of vehicles in any size of ISO shipping container. This new product compliments Trans-Rak’s existing racking systems, giving the customer complete choice of either loading inside the container or outside. This, along with the DL-RAK for loading cars along the floor of the container and SKD-RAK for loading bodies, completes a suite of products to meet any customer need.

RoRo, using specialist ocean going vehicle carriers, is the cheapest method for sending cars long trans-global distances when available. It is perfect when time is not a critical factor and when it suits the sender to unload the cargo in one of the specialist port facilities that handle these vessels.

Electric vehicles (EV) are the wave of the future. Worldwide outcry over the detrimental effects on health and the environment of Nitrogen Oxide (NO2), Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Particulate Matter (PM), especially from diesel vehicles, has led to a new generation of hybrid and fully electric vehicles. These energy efficient, green vehicles are good news for consumers, being cheaper to run than fossil fuel driven cars, and great news for city planners struggling to control air pollution in urban centres.

A million and one things can go wrong when sending a consignment of cars across thousands of miles of ocean (or even 100 miles down the road). Any risk you can think of could and has materialised, from cars catching fire, to vehicle carriers sinking or drivers carelessly scratching (more realistically!) a car while unloading or parking it. Cars have fallen off transporters, been dropped by cranes and had something dropped on them by a crane.

Containerised shipping removes practically all of the risks involved in transporting cars and other vehicles, especially over long distances. It is more flexible than RoRo because container shipping vessels call to far more ports worldwide than do ocean going RoRo ships. Also, containers can be shipped on to further destinations after landing with no additional intervention by the sender. It is also probably the best way to guard against accidental damage, weathering or theft en route as the vehicles are locked inside a secure steel container.

Over the years, car transport businesses have come up with a number of car racking systems to increase the safety and capacity of shipping container transport. Why? To increase the economic viability of shipping containers as an alternative to Ro-Ro transport. A 40 foot standard shipping container, with 8 feet of space in both width and height, is the equivalent to about two parking spaces. Therefore, without utilising racking, you will only ever be able to get two cars in a container; a costly proposition if you need to ship multiple vehicles.

If you run an automotive business and need to transfer vehicles on a consistent basis by shipping container, you need effective vehicle racking solutions in place. To make container shipping economically viable, it is important to employ a reliable multi vehicle racking solution that can transport three or more cars within a single container. However, not all solutions are created equal, and there are different ways of using racking – some more cost effective than others.

At Trans-Rak International, we offer the best automotive racking systems for putting cars in containers. There are other automotive container solutions available and it is important that you do your homework if you are looking to reduce your shipping costs. Always compare systems and choose the one that is best for your needs.

Finished vehicle Logistics includes enough variables and complications without a container racking system being one of them. From feedback we have had from dozens of logistics professionals, the three things businesses look for in a racking system are simplicity, flexibility and reusability. In this article we would like to take the opportunity to explain how our racking solutions take all three requirements into account.