Port of Helsingborg Magazine Summer/Autumn 2004 - Helsingborgs ...

Successful weekend traffi c to GermanyMr. Björn Persson, Freight Manager TT-Lines”Robin Hood” calls at the Scania TerminalFull activity onboard ”Nils Dackes” main-deckSince September of last year, the Port of Helsingborg has ferry traffic to Germany. TT-Line,which runs the line, is pleased with how things have gone so far, and traffic volume expectationshave been fulfilled. “TT-Line’s customers benefit from having goods delivered neartheir terminals,” says freight manager Björn Persson, “and they need far fewer trailer trucksthan if the same goods were to be driven from the south of Skåne.”Compared to TT-Line’s other lines,the Helsingborg-Travemünde one isnot large. Arrival every Saturday at10pm and departure on Sundays at2am can be compared with up to 15daily departures for them in the southernBaltic. But it is not unimportantjust because it is a small line.“With three lines instead of twowe have one more leg to stand on.And, most importantly, our customersbenefit. We drive their units more orless to the door, and they avoid theHelsingborg-Trelleborg route to collecttrailers at the weekend,” says TT-Line’sfreight manager Björn Persson.Optimal for weekend trafficThe background is that most ofthe larger Swedish forwarding agentsare in the Helsingborg area. Withtranshipment centres near the port inHelsingborg, only a few trailer trucksare needed for collecting trailers in ashuttle system. This is also noticeablefrom the statistics. About 9 5 per cent oftraffic is made up of loose trailers, withthe rest being driven, i.e. the trailer ispulled by a trailer truck that goes onthe ferry. I n Trelleborg, the situationis almost the reverse.The advantages of Helsingborg aremainly e x ploited at weekends. However,the e x tra two-hour run fromG ermany compared to Trelleborg isa problem for the tight M onday toF riday transport times.3