March Front Cover - WorldCargo News Online

WorldCargonewsVictorian Transport Minister Peter Batchelor (left), Tim Blood, managingdirector, Australia and New Zealand, for P&O Ports (centre) and Dr ChrisWhitaker, CEO, Melbourne Port Corporation (right) are pictured last monthat the official opening of the A$20 mill intermodal upgrade at Melbourne’sWest Swanson Dock. The project restores dual-gauge direct rail links to theP&O Ports facility and feeds a new P&O Trans Australia (POTA)intermodal terminal behind the dock. A partnership between MelbournePort Corporation (MPC) and POTA, the development is slated to play akey part in lifting rail’s share of port traffic to 30 per cent by 2010. MPCdesigned and built the new 1500m dual-gauge rail access track that runsbeside Footscray Road from Appleton Dock rail line to Dock Link Road. Itincludes a dual-gauge siding, on the east of Dock Link Road, for shuntingNorfolk Southerndown Mexico wayNorfolk Southern Corporationhas formed a Mexican subsidiary,NorfolkSouthernMexicana, S deRL de CV (NSM), to market therailroad’s transportation and logisticsservices in Mexico.“We believe the time is rightto raise our marketing profile inthe Mexican market,” said IkePrillaman, NS vice chairman andchief marketing officer. “With thecontinued strengthening ofNAFTA, and given our extensiveservice territory in the east, wehave had six consecutive years ofgrowth in our Mexican traffic,both in volume and revenue.”NS’ director Mexico, TonyLaRosa, will continue in that role,providing direction for NSM.“With the formation ofNorfolkSouthernMexicana, wewill serve both US and Mexicancustomers involved in theNAFTA trades and also furtherstrengthen our partnerships withwestern rail carriers,” LaRosa said.“NorfolkSouthernMexicanawill assist us across the enterprise,including identifying new carloadbusiness, such as conversion oflong-haul truck traffic to the rails,and providing additional supportto recent NS intermodal initiativeslinking the two countries,”he said.BDP addsin AsiaBDP Asia Pacific has opened afull-service, third party regionalchemical distribution centre inSingapore to augment the privatewarehouse and distribution centresit manages in Hong Kong andMalaysia. As with other BDP facilities,operations at Singaporeare based on web-based technologiesfor data, inventory andwarehousing management.Situated within the Jurong IndustrialDistrict, the centre consistsof three separate facilities, totalling12,000 m 2 . Integrated logisticsservices, such as trademovement, redistribution andshort- and long-term warehousing,are available at the site. Alsoon offer is fully documented containerconsolidation/deconsolidation,with pick-and-packand relabelling. In addition, classcargo management is available forsensitive or temperature-controlleditems.Using BDPCustomer.com, customersof the Singapore centrecan manage inventory and trackshipments by means of a singlesign-on, customer-centric websitelaunched by parent companyBDP International in 2002. Forexample, integrated BDP Dataapplications offer a variety of historicaland real-time reports forclients, through an online datawarehouse, one of several supplychain visibility and analytical toolsthat reside on BDPCustomer.com.BDP Asia Pacific, which has19 offices in nine countries, offerslive inventory status and shipmenttracking throughout Asiaand worldwide by means of itsparent company’s global, webbasedBDPXpedion platform andnetwork of strategic alliances.The European Chemical IndustryCouncil (CEFIC) is strengtheningits chemical Transport Safetyand Quality Assessment System(SQAS) programme through revisionsof the rail and tank cleaningmodules and a successful effortto promote the regimeamongst a greater number of industryusers across Europe.The SQAS Service Group,which was created in early 2002to ensure sustainable operation ofSQAS, now has 26 member companies,and efforts are underwayto increase awareness of thescheme and to gradually expandthis membership. SQAS workshopshave been held with representativesfrom the chemical andtransport industries in France, theNetherlands, Austria, Switzerlandand Sweden. Eastern Europe, too,is expressing interest in employingSQAS, and similar workshopsare planned for Hungary and theCzech Republic.SQAS is based on the principlethat the results of a single assessmentof a logistics service provider(LSP), carried out by atrained, CEFIC-accredited inspectorand filed on a central database,should provide the basis foran informed choice by a chemicalshipper on whether to securethe services of that LSP.The SQAS scheme for roadtransport (SQAS Road) was thefirst module for which an electronicdatabase system was developedand launched at the end of2001. Today, over 230 assessmentThe build-up of Bertschi operationsin the UK reached an importantmilestone last month with theopening of its new tank containercentre at South Bank on Teesside.All the Swiss tank operator’s northof England activities are now administeredfrom the new site.The facility was primarily builtto service a new contract withShell covering the distribution byBertschi of Shell’s range of detergentproducts throughout the UKand Europe. Bertschi UK also hasvehicles based in Hull, Leeds andWidnes and employs 32 driversand four office staff in the UK.The new terminal, which isclose to Middlesbrough, featuresa 41 tonne gantry crane for themovement of tank containers toand from storage and a large truckINLAND/INTERMODAL/HAZCHEM NEWSSQAS programme on trackSQAS Rail is managed jointly by thechemical industry and the rail carriersreports are registered on the database,accessible to the members ofthe SQAS Service Group.To date, 190 employees of themember chemical companies havebeen registered as SQAS databasesystem users. More and morechemical companies are activelyusing this database to evaluate thesafety, environmental and qualityperformance of their transportcompanies. This is the startingpoint of a dialogue with their servicepartners to jointly agree onnecessary actions to further improveperformance and, as such,contribute to goals of ResponsibleCare in logistics.Two further modules, SQASRail and SQAS Cleaning Stations,are being reviewed and upgraded.The assessment questionnaireshave been redrafted and work isin progress on electronic systemsBertschi consolidates TeessideThe new Bertschi terminal on Teesside enables UK movements to be plannedlocally, rather than from Switzerlandand on introducing assessor trainingand accreditation for thesemodules, too.The SQAS Rail Scheme ismanaged jointly by the chemicalindustry and rail carriers. Pilot assessmentshave already been carriedout on eight railway companiesin six countries. An internationalworking group is activelypromoting the scheme’s expansion.In each country a user platformhas been created to drive andmanage an improvement programmebased on the assessmentfindings.For SQAS Cleaning Stations,chemical producers, LSPs andcleaning stations have launched ajoint action programme with atarget completion date of January1, 2004. Under the initiative, allEuropean cleaning stations arebeing urged to fulfil the minimumsafety, health and environmentalprotections requirements. Cleaningstations are encouraged toundertake an SQAS assessment,and transport companies to useonly SQAS-assessed cleaning stations.Furthermore, chemicalcompanies should only acceptcleaned tanks for loading whenaccompanied by a uniform cleaningdocument.In a related initiative, CEFICis in the process of developing anSQAS scheme for non-assetbasedlogistics companies that donot operate their own fleet ofequipment, but merely organisethe logistics services through subcontracting.and trailer parking area of 13 acres,which is capable of holding up to320 tank containers. Also in placeare an external truck wash, officesand a workshop.The separate dispatching departmentat the new terminal enablescontainer movements to andfrom the Middlesbrough and Hullfacilities to be planned in the UKrather from company headquartersin Dürrenäsch as in the past.Liquip radars on the screenSydney-based Liquip Sales Pty Ltdhas introduced the innovativeDiptronic radar-based level gaugefor road tankers. Diptronic representsa major breakthrough for theAustralian engineering companyas the patented measuring deviceis the first commercially viableapplication of radar technology inthe road tanker sector.Diptronic replaces mechanicaldipsticks and cumbersome meteringsystems traditionally fittedonboard tankers engaged in petroleumdelivery services. “Theradar device provides a level ofoperator safety and efficiency notpreviously possible with othertechnologies,” said Ivan Lawrie,Liquip’s marketing and exportmanager.In its simplest form, Liquip’sDiptronic uses a permanentlymounted electronic dipstick tosend fuel level information fromeach compartment to a centralprocessing unit (CPU) screenviewed at ground level. The CPUconverts the radar’s level informationinto usable volumes and communicateswith a ticket printer viaRS232 communication. “Volumeinformation is continuously andreadily available at the touch of abutton,” said Lawrie.The device has gained electricaland weights and measures approvalsin several countries andprovides a degree of accuracywhich exceeds all established requirementsfor custody transfer.Liquip has developed the technologyinto several distinct packagedsystems, one of which - DiptronicMLS - is designed to replace aconventional metering system.A major advantage of Diptronicis that it obviates the needfor staff to mount the tanker andthus the requirement for ladders,handrails and other tank top safetydevices. This, in turn, reduces vehicletare weight and increasespayloads. Other tare weight benefitsaccrue because Diptronicdoes away with the need forconventional metering systems.Liquip has configured Diptronicso that it can be easily retrofittedto existing tankers. Also,software upgrades can changeDiptronic from a simple measuringsystem to a integrated IT solutionfor fuel tracking.The first Australian Diptronicsystem was fitted to a HolmwoodHighgate 45,000 litre, five-compartmenttri-axle semi trailer newlybuilt for Cootes Tanker Services in2002. It has since made its internationaldebut onboard oil companyvehicles in France, the UK and Asia,while Liquip has plans to launch itinto several other countries acrossAsia and Europe soon.“Combined with our traditionalfluid handling equipment,Diptronic offers a complete Liquipsolution,” said Lawrie. “Whilestandard mechanical equipmentremains our bread and butter business,electronic fluid monitoringdevices are becoming a larger partof Liquip’s product range.”20March 2003