Hellmann and Stinnes forge intermodal cooperation
Hellmann Worldwide Logistics and Stinnes (a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn and part of the same group as Schenker) have announced a mutually beneficial partnership which has allowed them to develop an intermodal solution for movement of parcels and groupage consignments throughout Germany. Hellmann’s depot in Osnabrück, Bremen, Hannover and Hamburg will now be linked with the Frankfurt and Nuremberg locations for overnight delivery.
The new collaboration has been enabled by developments in the combined transport system. Previously intermodal solutions have not been appropriate for parcels, groupage or part loads which have increasingly required speed, flexibility, reliability and tracking. In the past these attributes have been missing from road/rail systems and this has made such systems uncompetitive.
The need to make rail a serious alternative to road transport has been forced upon logistics companies due to increasing congestion and a growing awareness of environmental sensitivities. When it is eventually introduced, the German road toll (or Maut) will penalise the German road transport industry and make arrangements such as the one between Hellmann and Stinnes more common. The new cooperation will relieve daily road load by 100 transport trucks and has been supported financially by the German government.
