The transport infrastructure in the strong economic metropolitan region of Stuttgart has been at full capacity for some time now. Frequent traffic jams on motorways and federal roads make planning difficult, and not only for freight transport. As a result, many representatives from logistics, industry and trade are calling for additional intermodal capacity. This should effectively ease congestion on the roads and reduce pollutant emissions.

With the above concerns at hand, New Silk Road Network’s (NSRN) member IGS Schreiner GmbH shares a detailed overview of the IGS Logistics Group latest activities in Heilbronn as a case study with NSRN’s readers. Considering that numerous world market leaders in their specific industry with strong business relations to China are located in the area of Heilbronn-Franken, the new IGS activities will surely be of interest for many NSRN members.

As of 1 April 2020, the economic region of Heilbronn benefits from regular container train services with the German seaports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven. To achieve this, IGS Intermodal Container Logistics GmbH, which is part of the IGS Logistics Group, has integrated the site into its existing block train network. The container trains will initially be operated three times per week and direction, between northern ports Hamburg and Bremerhaven from/to Heilbronn. The frequency will be increased subsequently at any time if there is sufficient demand. In Hamburg, the terminals CTA, CTB, EUROGATE and CTT are directly connected to the train network. In Bremerhaven, the trains serve terminals CT I to IV. The import trains depart on the following days

Hamburg: Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Bremerhaven: Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

In Heilbronn, the trains are unloaded and reloaded on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons.

The export trains arrive on the following days

Hamburg: Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Bremerhaven: Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

In addition to a reliable provision of trains with competitive conditions, the on-site empty container and trucking services are the main factors which are of critical importance for the clients’ success. The IGS Logistics Group is therefore making its many years of know-how in these fields of activity available to the local terminal operating company Kombi Terminal Heilbronn (KTHN) (in which it recently acquired a 33.3% share) via its subsidiary Container Depot Nürnberg GmbH (CDN).

Together with its co-partners, the forwarding companies W. Wüst GmbH & Co. KG and Karl Schmidt Spedition GmbH & Co. KG, the terminal’s range of services will be expanded to meet future needs. In future, the range of services currently offered by the terminal, i.e. container handling and temporary storage of full containers, will be supplemented with empty depot services, container repairs, container washing and all other services relating to empty containers. Furthermore, KTHN undertakes container trucking over the first and last miles.

The chassis in use, have been equipped with GPS systems and are available for this purpose. This means that clients will now benefit from IGS’ well-known service portfolio at the Heilbronn site as well. The range of services offered by the terminal is completed by the temporary storage of loading units with hazardous goods (max. 24 hours) and power connections for temperature-controlled containers.

“A large number of leading companies with high imports and exports are based in the Heilbronn-Franken economic region,” explains Ronny Kehrhahn, responsible for network development and control at IGS Intermodal. “The new demand-based train service to Heilbronn, in conjunction with empty depot and trucking services, gives these companies a direct and reliable connection to the German sea-ports. For our shipping company and forwarding agent clients, the new site will reduce many truck transport operations to the first or the last miles. This lessens the environmental impact and will ease congestion on the roads in the Stuttgart area.” For the IGS Group, the new Heilbronn site is a major addition to its terminal, depot and trucking network, with sites in Nuremberg, Regensburg, Aschaffenburg, Schweinfurt and Munich.

IGS Schreiner GmbH is, therefore, able to offer their clients a wide range of intermodal services connecting the northern seaports and the major inland economic centres with the strong backing of the IGS Group and sister entities such as IGS Intermodal Container Logistics GmbH. With shuttle train system and depots, terminals and trucking organisations in Nuremberg, Regensburg, Munich, Aschaffenburg, Schweinfurt and Heilbronn, IGS offers shipping companies and forwarding agents all services relating to intermodal seaport hinterland transport. Its offices in Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Rotterdam also organise local and long-haul container transport operations by lorry. In the Port of Hamburg, it carries out shunting services from and to the sea terminals through its participation in the railway undertaking HBC (Hanseatisches Bahn Contor). NSRN congratulates them on the launch of this new service!

Click here to visit their website: http://www.igs-logistics.com/de/