TNT Express Italy is “going green” with transalpine rail transportation of freight shipments to cutits CO2 footprint and improve operational efficiency. The operator has also unveiled new services
to continue its growth this year.TNT has launched “intermodal express transportation” between its main European road hub atArnhem, Netherlands, and its largest Italian hub at Piacenza. Instead of trucking volumes by roadfor the full distance, part of the journey is now done via rail transportation using the dailyfreight train service of Swiss multimodal operator Hupac between Freiburg (Germany) and Novara(Italy).
The service, which was launched in January following tests last year, reduces the roadtransport leg of the journey from 36 to 14 hours and cuts CO2 emissions by two tonnes a week. About20% of TNT’s traffic from Arnhem to Italy, representing an average of about 400 daily shipmentsweighing 14 tonnes, is now carried via the intermodal service.
The TNT truck leaves Arnhem at 20:00 daily and drives as far as Freiburg in south-westGermany. There it is loaded on to the special “rolling highway” (Rola) train which transportsfully-loaded trucks while the driver is carried in a passenger coach. Once the train arrives inNovara, the truck returns to the road and arrives in Piacenza at about 19:00. For the northboundjourney, the truck picks up export goods at TNT’s “mega-hub” in Milan and then takes the train fromNovara at 22:00 to Freiburg. It arrives back at Arnhem at 19:30 the following evening.
Rosario Ambrosino, Operations Director of TNT Southern Europe, said that after only a fewweeks the benefits of the intermodal service are already obvious and the rail service is provinghighly reliable. TNT is successfully combining operational efficiency and its strict internationalexpress deadlines with the need to protect the environment and reduce CO2 emissions, he pointedout. TNT is already considering adding more routes to Italy this year, and will carry out tests toand from its hubs at Brussels and Nuremberg, he added.
Meanwhile, TNT Express Italy has launched a range of “Basic Special Services” covering ‘firstmile’, ‘last mile’, ‘dedicated’ and ‘swap’ delivery services. Customers can select any combinationof the new “basic” services according to their needs for transportation and delivery of “non-standard” shipments.
“This is an important portfolio upgrade,” said Gabriele Sigismondi, Sales, Marketing,Customer Service and Special Services Director of TNT Express Italy. “The area of Special Servicesis growing rapidly. Last year it grew by 35% and this year we are targeting a further 30% increasedespite the severe economic situation.” The new services responded to customer needs for simple andclear products, he added.
Separately, TNT Express Italy said it is targeting 15% growth in volumes at its Piacenza hubthis year following a 20% increase last year. The 20,000 sqm hub, opened in 2006, is now linkeddirectly to TNT’s linehaul service, bypassing the local branch and thus enabling later cutofftimes.
