Copertiz opts for inland shipping; double alleviation for the E313

Lean and green in practice

Copertiz, supplier of coconut products and substrates, imports coconut turf and chips from different locations in Asia. These containers are shipped to the port of Antwerp, from where they are transported by truck to the production site of Copertiz in Bree. There, the raw material is unloaded with a tipping chassis. After this process, the empty container is transported back to the port of Antwerp by truck.

Copertiz and Gosselin Logistics have already worked together for several years on organizing imports from Asia. Gosselin recently won the “lean and green” award for its efforts in putting forward multimodal alternatives for transportation to and from the port. Gosselin consulted Multimodaal.Vlaanderen for support on this specific case.

Via inland shipping to Genk

The logistics cost represents about 60% of the total cost of the basic product, meaning an increase in the transport costs is not desirable. Due to reasons of cost efficiency, the last-mile trucking with tipping chassis needed to be organized with a minimum of two containers per day.

Multimodaal.vlaanderen, Gosselin Logistics and Port of Genk joined forces and created a realistic and achievable plan for Copertiz. The next containers will be shipped from South-Asia to Antwerp from March and will continue their way to Genk via inland shipping. In the first phase this will involve about 150 containers (40 ft HC) a year. With expansion to other areas, this could involve up to 600 containers every year.

Double win

Organizing ocean fright with one the shipping companies with which the Port of Genk has agreements for collecting empty equipment means that empty containers do not need to be transported back to Antwerp after unloading.

Some other shipper/exporters will utilize the empty container that is available in Port of Genk at a later date. The advantage in terms of fewer kilometres on Flemish roads is therefore doubled. This also involves one of the most congestion-sensitive routes in Flanders, i.e. the ring-road in Antwerp and the E313.

The advisory point for multimodal transport