The new rail service is available to both shipping lines and individual customers, as well as inland container depot (ICD) or container freight station (CFS) operators
APM Terminals Mumbai (Gateway Terminals India – GTI) has introduced a new service for its customers, repositioning empty containers by rail. The initiative is designed to address occasional shortages of equipment availability due to longer turnround times for empty boxes by road.
Under the new service, shipping lines and individual customers can reposition their empty containers by rail from the GTI terminal to inland depots, from depots to the terminal, or even between individual depots via the terminal. Apart from reducing road congestion and turn time for empty equipment, APM Terminals says the new solution also provides greater visibility of the location of the inventory and allows better supply chain planning by customers.
“We see growing demand from our customer base for solutions going beyond the conventional services a container terminal would normally offer,” comments Girish Aggarwal, Chief Operating Officer at APM Terminals Mumbai. “This includes an increased focus on landside transportation, but also products ensuring better and faster equipment availability. With this new product we want to help our customers organise logistics better, while reducing the pressure on roads and therefore also improving safety.”
