Page 21 - Port of Hamburg Magazine - 03.18

11:45 Arrival in Meimersdorf marshalling terminal. Stefan and Mike are a well-tuned team: Maik, down on the track next to the train, is Stefan’s eyes. He is sitting in his cabin driving, listening, reacting, keeping a sharp lookout on the track and train, until it is disconnected and ready. To round it off, Maik makes a quick call to the planners, so that they know where the train is standing. He also receives further instructions from them.
22 WEEKLY SERVICES
12:00 Now it’s the turn of the train from Hamburg-Bill- werder: It is part of the East-West logistics axis, from Duisburg via Hamburg to Kiel, from where the freight journeys on by ferry to Scandinavia, the Baltic Region and Russia. This is intermodal traffic at its best. Now, Stefan Hehner and Maik Kühl can begin again: Walk- ie-talkie instructions, disconnecting, connecting, checking, staying attentive – precision work with heavy equipment. Then it is on to the marshalling track, where the train is divided: one section will go to Schwe- denkai and then in the evening with the Stena Line fer- ry on to Gothenburg that quite apart from 1,200 pas- sengers, transports between 3,700 and 4,200 track-metres of cargo – every single day. The other part of the Billwerder train rolls on to Ostuferhafen, from where the cargo sails eight times per week with DFDS Germany to Klaipeda or weekly to St. Petersburg. SCA Logistics runs an additional twice-weekly service from here to Sweden. In total, 22 freight services run week- ly between Hamburg und Kiel.
ENGINE DRIVER STEFAN HEHNER
CAN STEER THE LOCOMOTIVE REMOTELY USING HIS ‘VENDOR’S TRAY’
12:35 We arrive with the second part of the train at Schwedenkai. There, Port of Kiel Stevedoring begins unloading the train. It is all action – bustling with activi- ty, dockers unload the train using mobile portal cranes mounted on railcars on three tracks. Parallel, contain- ers and truck-trailers are taken on board the ferry: In any event, the cargo has to be loaded before passen- gers’ vehicles can drive on board.
It’s been a successful morning for Stefan Hehner and Maik Kühl. Now it’s time for a real break. Their shift will still go on until the early evening – come rain, come shine – whatever the weather. ■
HINTERLAND ■
Pallet for pallet:
Trucks handle fine distribution in hinterland
Especially within a 150-kilometre radius of the port, trucking is the preferred means of transport for taking cargo to a terminal or collecting it. Rainer Hansen is somebody daily on the move over similar distances. Port of Hamburg Magazine joined the ninefold grandfather on a tour.
“Driving is fun”, is Rainer Hansen’s way of explaining why at 73, he still sits at the wheel several times a week. He started as a sorter with TCO Transcargo in the Port of Hamburg in 1995, later taking over tours with a truck. His working day begins at latest at six o’clock, as it does for so many in the port. He is often the first to un- lock the gates. The first truck bringing cargo for TCO is in fact standing outside already. Rainer Hansen simply shows him where he needs to report at the company’s site on Hohe Schaar.
PAPERS, PAPERS, PAPERS
“It’s still quiet now,” he knows from experience. Before the port service provider of storage, container stuffing, handling, exports, imports, Customs clearance and
packing is fully stretched, Hansen wants to be rid of his cargo. He has loaded pallets previously unpacked by col- leagues from an overseas container. The shipment is bound for a major discounter’s central warehouse. “This is all promotional merchandise. We know before every- body else what’s soon going to be on special offer,” says Hansen with a wink. For the moment, he cannot drive away. The tachograph needs to be activated, and most important of all, there are papers, papers, papers. Without them, nothing will work later during delivery. The way into the port goes without a hitch. The display panels of the Port of Hamburg’s digital traffic guidance system indicate that the roads are clear. Here Hansen can read off where bottlenecks are forming, or movable bridges are opening, and road traffic must wait.
Port of Hamburg Magazine | September 2018 | 21
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