Just one year ago and during one of the harshest winters on record, ships that berthed at Port of Södertälje were covered with snow and ice. The port’s stevedores were obliged to hack away ice for hours on end before unloading could take place. Should we experience similar conditions this winter we have invested in the ideal tool in the fight against ice - the Steam Blaster. This is just one of the investments we have made during the year.
The Steam Blaster is not by far the largest we have made during the year. A much larger investment is the fully-automated main gate that began operating in the Spring. This means that all transport that has been booked in advance can drive directly through the gate. Cars and goods trucks are photographed and job orders to our truckers produced automatically. The advantages of a fully-automated gate are many. That haulage companies can have their trucks on the move increases efficiency and costs decrease.
’Haulage companies can now have a better eye on cargos and cars. They can immediately see if the goods are still on the train or ship and if they have passed through Customs. In this way many costly so called ‘not able to reach pick-up/delivery point orders’ can be avoided,’ comments Tomas Zackrisson of Port of Södertälje.
In 2011 we demolished a large warehouse. Two graduates from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm had formulated a way on how to reduce our fuel consumption by 7% if we placed the empty depot in a new way. To make this possible we had to demolish the warehouse that was closest to the railway. Besides freeing up the area it also meant that we were now able to drive a shorter route with our large container trucks. This saves time, tyre wear, diesel and reduces our effects on the environment. This also applies to the investments we have made in new machinery.
’During the late winter we upgraded our machinery fleet with new terminal tractors, wagons and a new Reach Stacker,’ says Bertil Jansson of Port of Södertälje.
The new Reach Stacker can lift 45 tonnes and is used mainly to lift lorry trailers on and off railway wagons. Two new four-wheel drive Kalmar Tug Masters have been added to our total of six terminal tractors.
Terminal tractors are driven by environment-friendly 3 stage motors fitted with efficient exhaust cleaners. The new wagons have been supplied by the Danish company Novatec. The wagons are pulled by the terminal tractors and can support a 65-ton load divided by two 20 foot containers or one 40-foot container, alternatively a 45-foot container. Through using the terminal tractor and wagons we have reduced our diesel consumption compared to moving containers with a Reach Stacker which uses 18 litres of fuel per hour.
The year’s ultimate investment was the purchase of a six-armed polygrip scooper. The scoop can pick up 9 cubic metres and is used primarily in the unloading of wooden chips and pellets to Söderenergi district heating plant.