Category Archives: Rail/Road

Express distribution leader Gati has ramped up its network capacity by 25% by adding 100 line haul trucks to its innovative flexi network to connect the demand locations. Thus, Gati aims to cut down the dwell time further in view of the huge spike in demand during the festival season, billed as the stress-test time for supply chain players. The additional trucks in the special flexible network based on the market and route dynamics, will connect the key locations to ease the pressure of servicing the demands. The network will reduce dwell time from existing 9% to 5%. As many as 19 such grid locations including Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Indore and Kolkata have been identified for the purpose. “We are ready for the festival ride and meet the increased demand during the upcoming season. The network capacity will be enhanced by 20-25% while the workforce will be strengthened by at least15%. We are planning to leverage at least 20% of existing facilities further to manage the peak season load. Overall, we expect a 15% increase in productivity per person. We are tech enabled, especially in the area of artificial intelligence, to meet the purpose. We have set up a monitoring system already in place to ensure a better transit time for the customers. Our aim is to ensure a delivery efficiency of 95%+,” said Charles Devlin D’Costa, Chief of Supply Chain Operations, Gati KWE

With the ongoing festive season, the new-age logistics companies expect multi-fold growth in shipments and are fully geared to meet the challenge with measures such as capacity expansion and additional hiring. With aggressive demands during festive seasons over the last few years, COVID-19 has further accelerated e-commerce adoption in all segments, be it business-to-consumer (B2C), direct-to-consumer (D2C) or business-to-business (B2B). Xpressbees Chief Business Officer for B2C, Harsha Bhoi, said, “the overall volume in the festive season goes to two-three times for the overall e-commerce markets”. “This year, we are expecting even more higher peaks considering the economy getting (back) on track. Moreover, increased adoption in tier 2 and 3 cities as well as in remote cities and COVID-19 further accelerate the overall adoption for e-commerce deliveries,” he added. Bhoi added that the company expects a peak of up to 1.5 million shipments for Xpressbees on peak days during the festive rush.

Container Company of Bangladesh Limited (CCBL) is going to build a rail Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Chittagong to boost the transportation of containers by trains. Local terminal operator Saif Powertec Limited will build and operate the ICD on behalf of CCBL for 20 years before handing it over to CCBL, according to a deal that will be signed on 19 October. The new ICD will have a capacity of 100,000TEU a year and will be built in more than 86,150m² of railway-owned land in the Halishahar area on the outskirts of the port city of Chittagong. Currently, there are 19 ICDs in the country which handle 1.6 million TEU a year. CCBL invited bids from the interested local and global operators in February for the construction and operation of the ICD. Fourteen companies, including four foreign players, submitted bids from where Saif Powertec has been selected.

Welcoming the launch of PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan for the multi-model connectivity, Dr A Sakthivel, President FIEO said that this will improve India’s productive capacity and global competitiveness with regard to not only manufacturing but also exports from India. To have all utility and infrastructure planning under an umbrella framework is unprecedented. For a long time, our infrastructure sector was witnessing inter-ministerial delays, multiple layers of stakeholders, and the culture of working in silos, said FIEO Chief. This has led to time and cost overruns and staggered pace for infrastructure led growth. The last mile connectivity is extremely important as it has a severe impact on the logistics cost though requiring not so substantial investment. Sakthivel said that bringing 16 Ministries on the digital platform for the integrated planning and consolidated implementation of infrastructure connectivity will be a game changer for the Indian economy. More important is the approach which can be equally applied to many other sectors where inter-ministerial close coordination and monitoring can lead to exponential growth. These kinds of master plans will not only attract global FDI but will make India the most preferred destination of investment globally, observed President, FIEO.

Northern Railway has launched its new AC freight express train service running from Ferozepur Division’s Sanhewal to South Western Railway’s Yesvantpur, with 20 second and third AC carriages. The first AC cargo express train left Sanhewal of the Ferozepur division for Yeshwantpur of the South Western Railway. According to authorities, this is the first time an AC freight express train has operated on Indian rails. Northern Railway General Manager Ashutosh Gangal announced that a train carrying ICF’s standard air-conditioned passenger coaches had been converted into freight for the first time and there are plans in place for the loading of 121 tonnes of material. Chocolate, raw materials, noodles, sauce, and fabric, among other things, have been put into the train.

The Association of Multimodal Transport Operators of India – AMTOI, held its 22nd AGM last month using a virtual platform. The following office bearers were elected for the year 2021-2022. Xerrxes Master-President, George Abrao-Vice President, Arun Kumar-Honorary Secretary, Devpal Menon–Honorary Treasurer. The program then moved on to a very interesting and informative “AMTOI Dialogues” session which was moderated by Xerrxes Master of AMTOI. The speaker for this session was N. Sivasailam, IAS (Ex- Special Secretary Logistics). He emphasized on Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) and how AMTOI as an Association can set its own standards and benchmarks in achieving SRO status. In addition, he also shared the importance of Digitization in the logistics industry as we are on the cusp of a Digital Revolution, popularly known as i4.0 or the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It was a very interactive session where the audience also got a chance to put up their questions to him and get his expert opinion. The AGM concluded with Anjali Bhide, Hon. Secretary giving the vote of thanks.

In a landmark achievement, Indian Railways’ Western Railway (WR) zone successfully operated the first electric train from Bhavnagar Division’s Pipavav Port, making it the country’s first Indian port connected with High Rise over head electrification(OHE). With this, Pipavav Rail Corporation Ltd., a new customer, has been added as Container Operator. The first rake was loaded from Pipavav port siding to Bhagat Ki Kothi, Jodhpur. This port is now directly connected with DFC with AC Traction of High Rise OHE. A senior railway official stated that this newly established connectivity will benefit in various aspects, such as elimination of undue detention on account of Traction change, acceleration will be quicker, direct connectivity through AC Traction between Pipavav Port and DFC and other major destinations. “The new connectivity with Pipavav Port is the beginning to a new era for Western Railway as well as Indian Railways towards a smooth, easy and quick transportation from ports in India,” according to an official statement by the Western Railway.

Global automakers could lose $210 billion in revenue this year because of supply chain disruptions, nearly double a forecast earlier this year, consulting firm Alixpartners said on Thursday. Alixpartners attributes a part of this problem to a shortage of semiconductors in a new forecast. High prices and tight supplies of commodities such as steel and plastic resin are leading to a surge in costs and forcing automakers to curtail production. Automakers are on track to lose production of 7.7 million vehicles in 2021, according to the new forecast. Alixpartners advises automakers on supply chain and other issues. The firm in May, predicted automakers would lose $110 billion in revenue and fall 3.9 million vehicles short of production plans for the year. The forecast comes amid warnings from automakers and commercial truck manufacturers that semiconductor shortages and commodity price spikes are not easing as 2021 heads into its final months, as industry executives had hoped they would.

The issue of drivers’ safety has always been one of the biggest concerns for the industry. In view of this, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, with an aim to reduce road accidents, has pitched for fixed driving hours for commercial truck drivers. He also spoke in favour of installing onboard sleep detection sensors in commercial vehicles for added safety. The Road Transport and Highways Minister said, “driving hours for truck drivers should be fixed similar to pilots’ to reduce fatigue-induced road accidents.” Earlier, Gadkari attended the introductory meeting of new members nominated to the National Road Safety Council (NRSC). The minister also said he has now directed the council to meet every two months and share their updates. About one-fourth of the truck drivers featured in a 2018 study conducted by lubricant manufacturer Castrol complained of sleep deprivation. Up to 53% reported physical and psychological issues such as fatigue, insomnia, obesity, backache, joint and neck pain, poor vision, breathlessness, stress and loneliness.

In a major development at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), one of India’s premier container handling port, the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, virtually flagged-off the dwarf container train service from JNPT in the presence of Dr. Sanjeev Ranjan, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPT and Unmesh Sharad Wagh, IRS, Deputy Chairman, JNPT. With this, the first consignment of laden Dwarf containers from Dwarf container depot (DCD) at the port was being moved by train to ICD Kanpur. The port is set to gain steadily from the implementation the Dwarf container train services from JNPT, as the rail movement of EXIM cargo through double stacked dwarf containers, would offer competitive cost advantage to the EXIM community, resulting in an increase in port cargo traffic via rail route.As the name suggests, the ‘Dwarf Containers’ are lesser in height by 660 mm than normal ISO containers, giving them a logistical edge. The Low height of dwarf container loaded on trailers can pass through rural, semi urban and urban roads, through limited height subways & level crossing in electrified sections. Furthermore, the ‘Dwarf’ containers provide a 67% increase in volume when double-stacked and can carry a weight of 71 tons, against 40 tons by an ISO container.