GEFCO brings tractor containerisation to Austria
GEFCO and Case New Holland (CNH) set new standards in transport logistics: the European market leader in vehicle logistics and the world’s second largest manufacturer of agricultural machines are bringing tractors to Australia in one piece for the first time. Between 260 and 280 units will make the journey from the GEFCO subsidiary in St. Valentin in Lower Austria to three Australian ports in 2017 – the volume is unique in Austria.
GEFCO has been working for Case New Holland since 2012 and can now see itself as a full-service provider for the agricultural machine manufacturer. The company was responsible for the inbound logistics including the sequencing of production parts for the nearby CNH plant, even before the logistics service provider took over the tractor containerisation, which was almost unique in Austria at the beginning of 2017.
For the loading of the tractors with between 95 HP and 140 HP, a few steps must first be taken: GEFCO employees take over the original tires and replace them with iron wheels on which the tractor can be driven into the container. In addition, a mudguard as well as an ascent have to be dismantled. In a high-cube container (with a length of 12.1 meters), exactly two tractors, including the previously disassembled parts, fit in this way. Further optimisations of the loading are already being worked out.
After an intermediate stop in Enns / Upper Austria, where the containers are loaded onto the train, they arrive at the German Bremerhaven. From there, around 140 containers are shipped to Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane each year. “The big advantage for CNH is that the tractors, once they are at their destination, are ready for immediate use after minor assembly work. For our customer this means extreme efficiency,” explains Peter Vanek, Managing Director of GEFCO Austria. The transit time to “Down Under” is seven weeks.
Not only CNH has been banking on the expertise of GEFCO for many years. The European number one in the area of “Finished Vehicle Logistics” (FVL) is responsible for the complete Austrian vehicle distribution for the Peugeot Citroen Group at its Lower Austrian locations St. Valentin and Spillern, and also handles partial and full loads as well general cargo and contract logistics for other well-known customers such as voestalpine, several brands of the Volkswagen Group, Wacker-Neuson, Magna and KTM.