Rail

The Middle Kingdom is the largest importer of goods from Europe. Every year, more and more products of European origin reach the Great Wall. The main means of transport is rail. What do Chinese importers bring in European containers?

Would New Silk Road cargo flows significantly increase if Russia lifted the embargo and result in less traffic between Europe and China? It depends.

In cargo transportation, there are four “whale” modes: road, air, sea and rail. Which whale is the biggest and most reliable? To answer, we have prepared a series of interviews on intra-European transport. In the first installment, we discuss railway deliveries with Eva Trohimyuk, Head of the European Rail Department at logistics company AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG.

The AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG corporate group sums up its results for the first half of 2019. The corporate group’s turnover for the first 6 months of 2019 amounted to 160 million euros, which is 23% more than in the same period of 2018. From January to June, the company's specialists processed 76,500 orders. The weight of transported goods increased by 44% compared to the first half of 2018 and amounted to 1.9 million tons. During this period AsstrA brought 1,492 new clients onboard.

The AsstrA transportation and logistics corporate group recently became involved in significant investments by transporting three passenger casrs from Fanipol, Belarus, to Berlin, Germany.

Each country has its own trendy products from certain brands. There is no secret that there could be hundreds or thousands of kilometers between a brand’s “homeland” and where its products are actually manufactured.

A 20-meter Moscow metro wagon. A 6-ton passenger plane engine. A 1,000-part city tram. All these vehicles’ components must go a long way before they can function together as a whole. Sometimes production starts with one piece in Japan and ends with final assembly in Austria.

Defining waste is easy. According to the Polish legal Act of 14 December 2012, waste is any substance or object whose holder is or will be disposing of it or has the obligation to do so. Removing waste, however, is not so easy.

There’s a lot to love about rail transport. For starters, it has generous load capacity, stable rates, and all-weather scheduling. And don’t forget that it is environmentally friendly.

On January 23, 2019, the First "Future and Perspective" Railway Development Congress took place in Warsaw. The PKP SA Group organized the event to present and discuss the developmental direction of rail transport in Poland. What track are Polish railways on? Head of the EU Rail Freight Division at AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG, Ewa Trochimiuk, discusses some takeaways from the event.

The amount of goods transported via the New Silk Road is constantly growing. Recently, the popularity of the China-EU route has been skyrocketing, particularly when it comes to intermodal transport.

4,000 kilometers, 84 tons of cargo, 5 types of vehicles, 50 days of transit time. AsstrA completed another international oversize cargo transportation project.

AsstrA Polska Sp. z o.o., part of the AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG international transport and logistics group, opened a branch in Małaszewicze to offer rail and intermodal transport services.

In August of this year, the AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG group of transport and logistics companies shipped a new 26-meter rail wagon to Germany, and then shipped similar cargo from Switzerland a few weeks later.

The group's rail turnover increased by 4% in the first half of this year and amounted to more than 8.5 million euros. The number of orders increased by 23% compared to the same period in 2017.

Rail shipping plays an increasingly important role in the development of strategically important China-Europe-China transport involving the Belt and Road Initiative.

Has the Middle Kingdom, the author of the Belt and Road Initiative, recently started a revolution in the world trade in goods? Is the New Silk Road a cause for concern? Or maybe the chance of a lifetime for global logistics operators?

Is railway transportation from Europe therefore a relic fated to remain on the margins of logistics history? Or will it maintain relevance regardless?

Company rankings: to participate or not to participate? Many entrepreneurs ask this question every day. Some do not believe in disclosing company data to the public and some – like those at AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG – very much do!

For AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG, express rail transportation between China, the EU, and the CIS has in recent years developed from a niche offering into a core service.

For insights regarding Russia, the New Silk Road's most important “overland transport bridge,” we talked with AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG experts Andrej Soroka, Shanghai Branch Manager, and Dmitrij Pokhodenko, Trade-Lane Manager for China.

Every year during the Hi-Tech Supply Chain Summit, transport services providers, technology manufacturers, retailers and telecom infrastructure providers discuss the latest challenges and opportunities facing the hi-tech supply chain

We talked with experts from the international transport and logistics group AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG about the carriers selection process.

"Delays at the European Union border, road inspections, bureaucracy – these complications are a regular part of transporting cargo from Poland to its east. Such factors have a negative impact on the predictability of the supply chain and the punctuality of cargo delivery. The driver needs a responsible and competent guide who will help him navigate all these challenges. And that’s what we do best," emphasizes Poland Country Manager Mariusz Borkowski.

At the end of last year, AsstrA-Associated Traffic launched a new transit tariff payment service for rail shipments through Russian territory

International transport and logistics company AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG has been specializing in organizing rail transport solutions for many years. Small and medium-sized companies as well as global leaders in various industries trust AsstrA’s extensive experience and high-quality services. From 2015 – 2017, the total number of wagons sent increased almost 6 times to 4,500. Turnover from rail transport in 2017 amounted to 18.7 million euros.

This year the international logistics provider AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG welcomes the guests of the exhibition at its own stand E245 in the Hall of the 3rd International Exhibition Center «Crocus Expo»