There are various types of infrastructure within freight transportation that your logistics operator must be able to provide to ensure the safety of your cargo, along with the ability to offer intermodal transport to get your goods to where you want them to go.
Undoubtedly, the most important pieces of infrastructure for doing this are container terminals, or port terminals, but what are they really and what benefits do they have for my supply chain? Below we will explain it to you.
What is a container terminal?
Broadly speaking, a container terminal or yard is an intermodal interchange with an onshore storage capacity that makes it possible to control arrivals and departures of goods and switch means of transport in a safe and reliable manner.
Essentially, its main function is to act as a physical and information connection system between different transport networks, achieving a fast, efficient and, above all, safe change of means of transport for both your goods and the environment.
Subsystems at container terminals
A container terminal operates through subsystems that connect each of the physical and information networks.
These subsystems are:
Loading - unloading subsystem
Its main objective is to handle the loading and unloading of containers quickly and safely from ships to other means of transport within the terminal.
Container storage subsystem
This subsystem helps to respond to the need to have space to store containers, based on the requirements of each type of cargo, and to cater for the different rates of loading and unloading.
Land-based receipt and delivery sub-system
This subsystem is made up of land-based gates for both trucks and railways that are provided to ease the capture of the high volume of information that needs to be acquired and the spaces required for each operation.
Internal connection subsystem
This particular subsystem responds to the need to ensure the horizontal transportation of containers between each of the previous subsystems. Consequently, it responds to the technological solution adopted for each physical and information movement required.
Benefits of a container terminal
The great benefits that container terminals can bring us include points of vital importance for achieving an infallible supply chain, such as:
- Standardisation of the unit load.
- Standardisation in port handling
- The high level of interchanges required
- The impact of technology on terminal profitability
Railsider, Atlantic and Mediterranean
Having facilities that meet the demand for work is of vital importance for a logistics operator operating both in Spain and abroad. At Railsider, we have more than 150,000 m2 of covered warehouses to meet all our goods storage needs.
Our railway hub in Spain has a fleet of made-to-measure wagons to meet all the needs of our customers. Adapting to the needs of the fast-moving consumer goods market, new intermodal transport facilities have been opened to add value to the diversification of freight traffic.