photo: Archive/DB Cargo replaces the closed highway service with freight trains. How does the company free the freeways and the environment from 750 trucks per year?
The Krombacher brewery is increasingly relying on the rail. In the future, it will shift up to 750 trucks per year to the environmentally friendly mode of transport, thus relieving the strain on highways and the environment.
A section of federal highway 45 has already been closed since December 2021. It has a considerable impact on the goods transport of many companies - especially in the vicinity of Hagen and Siegen. Many of these transports have to be rerouted over long distances and are therefore on the road for much longer.
As early as May 2021, DB Cargo and the Krombacher brewery started the first transports to Großbeeren with a major beverage logistics company from the Berlin region. Today, the cooperation is being significantly expanded to include additional beverage logisticians (including Getränke & Mehr as part of the Krombacher Group) and, with Bremen and Hamburg, further receiving regions.
Michael Kröhl, Head of Logistics Krombacher Brewery: "Due to the increasingly severe transport capacity bottlenecks, the situation in road freight transport is already tense, and this situation is further exacerbated by the closure of the A45 as a main arterial road. Together with DB Cargo and interested customers, a solution was developed via the terminal in Kreuztal, allowing our Krombacher products to be transported by rail. In the future, we are planning further joint projects with our customers and the railroads to further expand the delivery option for Krombacher products via rail."
Sebastian Schilling, Senior Vice President of European Sales and Corridor Development at DB Cargo: "With every truck that does not travel on the road, we relieve the burden on highways and the environment. Transporting goods by rail produces 80 to 100 per cent less CO2. The fact that we were able to find a solution to the consequences of the A45 closure for our customer Krombacher, at the same time, makes us particularly happy."
DB Cargo operates so-called shuttle services for Krombacher and its customers. The trains leave the brewery with full bottles and return with empties. From Kreuztal, the terminals of Großbeeren, for the greater Berlin area, as well as Hamburg and Bremen are served. DB Cargo organizes the entire transport chain from the collection of the full bottles to the delivery of the empties and provides all the equipment, including the necessary swap bodies.
An important local partner is the municipal district railroad Siegen-Wittgenstein (KSW), with which DB Cargo cooperates as part of the "Future Single Wagon Transport" network. It is a co-operator of the "Südwestfalen Container Terminal" in Kreuztal and handles the necessary shunting operations on site.