The AWT group, a member of PKP CARGO, is making a flexible response to the end of coal mining in Paskov by significantly increasing the number of shipments it makes in the automotive and chemical segments. The company is expanding its portfolio of services and striving for a position as a leading provider of rail freight in the shipment of automobiles in Europe.
“AWT is focused on combined transport and shipping products from the automotive and chemical industry with ever greater attention. Only in automotive shipments are we recording a nearly threefold annual increase in the volume of shipments. We have ambitious goals and are taking advantage of synergies with PKP CARGO to become a leading carrier of cars in Europe,” says Arkadiusz Olewnik, CEO of the AWT Group.
The strategy of AWT is to gradually lower its dependence on shipping coal and other solid fuels and to look for new customers for chemical, automotive, agricultural and intermodal shipments. “We have many years of experience with combined transport, see our regular links to ports on the Adriatic and North Sea,” says Viktor Bystrian, CCO of the AWT Group.
Already for more than a year now, AWT has been shipping cars by rail from Trnava, and Kolín, as well as a variety of other transit shipments, and not only over the Czech Republic. Newly completed orders include shipping cars from Tychy to Gyor, which the AWT group carried out in cooperation with its parent company PKP CARGO. Only one locomotive was used for the shipment, hauling the freight across three European countries and providing the customer with the maximum quality of service. Also used were the guarded depot sidings at the Paskov Terminal, which serve for safely idling trains. This makes it possible for the customer to better optimize their outbuildings for doing loading and unloading on time.
Terminal Paskov is one of the most important open intermodal terminals in the Czech Republic. Its location in the heart of Europe allows it to make easy and quick connections to important European ports and terminals such as Hamburg, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Koper, Trieste or the Czech terminals in Mělník and Lovosice, thus giving AWT a big competitive advantage. In addition, the terminal is located in close proximity to highways and has a rail connection to the national rail network, thus providing an important transshipment hub for the automotive industry. “With car and intermodal shipments, we can fully exploit the potential of our independent terminal in Paskov, which we are planning to modernize and double in capacity by the end of 2020. Our vision is for Terminal Paskov to become the main logistics center of the southern part of the Baltic-Adriatic-North Sea logistics triangle,” says Viktor Bystrian.
This experience with the above shipment of cars highlights the offer of using the extensive sidings of Paskov even after the closure of the Paskov mine, not only for intermodal transport, but also for idling loaded trains in an area guarded twenty-four hours a day. A typical railway station does not offer this service and idling a fully laden train represents a big risk to the customer. In addition, customers can plan the final arrival of trains for loading and unloading their shipments according to their needs.
“For many years we have observed a significant decrease in the importance of shipping solid fuels. Experts agree that intermodal transport and the shipment of products from industrial sectors like the automotive and chemical industries will soon become a key part a rail freight transport in Europe. At this point we can say that the AWT group is fully prepared for these changes,” says Viktor Bystrian.
