by Johnny Johnson
Page 46
Page 47
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Drivers' accommodation includes two-berth cabins, the use of a sauna bath and a comfortable day lounge on the Tor Gothia.
From its 50,000sqm terminal at Immingham, Tor Line operates round trips four times a week to and from Gothenburg, six times a week to and from Rotterdam and once a week to and from Copenhagen, Halmstad and Halsingborg. Complementary to these services are the three round trips a week from the company's terminal at Felixstowe to Gothenburg.
The Felixstowe service is complementary to the Immingham route because it is possible for an operator to use either service on the outward or inward leg as is desired.
The shift away from lift traffic has perhaps been more noticeable over the past five years on the Scandinavian route. In 1971, for instance, 59 per cent of Tor Line carryings on this route was lift traffic, 31 per cent unaccompanied trailers and 10 per cent driver accompanied vehicles. In contrast, carryings last year were divided into 45 per cent lift traffic, 49 per cent unaccompanied and only 6 per cent accompanied.
On the European run, though the decline of lift traffic has been less marked, the carrying of unaccompanied trailers has increased dramatically to 74 per cent of the total.
This trend toward shipping unaccompanied trailers is unusual in that it is in direct contrast to the growth of driver accompanied traffic at other ports, particularly on the South Coast.
There has always been some apprehension on the part of operators that unaccompanied traffic might not be dealt with as promptly as it should if there is no driver with it to urge clearance. Obviously, the larger operator, with his own organisation sited in the port on each side of the water does not suffer from this and it could be that customers of Tor Line are operators with these facilities. Nevertheless, I asked Mr Leon Found, the company's assistant freight sales manager, what was the possibility of delay to unaccompanied traffic for the small operator. He told me that there was no reason why these trailers should be held up particularly if the documentation was readily available. Average clearance times for unaccompanied trailers varies from next day clearance at Immingham to a couple of hours at Gothenburg or Rotterdam if documentation is right.
In any case, Tor Line will act as the operator's agent if he so wishes and expedite the clearance of his trailers for him.
Stem loaded The company has a fleet of 11 modern ships operating its Scandinavian and European services. I watched Tor Gothia being loaded at Immingham.
The vessel is stern loaded so that vehicles are reversed on to the ship, accompanied vehicles loaded last are first off. I was told that Tor Line had used how and stern loading vessels when it started operating from Immingham, but conditions in the North Sea made the bow loading vessel hazardous.
However, there is an advantage to the stern loading of these vessels. Because the stern plate is lowered to the dock to serve as a loading bridge, there is capacity for 45 tons per axle which makes the acceptance of abnormal indivisible loads on special. vehicles that much easier.
On the vehicle deck, four lanes of trailers (or complete vehicles) are stowed with six vehicles in each lane. As well, there is a vehicle lift to the upper deck providing additional accommodation. This deck, though open above, has high sides which protect the vehicles stowed there from the weather.
It is in this position Tor Line carry vehicles carrying dangerous or hazardous cargo.
For operators exporting such cargo, Tor Line, in collaboration with other shipping companies has printed a form of application and certification for forwarding hazardous loads. By completing this and supplying the appropriate documents, operators can ease their export problems.
Journey times
Average journey times are 13 hours so that, as would be expected, Tor Line vessels have comfortable driver accommodation. This includes double' cabins, a day lounge and the use of the vessel's sauna bath. If the vehicle shipped is more than eight metres long, the shipping charge includes passage for the driver, but there is an additional charge of £15 for a second driver on the Scandinavia service_ On theRotterdam service, the freight charge includes free passage for two drivers.
To and from Scandinavia, £30.60 per linear metre is charged for loaded vehicles quay to quay while empty trailers are charged £18.25 per linear metre unless immediate shipment is required when the loaded rate applies. The vehicle must not exceed 2.5 meters (8ft
• 21/2in) to attract these rates. There is an annual deferred rebate scheme of between four and 10 per cent, according to the amount of freight charges paid during the year. However, there is a freight surcharge for the carriage of hazardous loads. which is outside the rebate scheme and amounts to £17.75 for a trailer or a complete vehicle.
For shipping to and from Rotterdam, charges for vehicles not exceeding 2.5 metres wide depends on weight and length. For vehicles up to 40,000kg and up to 9m long, the charge is £16.95 per linear metre; from 9 to 12m long, £15.45 per linear metre: from 12 to 14m long, £14.75 per linear metre; and 14m and over, £14.05.
These charges apply to semi-trailers, trailers, lorries and lorry combinations including drawbars.
For units over 2.5m wide, there is a surcharge of 10 per cent of the seafreight for every 0.30m or part of that measurement.
Naturally, the rates, like the Scandinavia rates, are subject
to the fluctuations in the value of the pound sterling and Tor Line publishes a currency surcharge table for this purpose.
Rebate scheme
However, on the Rotterdam service there is a monthly rebate scheme extending from 5 per cent on quay to quay seafreight up to £2,750 to 20 per cent on amounts of £41,501 and upward. The successful operation of Tor Line vessels on the routes from Immingham and Felixstowe encouraged the company to improve saiiings earlier this year. The fact that traffic has been buoyant during the period of recession of the past two years suggests that traffic for the services provided will continue to grow as an improvement in overall business becomes perceptible.
For this year, the predictions indicate previous record tonnage recorded will be exceeded and the company is well placed to provide additional capacity on the North Sea routes as the need arises.