Delighted drivers and lower CO2 emissions
Innovative Inland shipping: leading the way in sustainable transport Solutions
The Inland Terminals Group believes that inland shipping can play a key role in sustainable transport, by shifting cargo from the road to water.
We visited their terminal at Alblasserdam in the Netherlands to interview Operational manager Vincent Goudriaan (photo). “I’ve been working here since 2017 so I’ve seen the terminal grow. We now have two ship-to-shore cranes, four Terberg shunter tractors and several reach stackers. We handle a range of cargo, from paper for recycling to rice in bulk. We transfer the containers to our own barges, the fleet includes electric and hydrogen vessels.
In October 2023 we started with three Terberg YT diesel tractors and earlier this year they were replaced by four YT203EVs. The drivers are delighted with them: comfortable, quiet, easy steering. It would be better if the heating operated for a while after the motor is switched off, but they wouldn’t want to drive anything different. The drivers are allocated to their own tractors, so they really look after them. The vehicles are maintained by Terberg.
Both our management and one of our key customers wanted to introduce electric vehicles, to support the energy transition. The tractors operate on our yard and also on the public road to collect containers from a nearby customer. The trailers carry 20 and 40 foot containers, including high cube ones, with loads up to 30 tonnes. One of the tractors has a passenger seat for training, and we have fitted them with dashcams.”
“We have a 120 kW charging station which can handle two tractors. The batteries have enough capacity for an eight-hour shift, though generally the drivers top them up during their lunch break.” - Vincent Goudriaan
