If moving cargo by rail sounds very “back to the future” to you, then we’ve arrived. Transport by rail between China and Europe is becoming more commonplace, as it is a less expensive alternative to air freight, yet faster than moving cargo by sea. For over a month, Militzer and Münch have been using rail freight for groupage containers from Yiwu, China, to Duisburg, Germany, a distance of 11,000 kilometers.
Forty-foot containers are stowed at the Chinese port of Ningbo, just south of Shanghai, to be transported to Yiwu, which is approximately 200 kilometers inland. From there they are loaded on to rail cars to make the trip through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland to Duisburg, which takes 14 to 16 days. The goods are unloaded there and consolidated for their carriage to their final destinations.
Militzer and Münch use their own container equipment to be able to guarantee zero-defect containers. Teams in Düsseldorf and China coordinate the transport. They offer door-to-door delivery, and customs clearance for the weekly trip. This new service is in addition to full container loads via rail from China to Europe and vice-versa with 10 departures per week. Militzer and Münch offer transport by air and sea as well.