B ULK D ISTRIBUTOR
Tank Containers
November/December 2017
40 years in Cologne Sneak preview
B U
ertschi Transport GmbH Cologne
celebrated its 40th anniversary in October
with a party.
The organisation – which is part of Bertschi
Group - plays an important role in the intermodal
transport chain on the north-south Europe axis
and can look back with satisfaction since its
founding.
In 1977 the subsidiary of the Swiss logistics
service provider was founded, then still under the
name of Bertschi Transport GmbH Düsseldorf. This
marked a first step in the internationalisation of
the growing transport company from its base in
Dürrenäsch, Switzerland. The company opened an
operating facility in the recently built intermodal
terminal ‘Köln-Eiffeltor’ and procured German
trucks for pre- and on-carriage to the terminal.
The branch grew steadily, carrying out feeder
traffic for combined transport between road and
rail. Today, 40 years later, more than 150
employees and 70 trucks execute 25,000 transport
orders each year.
A terminal for handling and storage of
containers, a tank cleaning station as well as a
truck repair facility are housed on the operating
site. Particular value is attached to the training and
development of employees. In addition to the
current 14 apprentices in Cologne and Duisburg,
Bertschi this year began training drivers.
Besides the employees and their families, former
workers were invited to the celebration activities.
Particular focus was placed on the younger
generation, as the future of the company is closely
linked with their enthusiasm for the logistics
sector.
In the meantime the Bertschi Group has
developed into a global logistics player with over
60 subsidiaries in 38 countries. But the Cologne
branch occupies a special place in the history of
the company.
7
K logistics firm Suttons was allowed a sneak preview of the new Mersey Gateway Bridge,
in North-West England.
The Widnes based company took the opportunity to take one of its new Euro-6C 6x2 Volvo tractor
units for a drive across the bridge, part of The Mersey Gateway Project which covers more than 9km of
road improvements across Halton.
Three generations of Suttons were represented with a Morris Flatbed which dates back to the 1920s
and a vehicle with Union Flag Livery to honour the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 joining the new
Volvo on its special trip.
Suttons will be one of the largest users of the Mersey Gateway and John Sutton, CEO Suttons Group
said: “More than 55 years ago, Suttons vehicles were among the first to cross the existing Silver Jubilee
Bridge. Now our trucks are once again leading the way, proudly crossing the new Mersey Gateway with
the latest vehicle which forms part of a £17 milion investment to improve and grow the fleet.
“With our head office and main depot in Widnes we are expecting to make around 30,000 crossings
every year. The opening of the new bridge will hopefully remove the congestion this region has suffered
from over the last few years.”
L-r: Michael Cundy, Suttons Tankers MD; John Sutton, CEO, Suttons Group; and Robert Sutton, group IT director
Hoover Ferguson opens
new UK site
H
Bertshi’s Cologne branch grew steadily, carrying out feeder traffic for combined transport. Today, 40 years later, more than 150 employees and 70
trucks execute 25,000 transport orders each year.
Tankwell expands
ƉƌŽĚƵĐƟŽŶ
H
aving sold more than 200 of its composite tanks Tankwell has moved to larger premises in
the Netherlands to extend production capacity.
Now after a successful appearance at last year’s Intermodal Europe exhibition the company is returning
to this year’s show, which takes place in Amsterdam on 28-30 November.
“We work hard on the brand awareness of Tankwell as the supplier of tank containers made of
composite,” the firm said. “We endeavour to get our audience acquainted with the tank by seeing it
‘live’ and enable them to inspect the quality and details. This exhibition is a perfect tool to reach our
target group again. The tank will be located at the main entrance of the RAI convention centre. Our
people will be at the show during the course of the exhibi tion and can be reached for a meeting by
phoning our main telephone number +31 181 233588.”
Tankwell tanks are made of composite by a way of a high-tech winding production process, while the
frame is made of conventional steel. The valves are supplied by well-known suppliers, such as Fort Vale.
Due to the use of composite, the total tare weight is up to 40 percent lower than tanks with the same
specification made of stainless steel. This means that a 29,000 litre Tankwell swap body tank container
has a tare weight of 2,250 kg, resulting in a 5-10 percent reduction in freight costs.
Moreover composite offers 40 percent better thermal insulation properties. The need for additional
heating during transport or re-heating of the product prior to the customer delivery can be either
reduced significantly or even eradicated entirely.
oover Ferguson has opened a new purpose-built facility in Aberdeen, Scotland,
offering tank cleaning, chemical transloading and chemical storage services.
The facility, located at Cairnrobin Business Park, Marywell, south of Aberdeen city, comprises a
state-of-the-art tank cleaning facility and a tank farm offering high volume bulk chemical storage
with associated tank filling station, control room and laboratory. The site additionally houses a
648sqm workshop and office space.
“Despite the challenging offshore oil & gas environment that we have been operating in, we
recognised the demand in the UK market for high quality bulk chemical storage and transloading, as
well as tank cleaning services,” said Gary Wilson, managing director – UK, Hoover Ferguson.
“With our existing premises in Bridge of Don and Kintore, the location of this newest site perfectly
positions us to serve our customers better from the north, south and centre of Aberdeen. We’re
excited about what this expansion represents for Hoover Ferguson, but more importantly, we’re
looking forward to the positive impact it will have on our customers.”
The facility was officially opened on 1 September.
Crestline backs GEM
I
nstitutional asset manager Crestline
Investors, Inc is to fund growth at leasing
company Gem Containers Limited.
GEM will use the undisclosed amount to scale up
its leased tank container portfolio, providing high
quality equipment and services to logistics and
industrial customers.
The financing was provided through the Crestline
Opportunity Fund III strategy, a part of the asset
manager’s opportunistic investment group that
invests primarily in small to mid-size corporate and
asset-based opportunities. GEM is backed by
Rampart Leasing LP, an investment vehicle of
London-based multi-family office Rampart Capital
LLP and its RCOG Holdings joint venture.
“Crestline worked closely with the GEM team to
understand the capabilities of our platform, our
track record and our value proposition for
customers,” said GEM CEO Heidi Sommerville.
“Together we have formulated a flexible capital
solution to fit our growth plans. Crestline’s
investment enables us to accelerate our growth
and focus on delivering high quality assets and
services to our customers.”
Andrey Panna, managing director at Crestline
Europe, LLP, the European subsidiary of Crestline
Investors, added: “We are delighted to be
supporting GEM through this investment. We look
forward to the continued growth of the company,
and working with Heidi and her team to help
accelerate GEM’s expansion.”
Crestline was founded in 1997 and based in Fort
Worth, Texas, with approximately US$9 billion of
assets under management.
www.crestlineinvestors.com
www.gemcontainers.com