Building a safe
and resilient society
44,193 truck trips were avoided in 2018.
Objectives
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- Sustainable shift to multimodal transport
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- Why this is important
- Most important achievements
- Contribution to SDG's
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Why this is important:
- Preventing congestion on the already saturated Antwerp roads
- Improving air quality
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Most important achievements :
Modal split 2018:
35,3% barge / 5,2% train / 59,5% truck
With rising volumes, we are committed to:- Increasing the proportion of rail transport (in comparison to trucks)
- Handling barges as efficiently as possible via partnerships
- Moving trucks to night and off-peak hours (smooth out peaks)
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- Our role in society
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- Why this is important
- Most important achievements
- Contribution to SDG's
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Why this is important:
- Taking on responsibilities within society
- Build a warm society
- Create a better living environment
- Support local community
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Most important achievements :
- Partnerships for a more sustainable society
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Sustainable shift to multimodal transport
The containers arriving at Antwerp Gateway travel by train, truck, or barge on their downstream and upstream journeys. Today, most containers are dropped off or collected by truck. However, this needs to change. DP World Antwerp wants to be a sustainable partner in the logistics chain and is therefore firmly committed to multimodal transport. We do not simply want to reduce the number of truck journeys; we also want to achieve a better distribution of truck visits.
The container terminals are almost stretched to maximum capacity, so all solutions are welcome. Cooperating to remove obstacles within the chain means that the terminal is no longer just a link—it becomes a partner with strong influence.
Dominique Vercauteren,Consultant Intermodality & Hinterland - Port of Antwerp
DP World does not have a steering role within the logistics chain, but by entering into partnerships, it can try to set things in motion—e.g. by focusing on rail connections, inland navigation and night-time opening.
Thierry Vanelslander,Senior Lecturer, Department of Transport and Regional Economics, University of Antwerp
Modal split
2018
35,3%
5,2%
59,5%
2017
36%
4,6%
59,3%
Consolidation of inland shipping
Barges often visit different terminals with only a small number of containers. If a barge only needs to load or unload a few containers at Antwerp Gateway, a crane and a team of dock workers needs to be available to perform the work. For only a limited number of containers, this is not cost-efficient. Previously, this meant that barges needed to wait a long time to be handled. Thanks to closer cooperation between the different container terminals within the Port of Antwerp, volumes are now bundled. This increases the call size (the number of containers to be handled per barge) and makes it profitable to load and unload the barges.
Dedicated barge terminal
Antwerp Gateway has a quay length of 1.66 km available for loading and unloading vessels. There are 11 quay cranes available for handling large ocean-going vessels. However, it is not always cost-efficient or practical to load and unload both barges and vessels at the same time using these cranes. To cope with the rising volumes for inland shipping, Antwerp Gateway started constructing a barge quay at the head of the terminal in 2018. The construction of the quay is now in its final stages, and from mid-2019, inland vessels will have guaranteed berths at Antwerp Gateway.
Better utilisation of rail capacity
By entering into partnerships with rail operators and making optimal use of the rail capacity of Antwerp Gateway, we can significantly reduce the number of trucks on the road.
We saved 45,355 truck journeys in 2017, and 44,193 in 2018. And this is just the beginning.
DP World Antwerp currently offers its customers 152 round trips to some 18 destinations. In the future, we will remain on the lookout for opportunities to further expand our rail connections.
The expansion plan to increase the capacity of Antwerp Gateway includes the purchase of a second rail crane. As far as possible, we want to allow our customers to choose a sustainable solution for long journeys to the hinterland.
How much CO₂ can you save with rail transport?
For the Basel–Antwerp journey*
* Approximately. Because there is no electrified rail at the Port of Antwerp, a small part of the journey is not included in the calculation.
Optimisation of truck transport
Not all truck journeys can be avoided. For short distances—e.g. to the Netherlands, Northern France, and the Ruhr region—road transport is still fastest. In addition, a large proportion of the transport in the port area is internal transport.
The containers that arrive at a terminal should, in many cases, be transferred to one of the warehouses within the port so that the goods can be subsequently distributed or sent between different terminals for transshipment. There are a number of measures in place to optimise these unavoidable journeys.
Night-time opening
Because of the congestion on Belgium’s roads, a large number of truck drivers spend hours stuck in queues. In 2017, the terminals around the Deurganck dock made a commitment to open the terminals for transport companies at night.
A total of 87,154 TEU was collected during the night shift in 2018. This represents a saving of around 54,471 truck visits during the day. At present, 12% of all containers making a subsequent journey by truck are transported during the night.
What's next?
Truckerapp
DP World Antwerp is developing an app for truck drivers who visit the Antwerp Gateway terminal. This app will completely digitalise visits to the terminal. For instance, truck drivers will be able to manage all administrative and organisational aspects easily and simply via the app, share information about how busy the terminal is, communicate any problems and delays, and see the route to the terminal mapped out with GPS. In principle, the driver should not even need to leave the cab.
NxtPort
Via the data sharing platform NxtPort, data within the logistics sector can be distributed among the various users. DP World Antwerp is a great advocate of information sharing. Terminal operators, for example, can get more insight into how containers are collected (by truck, barge, or train) in order to make their operational processes more efficient. Logistics companies can find out when containers are ready to be collected (after unloading, customs formalities, selection for scanning if applicable etc.). Applications for increasing the safety of container traffic are also possible.
Blockchain in logistics
Blockchain in logistics is a project run by VIL (the innovation platform of the logistics sector), in which DP World is an active participant. The aim is to make data traffic in the logistics chain safer, more reliable, and more efficient through digitalisation. During the pilot project, two different applications were built: a track and trace system for containers and digitalisation of the CMR and CIM consignment notes for combined road/rail transport.
Our role
in society
DP World takes its role within society very seriously. For this reason, we aim to establish partnerships with customers, suppliers, employees, residents, and neighbouring companies within the local community.
We support various projects in the pillars Society, Environment, Employees, and Safety by providing financial or logistical assistance.
It is important that companies collaborate in collecting old mobile phones, PCs and laptops and help plant trees. Re-usage and thorough recycling towards secondary raw materials, assure that we don’t need to exploit primary raw materials anymore. Initiatives, such as set up by DP World, mean that we stop the degradation of our eco-system and that we are a step closer to achieving CO₂-neutrality.
Mark Adriaenssens, CEO Out of UseIn 2019, we further expand our charity activities by entering into more targeted projects and supporting projects that are close to our employees’ hearts.
A large proportion of the 2019 charity budget is dedicated to sponsoring the Special Olympics, which takes place in the Waasland in 2019.
There are three important reasons for me to carpool with colleagues: you save on fuel and costs, it’s fun and it’s better for the environment. Our company is remote and not reachable by public transport. By carpooling we can minimize our ecologic footprint.
Jurgen Verberckmoes,Customer Relations Coordinator - DP World Antwerp
We supported the following projects in 2018:
Terminaloperators Go Green
Together with 4 terminal operators - Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), PSA International and APM Terminals - DP World launched the 'Go Green' campaign in 2015. Within this initiative, terminals around the world organize activities around waste reduction, recycling, the environment and society.
During the Go Green week of 2018, the employees of DP World Antwerp collected old smartphones for Out of Use to recycle raw materials. The campaign also yielded 25 trees for Natuurpunt.
In the context of sustainable mobility, 35 employees participated in Car Free Day and we joined the online carpool platform Taxistop. In total, 96 employees are testing electric bicycles in the run-up to the bicycle lease plan that was developed in 2019.