Containers are currently in short supply worldwide, and there is a lack of capacity on ships – a problem, especially during the Christmas peak season. Militzer & Münch Germany meets this challenge by using rail transport. Thus, for two customers, six complete block trains were put together to run between China and Duisburg.

Due to the imbalance in trade between China and Europe, a large number of containers are stranded at European ports and terminals. This often results in a shortage of containers for transports from Asia to Europe – especially during the important fall and Christmas business.

“It’s like in real life: if you plan early enough, it’s easier to make ends meet,” says Michael Spitzlei, Head of Business Segment Rail at M&M air sea cargo GmbH. ” For transportation by rail, individual containers or space are always offered. However, handling shipments by sea to and from Europe is challenging in many respects at the moment, and the booking situation is critical.” Industrial customers often get their space from shipping companies only at the current daily or market rates, instead of the originally agreed contract rates. That is why many shippers are currently switching to rail, like some of Militzer & Münch’s key accounts, for example.

For the customers, one of them a global wholesale chain, Militzer & Münch set six complete block trains on their way from China to Duisburg in August. The German Rail team worked closely together with their colleagues from Militzer & Münch China on these transports. Total transit time from terminal to terminal was 25 days – despite congestion at the borders, it was thus within the usual time frame. The trains were all fully Militzer & Münch trains, exclusively transporting 50 x 40’ high cube containers with goods for the Militzer & Münch customers. Thus, especially in times of crisis, rail proves to be a reliable alternative to sea transport.

Out-of-gauge: between May and October 2021, Militzer & Münch transported seven autoclaves to Uzbekistan for a manufacturer of construction and household materials. The weight – 83,000 kilograms each – and the dimensions of the autoclaves posed some challenges for the Militzer & Münch Uzbekistan team, but these were not the only hurdles they had to overcome.

An autoclave is a sealable high-pressure chamber that can take various forms. In industry, autoclaves are used for such purposes as curing building materials, vulcanizing tires or for sterilization. Autoclaves can also be found in the kitchen at home, as pressure cookers are also classified as autoclaves.

The dimensions of the seven autoclaves Militzer & Münch transported for the customer from Northern Germany to Chirchiq near Tashkent, however, hardly remind one of cooking pots. “With a length of 45 meters and a diameter of four meters, the autoclaves are so big that the factory where they are going to be used for manufacturing aerated concrete building blocks has to be built around them. No door would be big enough for them to be installed afterwards,” says Yulduz Babajanova, head of the projects department at Militzer & Münch Uzbekistan. “On-time delivery was therefore an essential factor in the time schedule for the construction of the Chirchiq factory.”

Multimodal – and via different routes

Militzer & Münch Uzbekistan delivered the autoclaves to their destination in three shipments. Since there are no standard solutions for transports of this scale, the project team worked with three subcontractors; different routes and various multimodal combinations were used. “Nikolaus Kohler, our Regional Managing Director for Central Asia, advised us on our own choice of subcontractors,” says Yulduz Babajanova. “A shipment with these dimensions entails various challenges. For example, after arrival in Uzbekistan, each of the three shipments had to be taken to the construction site with a convoy of escort vehicles to ensure maximum security. In addition, we were not flexible with transit times.”

Delays in St. Petersburg

The first transport was started in May 2021. Militzer & Münch transported two autoclaves from the point of origin in northern Germany, first by truck and then via inland waterway to Antwerp. There, they were loaded onto a freighter and shipped to St. Petersburg. In St. Petersburg, however, there were severe delays because the Russian Railroad was unable to meet transit times due to a rail platform overload. The cargo then continued by rail to Shymkent in Kazakhstan and from there by truck to the construction site in Chirchiq.

Due to the delays, the first transport took 135 days – the longest transit time of the three transports. To prevent this from happening with the second shipment, Militzer & Münch chose an alternative route. Up to St. Petersburg, the two autoclaves took the same route. From there, however, the cargo did not continue by rail, but was carried on the Volga-Don Canal across the Caspian Sea to Aktau in Kazakhstan. There, the cargo was transferred to trucks and covered the rest of the way by road – the entire transport took only 60 days.

Transport number three was even faster. It took only 55 days to transport the three autoclaves from northern Germany to Chirchiq. Here, too, the cargo was first taken to St. Petersburg, but then continued via the Volga-Don Canal to Tolyatti in Russia, and from there by road to the construction site.

A satisfied customer

“Despite the delay, we were able to handle the transport to our customer’s full satisfaction and deliver the autoclaves within the scheduled time,” says Khurshid Kasimdzhanov, Managing Director of Militzer & Münch Uzbekistan. “The customer had already cooperated with us on several projects, and we were able to convince him of our merits also this time. This success is primarily due to the good performance of our team in Uzbekistan, but also to the flexibility and resourcefulness of our subcontractors.”

More than 50 trucks with numerous components started on their route in Germany and Estonia in spring. Overland and by sea, they went to Novocheboksarsk, where a hydrogen plant was to be built from the finished parts. A challenging project – but not uncharted territory for the experienced Militzer & Münch team.

Hydrogen is regarded as the energy source of the future. It has many uses and is a key element in ensuring the successful energy shift. So far, hydrogen has been used primarily in the chemical industry, but is also gaining in importance as a fuel for vehicles. However, hydrogen is not a primary energy; like electricity, it has to be produced in special plants.

Such a plant for the production of hydrogen went on its way to Russia – via a total of 52 trucks, most of them special transports with permits and escort vehicles. Over a period of about two months, Militzer & Münch delivered the individual components from Germany and Estonia to Novocheboksarsk. Depending on the pick-up location, part of the cargo went from Hamburg by ferry across the Baltic Sea. The majority of the transports, however, was purely overland.

Good planning leads to the goal

There were no detours for the hydrogen factory to arrive in St. Petersburg for customs clearance, as the project was a door-to-door delivery: the individual parts were picked up from their respective manufacturers and delivered directly to the consignee in Russia. Moreover, to make customs clearance as uncomplicated as possible, the consignee requested classification. Thus, it was possible to declare several parts under the same customs tariff number, and to clear them through customs en bloc.

For a transport of this size, the key issues are good organization and coordination. No problem for the Militzer & Münch team at Filderstadt headed by Hardy Rosentreter. For the customer, a manufacturer of gas purification and gas generation plants, this was not the first order of this kind. Militzer & Münch had already successfully delivered similar plants to Poland and Turkey before.

“The hydrogen factory in Novocheboksarsk is an important contribution to the energy turnaround,” says Thomas Winter, Managing Director at M&M Militzer & Münch GmbH, M&M air sea cargo GmbH. “We are glad that we, as a logistics service provider, are involved in advancing projects in our core regions that support alternative energy sources.”

An entire roof on one pallet? No problem for a roof tile manufacturer in Poland. His products are also in demand in the USA. Militzer & Münch Poland guarantees that the innovative roof tiles arrive reliably.

In 2017, Poland exported goods for over 230 billion USD, an absolute high (source: Statista). Most goods are still going to the European neighboring countries, especially to Germany. But the supply of high-quality competitively viable products encourages many companies to export also to countries outside EU borders.

For example, a manufacturer of innovative products for roofs and facades. In comparison to the regular clay or concrete roof tiles, his modular metal roofing tiles are more durable, they weigh less, they are easier to install and also more storm-resistant.

All in all, a modern competitive product that finds buyers not only in Poland but also in far-off markets such as the USA.

Export consultancy right from the start

“In order to venture into exports to these countries, for many companies smooth logistics processes are among the prerequisites”, says Paweł Twardokes, Deputy COO Militzer & Münch Poland. “We advise our customers from step one, looking for the optimal logistic solution and implementing it.”

And there are a number of challenges that have to be mastered: customs clearance must run smoothly, and the driver shortage in the USA is not allowed to turn into a problem either – this is business as usual for Militzer and Münch Poland.

Road, sea, rail: pallets in 20-foot containers

Packed onto pallets, the innovative metal roofing tiles have been reliably and safely shipped since late 2017 to the USA via Norfolk in Virginia to their destination in Chicago. The shipments are exceptionally big: about 50 to 70 standard 20-foot containers per shipment. Militzer & Münch organizes the door-to-door transports via road and sea.

Delivery to the end destination in the US takes no more than 28 days from pick up. “Our customer is now thinking about exporting his goods to additional countries”, says Paweł Twardokes. “Canada, Australia and also, much nearer, UK are planned.”

Barely 900 kilometers separate the Turkish city of Bursa from the destination, the city of Ploieşti in Romania. Not too long a distance, one might think, but the transport route leads through a total of three countries, two capitals, and across the Bosporus. The load: a 75-ton metal press. A task that Militzer & Münch Turkey mastered flawlessly.

We don’t get to see them very often, but they have long been an integral part of the industry: mechanical and hydraulic presses. With the help of high pressure, they cut, punch, bend, rivet, and shape almost any material. Preston Makina, a good customer of Militzer & Münch based in Bursa, manufactures exactly such machines and relies on Militzer & Münch for the transport.

This time, a metal press measuring 8.60 x 2.35 x 3.20 meters and weighing a total of 75 tons had to be transported from Bursa in Turkey to Ploieşti in Romania. A proverbial mammoth task, thoroughly planned by Militzer & Münch Turkey in collaboration with customer Preston Makina. First, the heavy cargo had to be lifted onto a low-bed trailer with the help of a crane. After the freight had been properly secured and wrapped, the special transport was ready to start: From the northwest of Turkey, it first went along the Sea of Marmara, across the Bosporus and through Istanbul. The convoy then passed through Bulgaria before crossing the Romanian capital Bucharest and reaching its destination just under 100 kilometers further on: Ploieşti in Romania. “The order was handled to the customer’s full satisfaction, and the team did a really good job,” reports Kostas Sandalcidis, member of the Management Board.

Road transports are Militzer & Münch’s specialty. But the Militzer & Münch Bursa branch office also has a sound knowledge of sea transports. Within the Turkish Militzer & Münch country unit, the branch office is considered the country’s No. 1, an impressive achievement for the six-member local team, which is already looking forward to the next cooperation with Preston Makina.

Eleven trucks, ten of them oversized, on the road in two convoys, with special permits and escorts, three nights each, through five countries. A task mastered jointly by the Militzer & Münch teams in Romania and Germany. The concerted action served to transport a plant for industrial soda production –  anything but an everyday job.

Soda ash is an important ingredient in many products of everyday use. The largest consumer is the glass industry, which uses soda ash in the melting process. Soda ash is also used in the production of detergents and cleaning agents, of textiles, paper, food and many more products.

The Ciech Group, which operates eight factories in Poland, Germany and Romania, is the second largest soda ash producer in Europe. In late 2020, subsidiary Ciech Soda Germany commissioned the Militzer & Münch team in Berlin with a special transport: to move a so-called carbonation column from the Romanian Ciech plant in Ramnicu Valcea to its new place of use at the Staßfurt site in Germany.

Two convoys with special vehicles

“This was our first order for this customer; it was a recommendation from another industrial company,“ says Sven Sange, Sales/Transport Scheduling at M&M Berlin. He organized the transport of the 300-ton colossus together with Militzer & Münch Romania.

Daniel Din from the team in Romania inspected the plant on site, then prepared the loading scheme. Subsequently, he synchronized the entire process. Eleven trucks, ten of them oversized, were needed to transport the dismantled chemical plant from Romania via Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to eastern Germany. The door-to-door transport started in two convoys just before and after Christmas.

“The parts of the dismantled plant were loaded in three days,“ says Daniel Din. “Five trucks on the first day, three trucks on the second day, and three trucks again on day three, as the last six loads were more complicated and couldn’t be handled on one day.“

Special permits had to be obtained for the oversized vehicles. The trucks were only allowed to be on the road at night, and traveled in two convoys. Each convoy took three nights to cover the 1,600-kilometer distance. “This transport is a good example of the successful cooperation between Militzer & Münch Romania and Militzer & Münch Germany,” says Militzer & Münch Romania Managing Director Valentin Dragu. Sven Wolthusen, Branch Manager M&M Berlin, takes a similar view: “From the first call to Daniel Din to the delivery, everything went smoothly, and the customer was fully satisfied.“