Austria-based Innofreight has joined forces with German leasing specialists VTG to develop the custom-made ‘Innowagon’ for transporting logs in Sweden. It marks a new era in the two firms’ 12-year partnership, and is a significant addition to VTG’s fleet of more than 1,000 wagon types.

VTG will receive 200 wagons over the next few months, 144 of which are being supplied to Hector Rail, to ensure it delivers on its 10-year agreement to transport round wood to timber firm SCA Skog’s mills and sawmills in northern Sweden.

More payload

With an exceptionally wide and tall system of stanchions, measuring approximately 3.6m x 3.5m, the Innowagon has been developed specifically for this market, and can carry around 25 per cent more payload than wagons used previously. The first was officially handed over at the Transport & Logistic event in Munich.

Jakob Öhrstrom, Managing Director of VTG Rail, said: “Every industry has its own specific logistical requirements. Our aim is to give every customer the perfect solution for their rail transportation needs. The InnoWaggon adds an attractive and flexible solution for bulk transportation to our portfolio. It will also help rail freight to compete with road haulage.”

‘New standards’

Lars Nolander, Logistics Manager for SCA Skog, believes that the InnoWagon defines ‘new standards’ in the transportation of round wood in Scandinavia: “The load has been increased by 25-30 per cent per block train and this allows us to lower our logistics costs in the long term. Innofreight’s robust post systems reduce the maintenance costs significantly in comparison with the ExTe-posts that have been employed so far.”

A modular system also means the InnoWagon is always flexible enough to be adapted to the requirements and specifications of other markets, and together VTG and Innofreight can produce and implement logistics concepts that are tailored to and optimised for specific customers. While VTG contributes its wagon expertise, Innofreight focuses on the containers and unloading technologies. 

Unloading technology

They already work together in several areas, including consulting on transport development solutions, equipment and unloading, along with wagon and container management, management of damaged wagons, provision of unloading technology and the handling and organisation of physical unloading operations. 

Isabella Legat, Regional Sales Manager at Innofreight, said: “This cooperation delivers an innovative solution for rail-based commodity transportation. It plugs a gap in the rail freight sector.”