GEFCO has set up a road-rail service to transport car parts for customer and automotive giant Toyota. The service will run between Spain and northern France with two daily roundtrips. This is a modal shift move for the two partners that used only road transport on the specific route.

GEFCO and Toyota have been working together for 20 years to supply factories with parts in France, the United Kingdom and other European countries. Toyota is undoubtedly not new to rail freight transport. Apart from mainland Europe, the company has been utilising freight trains to transport its products also in the UK.

In fact, the partnership with DB Cargo UK that allowed the automotive company to use rail freight in the UK was implemented just last February. However, in this case, Toyota does not transport just car parts but finished cars that get transported to Valenciennes in Northern France and get distributed further from there.

Carbon footprint a priority

As mentioned, GEFCO and Toyota have been acquainted for 20 years. The new road-rail service between Spain and France could be significant for transporting car parts by rail to the UK, which then return to the mainland as cars also by rail. This means that the carbon footprint of this supply route becomes gradually greener.

This is, after all, the point of the service, according to Yvon Pasquiou, Sales and Marketing Director for GEFCO France. “One of our priorities is finding solutions to help our supply chain partners reduce their carbon footprint. We’re delighted to rise to the challenge of helping Toyota in Europe adopt more sustainable logistics practices and strengthen our partnership in the process”, he commented.

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