Intermodal transport

PCC Intermodal S.A.

In essence, intermodal transport, where the longest section is carried out by rail, involves handling the initial and final elements of the supply chain route using road transport. For this reason, up to 150 km from all serviced land terminals, cargo is transported by car to the customer’s door. Based on the attractive location of the intermodal terminals and their correlation with train routes on regular lines, the intermodal operator is able to optimise transport, reducing time and costs of logistics services. The company’s proximity to motorways, expressways or national roads means that it is able to deliver goods quickly and efficiently to most major centres and smaller towns and cities close to major national and international transport routes.

PCC Intermodal SA offers a comprehensive approach to intermodal forwarding, which is currently the most dynamically developing branch of the TSL sector. What is intermodal transport? According to the definition, it is a way of organizing a logistic service, using different branches and means of transport to transport the cargo. A very important feature of intermodal transport is the use of the same load unit along the entire transport route. The most frequently chosen ones are containers, semi-trailers, or swap bodies. The organisation of intermodal transport in practice comes down to combining road transport with rail, inland waterway, or sea freight.

Where does the growing demand for transport using different branches and means of transport come from? This is primarily due to the advantage that intermodal transport has over conventional methods of delivery. The most important advantages of this type of transport include, among others:

• optimisation of the logistics process
• confidence, regularity, reliability
• cargo safety
• the possibility of carrying out one-off transport of larger quantities of goods

Talking about the advantages of intermodal forwarding, one cannot overlook the benefits of an overall improvement in quality and availability of transport services. They can be implemented in a “door to door” system, thanks to the fact that the final stage of the service is always realized by means of car transport. Due to the lack of frequent reloading of goods, the risk of damage during logistics operations also decreases significantly.

PCC Intermodal SA offers its customers a comprehensive approach to the organization of the logistics process and transport organization. Using its own and partner terminals, located in strategic regions of Central and Western Europe, as well as regular rail connections, the company is able to deliver door-to-door cargo to its customers, thus leading to lower costs and optimization of the supply chain.

As a nationwide leader in the TSL industry with international experience, PCC Intermodal SA organizes intermodal transport using regular rail connections between seaports in Poland and abroad, and land reloading terminals located in strategic regions of Poland and Europe. Currently, the company provides daily service in relations:

• Rotterdam – 8 x a week
• Antwerp – 4 x a week,
• Hamburg – 6 x a week, average transit time from central Poland: 12 hours
• Duisburg – 4 x a week,
• Brest – 2-3 times a week,
• Gdańsk/Gdynia – 22 times a week in total.

• For years, PCC Intermodal SA has been setting the standards for its competitors, carrying out intermodal transport on a national and international scale. The highest quality of service is ensured by a properly planned and properly used network of connections between land terminals and the most important European seaports. In the recent years, the operator has also become a leader in intra-European traffic. Currently, the following terminals operate within the PCC Intermodal network:
  • PCC Frankfurt – enabling efficient transport service in the area of Berlin and Brandenburg and enabling communication between the most important Polish regions and the port of Hamburg,
  • PCC Kutno – the largest intermodal terminal in central Poland, with a reloading capacity of over 250 000 TEU per year, is used to serve around the region of Warsaw, Łódź, and is a consolidation hub for all transports in relation to the East
  • PCC Gliwice – modern reloading terminal, located in the Silesian Logistics Centre, with reloading capacity of about 150 000 TEU per year, enabling efficient handling of supply chains from/to Upper Silesia
  • PCC Brzeg Dolny – located 55 km from Wrocław, a modern transshipment facility, connected by daily connections to/from the ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia, enabling efficient intermodal logistics service of Lower Silesia
  • PCC Kolbuszowa Transhipment Depot – adapted to handle intermodal transport in the region of south-eastern Poland. The economic centres in the Podkarpacie region, which are located up to 150 km away from each other, include such centres: Rzeszów, Nowy Sącz, Tarnów and Stalowa Wola