Lean and green in practice: 150 fewer trucks on the road

A supplier of coconut products and substrate, Copertiz imports coconut turf and chips from various locations in Asia. Up until now, the containers were shipped to the port of Antwerp, and from there, transported by truck to Copertiz’s production location in Bree. Once there, the raw coconut was unloaded using a container tilting trailer and the empty container was then brought by road to a warehouse at the port of Antwerp.
Copertiz and Gosselin Logistics have been working together on imports from Asia for years now. Gosselin recently won the Lean and Green award in recognition of its strong commitment to using multi-modal alternatives for transport to and from the port. For this particular case, Gosselin called on Multimodaal Vlaanderen for support.

By inland waterway to Genk

Logistics costs represent around 60% of the total cost price of the basic product, making any increase in the transport costs unacceptable. In order to keep the job cost-efficient, it was necessary to organize the last-mile trucking using a container tilting trailer for at least two containers per day.
Multimodaal Vlaanderen, Gosselin Logistics and the Port of Genk joined forces and worked out a realistic and feasible alternative for Copertiz. Starting in March, containers will be sent from South Asia to Antwerp, and then transported from there by inland navigation vessel to Genk. During the initial phase, around 150 containers (40-foot HC) will be sent this way each year. Expansion to other areas will mean an ultimate increase in this traffic to 500 to 600 containers per year.

Double advantage

By arranging ocean freight with one of the shipping companies the port of Genk has contracts with for the return of empty equipment, the empty container will no longer need to be returned by road or waterway to Antwerp after unloading.

A different loader-exporter will use the empty container that will be available at Genk at a later time. This offers a double advantage in terms of fewer vehicle kilometers driven on the roads in Flanders and will certainly be welcome; the Antwerp ring via the E313 is one of the most congestion-prone sections of road in this area.

About Gosselin Logistics

Gosselin Logistics is a leading provider of logistics services. With activities ranging from shipping, forwarding and warehouse storage to customs formalities including specialized services such as lashing and securing and the production of wooden crates, Gosselin Logistics can offer its customers a constant supply chain.

Gosselin Logistics is a division of the Gosselin Group that has its headquarters in Antwerp, Belgium. The company was founded in 1930 and employs 800 co-workers that generate more than 300 million euro in turnover.