On time for Liebherr – despite bureaucracy
a. hartrodt flexibly manages heavy haulage on German roads.
German thoroughness has its pitfalls. That's part of the daily business of the project logistics experts at a. hartrodt Germany, but the customer is always satisfied: "We never let ourselves be stopped and always find solutions, even under challenging conditions," says Gerd Illing, Regional General Manager Projects & Logistics Services at a. hartrodt in Hamburg. His example is a Liebherr gear shaping machine that was transported from the Allgäu region in Bavaria to China. Although something unforeseen intervened, the goods arrived at the port of Hamburg on time for shipment.
Heavy transport with vessel bridge
The automotive industry needs gear shaping machines to produce splines for drive shafts or in gearboxes. The Liebherr machine consisted of a 29-ton seagoing box measuring 7.70 by 2.80 by 4.40 meters as well as various equally oversized boxes with component parts. The heavy transport covered approximately 760 kilometers from Kempten to the port of Hamburg. "The use of a vessel bridge was unavoidable due to the height," says Illing.
Approval procedure for alternative route by emergency appeal
The project logistics specialists at a. hartrodt had to submit the route to five federal states. "When all the permits were in place, the authorities determined that a bridge on the route would not withstand the loads," Illing reports. The team quickly found the only alternative route "that met the official requirements and ensured that the goods would arrive at the port on time." The new approval procedure was completed in one and a half weeks by means of an emergency appeal. In Hamburg, a. hartrodt also managed the ship loading to Xingang/Tianjin on a breakbulk basis.
For large-volume transports, a preliminary notice of up to five weeks must be taken into account for the approval procedures. "We have to plan for this with the customer in good time," explains Illing. Thanks to the flexibility of the project department, a. hartrodt was able to secure further follow-up orders from Liebherr.