Lafarge choose Freightliner Heavy Haul

LAFARGE Cement UK have appointed Freightliner Heavy Haul as their preferred rail transport suppliers for bulk cement shipments to destinations across the UK.

Under the terms of the contract, which came into effect at the end of July, Freightliner Heavy Haul will provide dedicated diesel locomotives to pull Lafarge Cement’s own wagons, as well as a dedicated planning and co-ordination service for managing the rail operations.

Freightliner Heavy Haul have been running part of Lafarge’s rail operations for the last two years on the route between Hope cement works and depots in Dewsbury and Manchester.

Under the new deal, the company will service all Lafarge Cement depot operations, operating six trains a day and moving over 1 million tonnes of cement a year. The expanded number of routes will include all rail cement shipments from Lafarge’s factories at Dunbar and Hope to depots in Aberdeen, Dewsbury, Inverness, Liskeard, Manchester and Uddingston.

In addition, two ‘new-to-rail’ services will also be operated as part of the agreement to a purpose-built terminal at Seaham, starting this month, and a planned new facility in Carlisle during 2003.

Mike Cowell, supply and distribution director for Lafarge Cement UK, said: ‘We are committed to using rail, with a progressive increase in our rail depot network. The agreement with Freightliner Heavy Haul puts in place the commitments we need to make sure we can make maximum use of our rail distribution network. At the same time we are helping to improve the environment by minimizing our road transport operations.

‘We are confident, as a result of our experience of using Freightliner Heavy Haul on the Dewsbury and Salford routes, that their customer-focused approach will satisfy our performance requirements.’