Get extreme flexibility and shorter turnaround

Tried and tested loading systems that make supply chains run smoother

When you move metal, you need flexible systems with an immense capacity for extreme weight and odd-sized cargo.

At DFDS, we use mobile loading platforms like cassettes and roll trailers made to handle very heavy cargo. DFDS was one of the first ferry operators to develop and use these open types of loading platforms, starting in the 1960s.

Preloading onto mobile platforms means you can move multiple coils at once, without the ship being anywhere near the port. This massively speeds up the loading and dispatching procedures: you don’t need to charter vessels, but can move your metal cargo in one, steady flow. This in turn limits the need for warehouse space and ultimately makes it easier to transport odd-sized metal when and in the amount that suits your supply chain, rather than being limited by the old manual one-coil-on, one-coil-off loading system.

Ideal for forest and metal customers

One of the benefits of this type of loading/storage system is the payload capacity – one cassette bed can fit 2,5-3 road trailers of cargo. Not only does this save space, it also reduces the time needed to move cargo on and off a vessel.

Our loading platforms are ideal if you need to load a lot of weight quickly. And because cassettes and roll trailers also allow taller and broader cargo than traditional trailers do, it is easy to store and move bulky and heavy forest and metal products.

Simplified loading reduces time and need for space

At DFDS, we offer storage at a terminal warehouse before and after a load of metal is shipped. Before these cassettes and roll trailer systems were in use, every steel coil, reel, or palletised pulp and timber package had to be individually lifted. That meant that the lifting and loading could only take place when the vessel was in the port. This forced the vessel to be in the harbour for a longer time and meant that you could not plan in advance: in the end, you had to drag one coil on board at a time anyway.

Let us do the heavy lifting

Our mobile platforms ease the pressure at the terminal and help streamline larger supply chain processes. In short, you can load heavier cargo and reduce the transport cost on the sea leg of the transport chain, resulting in less resources needed to get your metal goods from A to B.