German recyclers see positives in freight rail strategy

An executive from Germany-based freight rail firm DB Cargo has announced a change of strategy that is being viewed positively by the Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung e.V. (BVSE), an association representing recyclers in that nation.

According to a BVSE website posting, DB Cargo CEO Sigrid Nikutta “wants to go on a growth course [and] is planning new hires.” BVSE says this message is welcome since “around one-third of scrap trade volumes [in Germany] are transported to customers by rail. The scrap industry is therefore urgently dependent on efficient rail freight transport.”

BVSE characterizes the current relationship between DB Cargo and the recycling industry as troubled. “We have to transport large tonnages quickly and safely, and available freight wagons and functioning sidings are an important prerequisite for this,” comments BVSE General Manager Eric Roebuck. “Both elements are lacking, and this deficiency has been managed poorly by DB Cargo for years.”

Nikutta has announced DB Cargo intends to grow “in the single wagon business, which is particularly dependent on medium-sized companies that do not have a large volume to be able to load block trains,” says BVSE.

BVSE says Nikutta has indicated DB Cargo “wants to compensate for missing rail connections by offering DB Cargo truck pick-ups, so that the freight quantities can then be brought together at marshalling yards and brought on to the rails.”

Adds the association, “This change of strategy certainly caused surprises in the recycling industry, because DB Cargo has not [historically] made it easy for medium-sized companies.”

Remarks Birgit Guschall-Jaik of the BVSE, “If structures and customer communication are now to be improved, this is an important step.”

She adds that “capacity optimization will not be enough,” and says investments in infrastructure and new freight cars also will be necessary. Guschall-Jaik also says if the partially government-owned DB Cargo “crowds out” competition at the expense of private rail companies, it will not ultimately be helpful. “We need DB Cargo and the private rail companies,” she states.