PD Ports has announced a £1 million ($1.3 million) investment in five specialist bulk tipper trucks to strengthen services for customers importing grain and powder products at Teesport.
The STAS Agrostar bulk tipper trailers arrived last summer alongside five Volvo trucks.
An additional 10 drivers have also been employed to operate the trailers, with existing drivers in the transport team also undergoing extra training.
The STAS trailers have advanced safety features, including a pneumatic automatic tailgate which can be operated from inside the driver’s cab for safety.
Each trailer has a heavy-duty, wear-resistant floor, fitted with underbody vibrators to help prevent the product from becoming stuck in the trailer and a PM1155 weighing system, operable by a remote control that can weigh the load to within 10 kilogrammes.
The new fleet of bulks tipper trucks is the latest in a series of investments in Tees Dock’s bulks quay, including £9 million ($11.77 million) on two 140-tonne rail-mounted Liebherr electric-hydraulic mobile harbour cranes and self-propelled hoppers and additional load shovels, all of which have seen vessel discharge times improve along with wider efficiencies for customers.
In support of the new fleet, PD Ports has also achieved TASCC Accreditation, the AIC Trade Assurance Scheme for Combinable Crops; additionally, all drivers have also had product and TASCC training.
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Chris Poole, PD Ports Transport Manager (bulks), said: “Bulk products are a huge part of our business at Tees Dock but until now we haven’t had an inhouse transport service for free-flowing powder or grain.
“We’ve worked hard to build a strong relationship between our team in transport and the team in bulks so that we can offer customers the option of a service that sees us handle their product from quay to end destination, making it more efficient and cost-effective.
“By achieving TASCC accreditation and training all drivers in the details of each product, we can be sure to provide the best service and maintain the highest standards.”
Late last year, PD Ports worked with RAWview to implement a new drone stock counting system, the inventAIRy XL, at its Felixstowe warehouse.
