Project cargo is a sector of the TSL market involved in planning and executing non-standard transport services: the transport of oversized and heavy loads, as well as the dismantling, relocation, and reassembly of entire production lines. DSV Air&Sea, the air and sea division of the DSV Group in Poland, recently established a separate project forwarding department: DSV Projects, based in Gdynia.
– The prospects for this sector in Poland are very promising – explains Arkadiusz Mirek, Managing Director of DSV Air&Sea. – In Western Europe, the DSV group is one of its leaders.
Executing these types of services requires very diverse knowledge.
– We have gathered experience in sea and road freight forwarding, we charter ships and floating cranes, and we organize river transport – lists Grzegorz Samoć, head of the DSV Projects department. – Such interdisciplinarity allows us to find non-standard, best-fit solutions for the client.
Non-standard projects involve detailed, often multi-month planning. Sometimes, the forwarder is consulted as early as the production stage to suggest the optimal way to divide the largest components or the optimal placement of support, lifting, and lashing points.
– We must consider every detail. Transporting furnace components by river from Opole to Hamburg may seem relatively simple. Meanwhile, it requires, for example, selecting the ballast of the barges in such a way that, on one hand, they can fit under bridges with a very high load, and on the other, they do not run aground in low water levels. Sand must be purchased, and special bulkheads must be installed in the barges so that the ballast cannot shift. The oversized cargo must be delivered to a small river port using adapted road platforms and loaded onto the barges using specially brought-in mobile cranes – explains Grzegorz Samoć.
DSV Projects uses various means of transport and carriers.
– We must have the most complete understanding of the market possible – available equipment, rates, and quality of services. Clients, as everywhere, pay the most attention to costs, and it is precisely the knowledge of non-obvious solutions that often allows us to offer a competitive price.
The operator also cooperates with companies specializing in non-standard transshipments or external surveying companies, which additionally guarantee the safety of the cargo. DSV assists with key operations and, above all, ties the project together, coordinating the activities of subcontractors.
The project forwarding sector is a good indicator of the state of the entire economy.
– Road general cargo shows the current level of trade exchange. Sea transport, fulfilling orders several months in advance, gives a slightly longer perspective. And project cargo is an important element of the flow of investment goods, so it allows us to assess the long-term economic condition – explains Arkadiusz Mirek.
So, what can be predicted from the industry today?
– DSV Projects is developing very well – replies the head of DSV Air&Sea.