Rail freight transportation depends on effective crew transitions to maintain operational efficiency and cargo integrity. Yet, European logistics companies may face challenges stemming from inadequate crew updates, differing operational approaches, and uneven handling of technical glitches, all of which can disrupt the smooth movement of goods.
Crew Briefing Issues
The process of handing over responsibilities to a new crew involves a thorough briefing and transfer of operational information. This typically includes details about the freight train’s route, current cargo load, and any equipment issues experienced during the journey. The new crew also needs to be informed about weather conditions that might affect the route ahead and any adjustments that need to be made to the train’s speed or handling due to these conditions. Additionally, the new crew needs updates on recent regulatory inspections or if they should prepare for upcoming checks which might include assembling necessary documentation. This often covers transport manifests, train operation logs, crew shift records, and equipment maintenance histories.
Miscommunication or omission of these operational details can result in several issues for ground forwarders. They may encounter delays caused by trains detained for routing corrections, cargo arriving damaged as a result of improper handling, or shipments halted due to crews being unprepared for required regulatory inspections.
Varying Operational Practices
Differences in operational practices between crews can affect efficient cargo movement. For instance, one crew might perform intermediate cargo repositioning after partial unloading while another might skip these checks. As a result, cargo might become unevenly distributed and require rehandling or repositioning at the next terminal.
Additionally, one crew might regularly inspect for signs of cargo contamination such as leaks from goods that can affect surrounding cargo or unusual odors indicating spoiled perishables which can release fluids or gases and alter the condition of nearby items. However, the next crew may not carry out such checks if their operating procedures assign cargo monitoring to terminal staff or loading personnel. Thus, they may assume that cargo condition falls outside their scope of responsibility.
For forwarders, if cargo becomes unevenly distributed or contaminated due to such skipped checks, this can lead to delays at terminals where the goods must be rehandled, cleaned, or have freight packaging adjusted before they can proceed to their final destination.
Responses to Technical Issues
The way crews interpret potential signs of technical issues can affect decisions about when to continue or stop operations. For example, one crew trained under an operator that allows continued movement in cases of recurring non-critical fault codes may proceed based on prior experience with a known sensor error. The next crew may follow a different internal guideline that requires any fault code—regardless of previous behavior—to be treated as a potential failure and halt the train to request technical assistance. These differing judgments can lead to unnecessary delays or conversely, overlooked faults that result in service interruptions.
For European freight forwarders such unwarranted halts can lead to missed delivery windows while overlooked faults may cause extended delays and increase the risk of damage to goods during transit.