Mercedes-Benz relies on Trailer Romania Xpress

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Before a car hits the road for the first time, its different components have already travelled many kilometres – quite a few of them by rail. That's because cars aren't manufactured only in one place. Parts often pass through several plants before they finally end up in a finished vehicle. To help make this supply chain as sustainable as possible, Mercedes-Benz relies on services provided by DB Cargo Logistics, which include transporting transmission parts and finished transmissions.

Perfectly organised strategy with different shuttles

This transport chain is based on the Trailer Romania Xpress (TRX), a fast and effective shuttle train that runs five times a week on a fixed timetable between Stuttgart and Oradea, Romania. It's ideal for transporting intermodal loading units: containers, swap bodies and craneable megatrailers. The TRX serves the supply chain in both directions. Since 2022, transmission parts have been transported by shuttle from Hamburg to Stuttgart, where they are transferred to the TRX and taken to Oradea. Then the consignments are transported to Sebeș by lorry for the next steps in the manufacturing process. Since 2023, DB Cargo Logistics has also been handling the return trip for the finished transmissions, which are brought to Oradea by lorry and then by TRX to Stuttgart. Another shuttle takes over in Stuttgart and brings the freight wagons to Bremen, where the customer takes final delivery.

Shuttle services are flexible and fast.

Both the shuttle service from Stuttgart to Hamburg and Bremen and the TRX are open, high-frequency products that are also available for other customers and products and not only for shipping transmissions. For example, Stuttgart-based Mercedes-Benz also uses the shuttle train between Stuttgart and Bremen for electric vehicle batteries. "By integrating different wagon types into our network, we can provide highly flexible and climate-friendly transport for vehicle parts used in a wide range of car models," says Martin Fildebrandt, key account manager at DB Cargo Logistics.

Logistics chain with many benefits

But what makes this combination of different shuttles especially valuable? All three shuttles run five times a week in both directions, ensuring a reliable and high-frequency network designed to mesh with the automotive industry's highly synchronised production processes. This symbiotic partnership is also marked by unrivalled speed. The parts get from northern Germany to Sebeș or vice versa in just three days – an extremely competitive service compared to pure lorry transport.

Craneable megatrailers are ideal for intermodal transport.

All services from a single provider

DB Cargo Logistics is the lead logistics provider for Mercedes-Benz, supplying it with a complete service package. "That means we organise and manage all the services in the logistics chain from a single source," says Torben Petras, junior account manager at DB Cargo Logistics. "Our customer gets all the services required for smooth transport across multiple national borders with various means of transport: planning, first and last mile, transhipment and main legs, tracking and tracing, and transport quality monitoring."