Logistics disruptor Empty Trips, which has already made strides in the road haulage space with its innovative exchange platform, is now turning its eyes to the freight space.

A substantial percentage of all rail wagons in South Africa is empty when moving between destinations. In the SADC region, only a small percentage of rail capacity is being fully used.

Babe Botana, executive director of the Southern African Railways Association, told the group’s annual conference last week that despite numerous constraints for southern African railways, the organisation’s vision was to grow the rail market share to more than 45% within the next five years — by a shift from road.

According to Botana, excluding South Africa, regional rail traffic was 10% in the SADC region, with roads carrying the other 90% of goods. He says in South Africa, excluding heavy haul such as iron ore and manganese, between 15% and 20% of cargo was moved by rail, meaning at least 80% was moved on roads.

Empty Trips already has a digital open exchange platform addressing some of the biggest inefficiencies in road haulage — trucks returning empty from deliveries or standing idle waiting for backhauls. And the innovator is now set to go multi-modal, by marketing empty rail wagons on the platform.

“Our aim is to do for rail what we are doing for road — making haulage simpler, more efficient, more visible and sustainable by filling empty spaces… in this case, rail wagons,” says Andrew Crafford, Empty Trips managing executive.

“We are a fully digital end-to-end logistics marketplace using algorithms to match shippers’ freight with the carrier’s capacity and allowing shippers to manage their contracts seamlessly and transparently.

“Our enhanced Empty Trips digital freight exchange now includes the service where rail carriers can publish empty rail wagons on the platform, which then provides the visibility for rail shippers to book space on the rail wagons,” adds Crafford.

Empty Trips plans to start out by targeting the Harare to Maputo and Ndola/Lusaka to Durban routes primarily for export cargo.

Crafford notes that anticipated changes in South African legislation make it possible for Empty Trips to offer the marketing of wagon space for inland routes next year, in the same way it is now ready to do for cross-border rail freight.

Parliament has passed the Economic Regulation of Transport Bill, which will establish an independent transport regulator to encourage greater competition and enable regulated access to the network.

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In addition to this, requests for proposals have been issued for third-party access to the freight rail network and private-sector partnerships for the Durban Pier 2 and Ngqura container terminals. 

However, this has come in for some criticism.

Busi Mavuso, chief executive of Business Leadership South Africa, says the proposal allows for third-party access to the rail network — but only for two years.

“Transnet has confirmed that there were applications received from third-party operators for the 16 rail slots, but this is only a small step — there are too many restrictions.

“The African Rail Industry Association cites the two-year restriction as a major concern, and says other problematic issues are that slots have been offered on a voetstoots basis; that Transnet has reserved special “grandfather rights” for itself that allow it to continue operating as before; and that only a portion of the network is being offered with no transparency in fee calculation, among other issues,” she says, adding that this approach offers no long-term prospects for potential investors.

“Rail will play a significant role in the logistics industry with the integration of digital solutions.  As the logistics industry evolves, our platform offering will make this a beneficial and faster reality,” says Crafford.

Rail in the SADC region is increasingly embracing deregulation, creating open access where private rail operating companies can buy slots on chosen routes of rail infrastructure owned by third parties. 

Even if only 10% of empty wagon space is filled, it means 10% more profit, as the fixed cost of moving a full train compared with one with empty wagons is the same.

Advanced wagon technology offers lightweight skeletals, which enables the transport of heavier containers. They can also transport three containers instead of two, offering significant payload benefits.

Train freight is also cleared pre-departure and the dangers and inefficiencies of border post congestion are minimised.

A train uses nine times less energy per ton/kilometre than a truck and is four times more fuel efficient.

This results in 60-75% less greenhouse gas emissions, making it a more environmentally friendly transport option. BM/DM