CSX National Gateway: Efficiency in Supplying the USA
Efficiency is a constant buzz word in the world of manufacturing. It helps businesses create product at its lowest price, allowing the business to be competitive and successful. While manufacturers across the country focus and attempt to be as efficient as possible, there isn’t always a reliable efficiency when it comes to supplying the necessary materials to do business. That’s where the CSX National Gateway wants to help out.
The North-West Ohio Terminal
The North-West Ohio Terminal is equipped with some of the most up to date, high-efficiency and automated equipment in the logistics field today. The most impressive tools being the Hans Kuenz GmbH Cranes. These cranes are massive in size (302′ long, 100′ high, 95′ wide, and weigh over 1,000,000 pounds), and are capable of picking containers off of incoming trains, and placing them on double stack trains or trucks as if they were blocks of legos. These cranes are operated by one person, and run off of electric motors while also generating electricity with their movement. The electric motor running/charging function allows these cranes to be highly energy efficient, roughly 80% more efficient than a similarly functioning diesel engine.
Here is one of the massive Kuenz GmbH Cranes in operation.
Source: Blog for the Akron Railroad Club
With the ability to move large containers almost effortlessly, the National Gateway also tries to double up the containers leaving the depot.
Taking The Goods Out, Two at a Time
One of the biggest time savers the National Gateway makes, is in stacking one container on top of the other, on specialized double stack trains. Just one of these double stacked trains carries the equivalent of 280 freight trucks. This not only increases the amount of product that comes with each train, but it also lessens the amount of trucks on highways, making traffic through that travel path a little less.
One can see not only the massive size of these cranes, but also a double stacked train being loaded to the right.
Source: Kuenz.com
These cranes are not only an impressive feat of manufacturing by Kuenz, but also help move goods faster than what was previously thought as possible. If you’d like to read more about the National Gateway project, and other terminals, visit their website here. You can also see the cranes in action on this video, on the CSX Vimeo site.
Fridays are not known for their productivity and efficiency as we are all looking forward to the weekend, so if you have any good tricks to keep yourself focused and efficient, leave it in the comments down below.
Metal Products Company 