CBU Testing in Myanmar: Innovative Rail Solution for Vehicle Transport

Earlier in March; Kar-Tainer took part in orchestrating a trial for transporting cars by rail from Yangon, the former capitol and today the biggest ocean port in the country, to Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar situated about 650 km inland north of Yangon.

The rail infrastructur is steadily improving in Myanmar, and it is now the hope to be able to ship containerised vehicles by rail, where one blocktrain can be loaded with 27 * 40 foot standard shipping containers, as opposed to the current dispatch of trucks from Yangon to Mandalay. This original trucking solution often see drivers and trucks be gone from base from two to three days, an issue which is high on the agenda of improvement areas locally.

The initial trial was done together with local partner Myanmar Toyota Tsusho Logistics, and seen as a great success by all involved parties, with cars being loaded in containers in Yangon before going to Mandalay for unload and check and finally returned to Yangon. Being able to load and tire-lash outside of the container before inserting loaded car and cassette into container was appreciated to be in line with stringent OEM quality demands.