Boral is looking to use fewer trucks and more trains in the new year.
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The company ships cement across the state, down to Victoria and up to Queensland and currently, the vast majority of that cement is delivered by truck.
Berrima operations manager Stuart Hutchings said 148 trucks a week could be taken off the road if the company’s plan to create a more efficient supply chain is successful.
“We’re moving to the use of isotainers to deliver our cement which are easily transferrable from trains to trucks. We can put them on a train to do the long distance and then at the end, they can be easily transferred over to trucks to do the last leg of the journey,” Mr Hutchings said.
“This is a good thing not only from our supply chain point of view, but, if you're talking about things that could have an impact on traffic, this is major.”
Three trains, carrying up to 56 isotainers, would travel on Boral’s private rail line from the Berrima facility and connect to the main rail line at Moss Vale.
“We’re not sending out any more cement than we already have been but a big chunk of it is now going to be going out by rail rather than by truck,” Mr Hutchings said.
A facility would need to be constructed on-site for the storage and transfer of isotainers to trains. Planning consent following a noise and visual impact survey is required, but all things considered, the company should be ready to begin by around March 2019.
Extend delivery hours…
Boral is seeking permission from the department of planning to broaden the window for truck deliveries to the Berrima site.
Current consent permits truck deliveries between 6am to 6pm on Monday to Friday and 7am to 1pm on Saturdays.
“It’s not an increase in the number of trucks, it’s to space them out to avoid peak delivery periods,” Mr Hutchings said.
If successful, new delivery hours would be 6am to 10pm on Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm on Saturday and 7am to 1pm on Sunday.
SWDF update…
Following the successful implementation of its Solid Waste Derived Fuels system in August, Boral is seeking to extend its intake shed. The company has replaced 15 per cent on a heat basis of its coal use and is looking to increase to 25 per cent.
“We’ve seen no ambient or air quality changes since switching to SWDFs, but testing will continue to May 2019,” Mr Hutchings said.
“We’re looking to increase to our full approved capacity, but we still have a few things we need to do before we can get to that stage.”
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