Rail-road transport in certain situations becomes the best solution for the delivery of a particular product to neighboring countries. Usually, international rail-road transport is resorted to in cases where the use of vehicles becomes unprofitable. Despite a number of objective advantages, railways have their own complex quality features and potential risks. Many point out the complexity of paperwork. But this is not the only problem that the carrier may face. Before using the railway to deliver goods to other countries, you should study all the important points, rules and recommendations regarding this type of cargo transportation.

The railway is one of the most developed modes of transport designed for delivery and passenger traffic. International transportation is carried out within the framework of the current convention, which deals with issues of rail transportation.

Legal regulation In order to carry out cargo transportation in international traffic using railways, the transportation of goods must necessarily be accompanied by the preparation and signing of special documents. At the same time, all paperwork for the transportation of goods, as well as the procedures for organizing rail transportation, are regulated by legislative acts that have an international status. In the case of railway transport, carriers rely on 2 main documents: CIM. This is a convention that governs the carriage of goods by rail between countries; COTIF. This is an agreement signed by many countries, where issues of international railway transportation are considered. Among other things, the document allows you to determine the amount and conditions of responsibility in case of damage to goods. These are the so-called Berne Conventions, which have 33 member countries, including states located in Asia, Europe and North Africa. It is important to take into account that the rules of these international documents apply only to certain railway lines.

International rail transportation is actively used for the transportation of heavy and bulky goods for industrial and construction purposes (machines, equipment, building materials, tools) from abroad.

ADVANTAGES OF RAIL TRANSPORTATION

International railway transportation is especially convenient for the delivery of goods from Southeast Asia. In such cases, the delivery of goods by rail is part of a multimodal transportation, which helps to reduce the cost of delivery. As practice shows, international rail transportation of goods is the safest and has an advantageous combination of cost and speed.

The main advantages of international transportation of goods by rail:

• Increased load capacity. This fact makes it possible to transport very heavy loads that cannot be moved by other modes of transport.
• Economic indicators. If we compare the transportation of goods over a distance of more than 2 thousand km, then the cost of railway transportation will be much more profitable than delivery by road.
• Strict attachment to deadlines. Rail transportation is carried out regardless of weather conditions.

ACE Company sro offers a full range of international rail transport services:

• Registration of accompanying documents;
• Organization of fast passage of customs procedures;
• Loading and unloading of goods;
• Provision of special platforms, open top containers, non-standard width and height containers;
• Timely tracking of cargo movement.

DOCUMENTS FOR RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION

For the legal implementation of railway transportation, certain documents must be drawn up without fail, the main of which are the following:

• Railway invoice. ZhDN is an important document in the carriage of goods by rail. The document regulates the obligations of the sender and the carrier organization in relation to the delivery of commodity items.
• Specification. The specification acts as an accompanying document for placing the cargo on the train. This document indicates what kind of cargo is being transported, its quantity, grade, article, brand, quality indicators, as well as cost.
• Export declaration - a document confirming the export clearance of the cargo in the country of departure.
• Packing list - a document that describes the delivered goods, their weight, quantity and other characteristics. The data from this document is recorded in the export declaration. The document is used for import customs clearance.
• A commercial invoice is a document that fixes the quantity and cost of cargo, delivery terms. The data from this document is recorded in the export declaration. The document is used for import customs clearance.
• Contract of carriage
• Import declaration - the document is issued based on the results of import customs clearance. Allows free movement of cargo in case of full release of cargo (payment for cargo to the supplier, payment of transportation costs affecting the release of cargo).

ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS FOR RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION

Depending on the type of cargo or route, the following documents may be required:

• MSDS. If the cargo is a chemical raw material or has a hazard class, the safety data sheet is required for transportation. This document indicates the coding and hazard class (or indicates that the cargo is safe). It indicates how the cargo can affect the environment, people and nature, as well as the requirements for its packaging and transportation.
• Mounting scheme. Required in case of transportation of dangerous, heavy (more than 1.5 tons of cargo), complex (production lines, machines, etc. cargo requiring special fastening for safe transportation), or oversized cargo. In this document, the competent authorities indicate how the cargo should be secured and what materials should be used for this.
• Transit Declaration – a document is issued when crossing the border of the Russian Federation (for example, at the port of destination or at the border crossing) in case the import clearance of the cargo will take place at the destination station.

Transport services for the organization of shipment railway transportation:

• Sending and receiving containers and wagons at the railway station.
• Calculation and payment of international transportation rates.
• Development of loading and fastening schemes.
• Supply of special equipment for loading operations.
• Loading and securing cargo in the wagon.
• Daily tracking of the wagon's location.
• Delivery of cargo to the station of departure.
• Registration of transport documents.
• Transportation insurance against possible risks.
• Organization of customs clearance.

Calculation of the cost and ordering transport

The cost of cargo transportation by rail is calculated individually, at the request of the client, taking into account the peculiarities of the route and the nature of the cargo.

The process of ordering a service consists of just a few simple steps:

sending a request to calculate the cost of the service;

providing the necessary documents for the cargo;

negotiation of delivery terms and signing of the contract;

payment of the bill for the provided transport services;

delivery of the wagon to the railway station;

Advantages of cargo transportation by railway transport

The most important thing is the ability to transport oversized cargo, for which it is difficult to choose another type of transport. At the same time, the cost of services will be not only affordable, but also, as a rule, the most profitable. Also, it is an opportunity to transport large batches of products with minimal loss of time and money. Several wagons in a freight train will replace a whole convoy of road transport.

Transportation methods:

• transportation of goods in wagons,
• the container transporting,
• transportation of cars and special equipment,
• transportation of dangerous goods,
• transportation of heavy and oversized cargo.

In order to have an idea of ​ how to deliver cargo by rail and what the cost of the service will be, you need to know some of the features of rail transport.

Transportation in freight wagons

Wagons, due to their large carrying capacity, are used, as a rule, for the delivery of goods weighing from 50 tons or with low weight, but large volumes. In some cases, the delivery of combined cargo is beneficial when transporting over long distances.

Rail transportation can be part of a multimodal transportation scheme. In such cases, other modes of transport are also used to transport goods.

Rail container transportation

Transportation of standard cargo over long distances, in cases where its weight does not exceed 24 tons, is more profitable to carry out in containers. In container transportation, the container is delivered by road for loading or unloading at the address specified in the client's application. On the platform, the containers are placed towards the doors (door to door), and therefore it is impossible to get into it during transportation.

Cargo delivery is carried out as follows:

Selection of rolling stock for rail transportation between European countries and Russia is based on the type of cargo and its weight and size characteristics. To do this, we use hoppers, tanks, gondola cars, platforms, refrigerated sections, containers, wagons.

The process of organizing the delivery of products includes the following operations:

• Provision of an empty (empty) container/wagon/platform for loading.
• Controlling loading operations with counting the number of freight places and revision of their external condition.
• Survey operations.
• Export customs clearance in the country of origin.
• Terminal forwarding, loading and unloading operations, processing, preparation of necessary documents.
• Import customs clearance in the country of destination.
• Transportation of cargo to the consignee's warehouse.
• Return of an empty container/wagon/platform to the railway station.