Freight onto rail: The Potter Group
The Potter Group has an excellent sustainable transport record and currently takes around 100 lorry loads of
freight by rail each day, removing that number of lorries from our roads. The logistics company carries
products as diverse as timber and food products. As one of the largest
independent terminal operators in the UK, it competes in a market dominated by service levels and cost,
and combines inter-modal handling and conventional wagon transhipment with shared-user warehousing,
stock management and distribution. It recognises that only by understanding customers' requirements can
the rail freight industry see how and where it can integrate the rail component into the supply chain movement. With three prime located rail freight terminals in East Anglia, the North-east and the North-west, the group
has even more ambitious targets for the next five years and hopes to remove a total of 350 lorries from our
roads each day. The Potter Group believes that distribution by rail could provide an integrated and efficient transport
infrastructure saving industry millions a year currently being wasted by the dominant and increasingly
over-used road distribution network. The fact that that an average freight train can remove 50 long distance HGVs from our roads with each of the largest freight trains now removing up to 160 long distance HGVs demonstrates the role rail freight has to play in reducing road congestion which the Department for Transport estimates The Potter Group is providing the vital link for freight between road and rail and is connected to all the major port operations. It recognises the importance of matching the service offered by road by improving transit times, less handling and more flexibility. Through the application of IT, customers can see exactly where their consignments are on the network. The group also understands the importance of expanding existing intermodal services as well as developing the newer markets for rail freight, such as premium parcels and perishable foods in addition to traditional bulk loads, vital if the Government is to meet its own legally binding 80 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. And as Derrick Potter, Executive Chairman of the group, said: "The reality of climate change means that this could be a golden age for the rail industry. The Government has set its long-term vision for rail freight in the Strategic Rail Freight Network and committed to supporting key enhancements between 2009 and 2014 which needs to be continued after 2014 if the full benefits are to be realised.” The Potter Group's investment of £8.5 million in its Selby terminal alone over a two-year period is evidence of its commitment to this environmentally friendly mode of transport. The Potter Group handled arrivals and dispatches of around 350,000 tonnes of stone for long term customer CEMEX by rail, which was transported from the Peak Forest in Derbyshire, saving an estimated 12,000 lorry journeys, helping the company to lower its carbon footprint. 1. DfT research showed that because of their size and weight, when HGVs are involved in accidents the level of injury tends to be higher.Source: Road Statistics 2008, Tables 3.2 and 3.6, Road Freight Statistics 2008 Section 5, both UK Department for Transport 2. Department for Transport Logistics Perspective Dec 2008 P8 par 10 |
Rail freight has the potential to remove thousands of HGVs from our roads as part of the low carbon economy we all need, if climate change is to be averted. The Potter Group offers bulk carrying facilities
by rail as flexible as road transport and hopes to expand operations over the next few years in line with the
Government's policy to promote modal shift and increase rail freight volumes designed to reduce road congestion
and freight’s carbon footprint. 
costing £1 per lorry miles on the most congested roads. Combine the economic
argument with the fact that rail freight is safer than long -distance road freight