It’s no secret that building a versatile rental fleet can reduce upfront capital investments.
SCF understand this better than anyone, having assisted many operators in the transport market to expand their businesses in recent years.
In a consumer driven economy, that has showed no signs of slowing, logistics businesses confronted with the pressures of rising demand require short-term fleet solutions that do not cripple cash flow, or reduce the versatility to service different segments within a market.
Even before the current challenges facing operators, who are reliant on a more predictable rate of demand, the industry has always, whether through trade deficits, foreign exchange challenges, environmental conditions, and political uncertainty, demonstrated an ability to adapt to change quickly.
This is evidenced by the willingness of many transport operators who have introduced new modes of transport on road and rail to realise increased efficiencies or gain a competitive advantage. Out of necessity, others have had to align equipment with new contracts, and quickly add capacity for peak and surge freight volumes.
Indeed, operators in the segment are no stranger to an abundance of everchanging considerations and challenges, where the ability to be agile in fleet management is advantageous. This is where SCF’s Container and skel trailer can make a difference.
Cost reductions are critical for businesses shifting freight by road and rail, especially with the threat of under utilisation following the conclusion of a contract.
Rental allows customers to easily swap out equipment that is no longer needed or adapt to changing customer requirements.
The critical importance of reducing capital expenditure, especially in the current economic climate, goes without saying. The versatility of Skel trailers and intermodal containers, for this reason, has proven more appealing in the market at present.
“COVID-19 has created an unprecedented surge in activity across the freight network” says Nick Schwartz, SCF Intermodal General Manager.
“We’ve seen Christmas level peak volumes for the last six months. For our customers, tapping into rental has been pivotal for their ability to move those surge volumes of freight.
“On the flip side, when activity normalises, they certainly don’t want to be caught holding that equipment. Therefore, it is not really a question of buy versus lease. From the moment they need that equipment and they know it’s a short-term requirement we can provide them with that immediate capacity.”
With a national depot network, SCF can support customers across Australia who need to make changes to fleet as their customer’s needs change. A national network brings with it distinct advantages — not least of all flexibility.
Access to specialised transport equipment at this scale is particularly beneficial for operators who need to increase capacity during peak events, contract renewals, and in the initial stages of servicing new customer requirements.
For SCF, this begins with offering a wide range of containerised equipment that can carry a multitude of cargo types, coupled with SCF’s skel trailers.
In the general fleet categories, the company can service refrigerated, dry, tank, bulk, accommodation, storage, and dangerous goods applications.
Designed to safely and securely carry different freight types across road, rail and sea, SCF containers are purpose built to be 2 pallet wide; designed to meet the freight and operating requirements of Australian business.
SCF’s container range features Vertical Load Bars, and side opening doors with mezzanine decks to stack and protect fragile cargo or pallets, while maximising the container’s carrying capacity.
Refrigerated containers range in size from 20ft to 48ft. Built with temperature control and insulation, temperature is efficiently maintained with reduced machinery run time, lowers fuel consumption and costs, and results in a lower environmental impact through a reduction in emissions.
Meanwhile, ISO Liquid and ISO Pneumatic tanks can be utilised for the transport of bulk liquids, chemicals, and powders such as milk, beer, wine, acids, and cement powder.
Curtainside containers with mezzanine decks in either 40ft or 48ft lengths enable safe and efficient access from both sides. The intelligently designed mezzanine deck only requires single user operation, unlike some other readily available versions.
Mezzanine systems can increase the capacity of curtain side containers up to 48 pallets.
The diverse range of container types caters to almost all requirements on road or rail.
“Rail enables customers to send more freight without the need for more road fleet. This provides significant capital cost savings, in addition to safety and environmental benefits” Nick says. “This safety component is even more important on the longer interstate routes that carry a far greater risk to personnel.”
Any one of SCF’s Intermodal containers can be leased with a SCF skel trailer.
In addition to the existing range of specialised transport equipment, SCF supports customers with new and innovative designs to meet specific requirements.
As a national supplier, SCF currently supplies skel and container solutions to some of Australia’s largest transport and logistics companies.
Many of its customer relationships are long term over SCF’s 29-year history.
Increasingly, customers are opting to use SCF skel trailers to improve productivity through an intermodal model, where they can shift long haul freight more conveniently from road to rail.
“The key is being able to supply our customers with equipment options to complement and grow their business, be it for road, rail, sea or storage” says Nick.