DB Schenker to deliver 1,300 tonnes of medical supplies to northern Italy

Copyright: DB AG

Global logistics service provider, DB Schenker, is working to support the people of northern Italy in containing and limiting the spread of COVID-19 by delivering a total of 186 containers holding over 1,000 tonnes of medical protective equipment from China to healthcare facilities in the badly affected Lombardy region.

In total, the supply includes more than 1,300 tonnes of protective overalls and goggles from various manufacturers in Shanghai and Hubei which will be used in hospitals within the Lombardy region, and will be transported by train in the upcoming weeks. Twenty containers arrived on 21 May 2020 at the Hangartner Terminal in Verona.

CEO of DB Schenker in Italy, Federico Girgenti, said: “It is a difficult time for everyone, but we have managed to continue providing uninterrupted services to our customers. This has been possible only thanks to the commitment of our coworkers and the solidity of our network.”

DB Schenker collects the cargo by truck directly from the production sites. At the container terminal in Xi’an, the freight is loaded onto the China train, which DB Schenker and DB Cargo operate in close cooperation. After 12 days and a journey of more than 10,000km via Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, the train reaches Kaliningrad. From there, the containers are transported by ship to Rostock, where they are then taken by train to DB Schenker’s intermodal terminal in Verona. In total, DB Schenker was able to reduce the transit time to just 15 days.

After customs clearance, the containers are finally distributed to health facilities in Milan, Bergamo and Brescia, among others, by truck in DB Schenker’s full-load service. This means that the complete door-to-door delivery, including packaging, customs clearance and documentation for the customer, is provided from a single source.