Unimog port handling operations in Schweinfurt.

When a commercial vehicle is needed that shines with its versatility on road and rail, the best choice is the all-rounder: the eight employees of Stadtwerke Schweinfurt, whose main task is port handling, also know this. With the 2-way Unimog U 423, which takes on the function of both a truck and a shunting locomotive, the handling of coal, gravel or grain is more efficient than ever before.

Moving tons of goods: with the Unimog.

Schweinfurt – the Lower Franconia town of 54,000 inhabitants has been known for generations as the European centre of the rolling-element bearing industry. Several thousand employees work in this major industry here. ZF, SKF and Schaeffler are the biggest employers in the town. It's all about mobility and movement here. But there is another place where things are really set in motion in Schweinfurt by just eight employees: here, we're talking about the port. 

Since 1963 the port has been the interface between the Main-Danube canal, as well as the road and rail networks. "Trimodal" is how the professionals refer to it. Between 280 and 320 ships are processed by the port's team every year. On the dedicated track system with a length of over five kilometres,  approximately 8000 goods wagons are also loaded and unloaded every year. The men at the port operated by Stadtwerke Schweinfurt mainly handle coal, gravel, grain and fertilisers.

Efficient, reliable, powerful.

An essential part of the team: the road-rail Unimog U 423 for shunting operations. The power package converted by G. Zwiehoff GmbH is equipped with the usual rail guide, the railway carriage brake system and radio remote control. It enables the driver to control their combination from the step platform. This means that time-consuming entering and exiting the vehicle are not necessary, thus enabling much quicker coupling, decoupling and brake hose connection.

The torque converter clutch serves to increase the starting torque in order to move high loads of up to 1.000 t on the tracks. With the Hiab loading crane, the men from port handling are fast and flexible, if, for example, heavy transmissions have to be swapped on one of the three port cranes along
the quay wall. "For us the Unimog is a reliable shunting vehicle and proves its worth every day it is in use", says port boss Rainer Vierheilig.

Off the track, on the track – you can't get more flexibility than that. A classic shunting locomotive nearby looks on enviously. And sometimes there is more than usual to manoeuvre, which is when the Schweinfurt team fetch their well-kept treasure from the garage: a road-rail Unimog U 900 from 1974.