Unimog in operation for the food logistics division at Migros in Zurich.

How do fresh foods such as butter, vegetables and fruit reach the customer in fresh condition? Smooth-running logistics are vital for delivering fresh foodstuffs to more than 200 Migros supermarkets and restaurants in Zurich on a daily basis: a job that’s tailor-made for the flexible and effective road-rail Unimog.

Reliable as a Swiss watch.

The Migros Zurich co-operative is one of ten Migros co-operatives which are members of Switzerland’s largest retail company. All of their distribution centres are connected directly to the rail network. With more than a million tonnes of freight on the track and more than 11.5 million kilometres covered, Migros is SBB Cargo’s largest customer.

The distribution centre at Herdern is the central hub for Migros Zurich: from there fresh goods are delivered every day to supermarkets and restaurants throughout the co-operative’s distribution region which includes the cantons of Zurich, Glarus, Schwyz and St. Gallen. And that adds up: annually a total of 300,000 pallets are moved by rail through the goods received and goods issue departments which is the equivalent of around 15 to 25 railway wagons a day.

That is why reliable rail vehicles are needed on the company premises to tow the incoming rail wagons fast and efficiently along the 1.2-km long plant-internal rail network to the correct unloading stations. Other tasks include the coupling and preparation of outgoing wagons for collection by a long-distance haulage train from SBB Cargo.