ECG — 2024-06-07
News from ECG
5 June saw the meeting of the Quality Working Group – another well-attended gathering of ECG members, partners and OEM representatives. Thanks to those who attended the meeting, particularly to those of you who made it to Brussels, and contributed to the lively discussions.
The participants heard a presentation on the revision of the VDI Guidelines 2700 for lashing on vehicle transporters. Hans-Josef Neunfinger intervened from SpanSet, a lashing belt producer who supported the many lashing tests which were conducted in the past years, together with the trailer manufacturers and other members of the dedicated working group. The new VDI Guidelines will be published in September and will be immediately applicable, but most probably not enforced during road side inspections by German police until the beginning of 2025. Companies crossing Germany or loading/unloading in the country will need to abide by these new rules: they mean a change both to the lashing equipment and to the lashing methods. If in doubt, carriers should contact their trailer manufacturers. ECG will keep all members informed on this. As soon as the new Guidelines are officially published ECG’s Operations Quality Manual will need to be changed as it makes reference to the current VDI Guidelines.
The attendees discussed damage prevention actions including: how to protect the terminals against hail; manage co-activity in the ports; protect against birds and nesting; monitor contamination; and manage weather events such as heavy storms. Another relevant topic was the damage prevention activities on compounds and how to share best practices on this, as well as ways to identify vehicles in terminals, e.g. for loading.
Simon MacLeod of the Vehicle Carrier Safety Forum (VCSF), which brings together shipping lines and P&I clubs, made a presentation on the recent activities of the organisation. The VCSF published recently its guidance on the presentation and loading of vehicles. In the future it will focus on the fire response both in ports and at sea, as well as on training and technology development. As many ECG members are also members of VCSF it is natural that the two organisations keep each other informed on their respective activities.
The two small groups working on the transport of used cars as well as information sharing on transported vehicles presented their recent activities. Their work is almost completed and the two final documents will be presented at the next Quality meeting for approval.
ECG presented the updated parking requirements table at the meeting. This table summarises the various OEM policies on the manual/automatic handbrake, the placement of the keys and on the parking distances. The future goal with this comparison between OEM practices will be to investigate which policies can be standardised and how.
The next Quality meeting will be held in October-November 2024. The date will be confirmed in due course. In case you need any further information on the Quality Working Group and its activities please contact Szilvi Kiss.