We are very pleased to share with you an exclusive interview recently published in the Intermodal & Logistics Magazine, a Romanian premium publication dedicated to logistics specialists. Our general director, Kinga Mădărășan offers thorough insight into MMV Rail Romania’s activity – access the article to discover more:

How did the MMV Rail company evolve in Romania?

MMV Rail Romania was established in 2015 in the city of Cluj-Napoca, in Transylvania, Romania. Our company is set on providing top quality services in the rail freight industry. We also offer support in related activities within the maneuvering and rail logistics department. We aim to become the most flexible and active railway transport and logistics association in the Central- and Eastern European Market.

You’ve recently invested in brand new Siemens Smartron locomotives. Can you offer us any more details? How many locomotives have you purchased, why and do you wish to invest in any other engines in the future?

We’ve purchased a new LEMA 6100 KW from Softronic Craiova. At the same time, we are the third rail company in Romania to have welcomed a brand-new Siemens Smartron to the active fleet, which has already started its journey at the beginning of September.

We chose to utilize Siemens engines, because they are electric and considered to be the most modern and reliable locomotives for efficient freight transport services, as they ensure both the safety of transported goods, as well as rapidity during the process. These locomotives can travel with a speed of up to 160 km/h, weigh 83 tons and have a maximum power at the wheel of 5,600 kW.

We are optimistic about the first Siemens Smartron that joined our fleet. Once it yields positive results and if everything goes to plan, our company will consider investing in a second locomotive from Siemens.

How many locomotives and wagons is the rolling stock of MMV Rail Romania made up of?

Our main mission is to continuously expand an innovate our rail freight logistics services.

Our rolling stock is comprised of top of the line locomotives and wagons. Besides the Siemens Smartron, our active fleet consists of 4 modern, electric LE 5100 hp Softronic locomotives and 3 electric Siemens-Vectron locomotives (which are interoperable in Romania, Hungary, Austria and Germany. We also work with 5 classic electric LE 5100 hp Electroputere Craiova locomotives and 10 modernized diesel electric engines LDE 2100 hp.

What does the distribution of transported goods look like this year? What industries do companies activate in?

We managed to transport a wide range of goods this year that have come from diverse industries. A large chunk of transported merchandise (40% to be exact) is made up of hazardous goods. 25% of cargo was made up of grains, 20% of wood and 15% is comprised of chemical materials.

What type of value-added services do you offer to customers?

MMV Rail Romania offers complex services besides the transportation of goods in order to meet the complex requirements of our clientele. Our company provides expert rail solution packages to present efficient freight management solutions for our customers.

We ensure secure and swift loading and unloading services, in compliance with official policies, with the help of our professionally trained workers. We also offer proactive logistics management services, we track every step of the delivery process and we make sure that every operation is completed in an efficient and timely manner.

Our client’s requests are of paramount importance to us, that is why we help them safeguard and store their goods in accordance with their demands.

Besides all these, we also provide professional counseling services. We are always aware of any changes of any official rules and regulations, and we offer the best solutions to our clients.

What kind of impact did the pandemic have over operations and your company?

The pandemic has brought upon us a series of new challenges. We managed to adapt quickly to the new rules and have adopted a set of new protocols regarding the protection of our personnel, our clients, and our business partners.

We’ve migrated our consultancy services to the online sphere and our partners thankfully stuck with us throughout this process. As we switched to working from home, as our personal meetings became online conference calls and as some of our shipments changed, shifted or got cancelled, whilst other types of cargo orders suddenly spiked, we’ve managed to learn a few key lessons that will undoubtedly be useful in the way we’ll do business in the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic taught us to be more resourceful and innovative. Our flexible approach to the way we handle business came in handy when we had to adapt to the unprecedented challenges our modern world suddenly found itself in. Our strong, malleable mindset helped us see the light at the end of the tunnel and contributed to reaching record numbers in terms of transported tonnage in the month of July.

How has your business evolved and what is your view on 2021 and beyond?

We emphasized constant growth even at the very beginning of our activity, in the form of investments destined for our rolling stock. This way we managed to construct a solid and stable base for the company. Together with our parent organization, we own an active fleet made up of high-performance locomotives and wagons.

Our plans for 2021 are realistic, taking into consideration the fact that we are looking towards a year of economic crisis. We wish to consolidate the partnerships that we already have, offering our current clients innovative and complex rail freight transport and logistics services.

How do you see the evolution of rail freight? What are the biggest challenges you’re faced with?

Just like any other industry, the rail logistics sector has its fair share of new challenges. We were already preparing for an economic crisis even before the pandemic began, but the virus that took the world by storm has truly accelerated the situation.

We are certainly optimistic about our activity within our domain, considering that our industry is a form of support for our country’s economy. Naturally, the situation will differ compared to previous years, which is why we are preparing to handle the current situation with more intelligent solutions. All rail freight and logistics companies will survive, but we are looking towards an unpredictable year, full of unforeseen challenges.

Our team is already preparing for these circumstances, both from a technical point of view, as well as from an HR standpoint, in order to adapt quickly to the fluctuation of clients, quantity of transported goods, competitive prices and other issues that might come up.

In this new context we can no longer talk about a stable market, which is why we are currently in the process of expanding our rolling stock park, whilst also excluding unscheduled stops, malfunctions, and working on making our transportation and maneuvering services even more efficient.

We have already laid the groundwork for a new rail logistics development project. In 2021 we aim to become an integral part of a collaborative effort, which aims to establish an intermodal transportation center in Romania. We will focus on offering our clients and our partners complete and exhaustive rail freight and logistics services, which includes transportation, maneuvering, storing, cargo handling and door-to-door distributing.