Verlinde crane for haulier

Greg Transports is one of the largest hauliers in the Belgian steel business, specialising in handling steel coils for the car manufacturing industry. In 2015, the company acquired a warehouse for the storage of steel coils delivered directly from various Arcelor Mittal Belgium factories by rail or road, before the coils are delivered to end users. As a result, the facility offloads and loads an average of 60 to 100 wagons with 300 trailers every day.

The first Verlinde crane was installed at Greg Transports three years ago, since when the haulier has continued to order cranes from the France-based manufacturer, with the seventh and most recent order a 40t crane. Greg Transports initially installed cranes with insufficient load capacities, before encountering operation difficulties as a result; the company therefore worked with Electrolevage to specify and install suitable lifting systems made with Verlinde equipment.

The Greg Transports warehouse facilities had already installed four 35t cranes with spans of 22m, and two 35t cranes with spans of 40m. All the cranes provide speeds of 63m/min for crossing, 40m/min for travelling, and 16m/min for hoisting, and are fitted with variable speed for all movements, radio remote control, and LED lighting systems. A swing correction system is also incorporated, as loads are heavy but require significant precautionary measures during manipulation, says Verlinde.

“At the start of our collaboration we assured our customer a systematically fast breakdown service both during the week and at the weekend which led, very soon afterwards, to our being consulted for the replacement of the existing cranes,”said VincentDedrij, managing director of Electrolevage. “We have worked for 15 years with Verlinde whose equipment is acknowledged as being reliable and of quality. We first proposed a 35-tonne crane based on Verlinde components in 2017. This was met by the satisfaction of users for its rapidity and reliability. Then orders for five other overhead cranes were placed in order to keep abreast of the increase in volumes of coils handled by GregTransports that vary from 250,000 to 300,000 tonnes per month. Storage capacity at the facility is 130,000 tonnes of steel and 25,000 pallets.”

Joris Van de Wiele, Verlinde’s technical sales agency manager for Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland, said: “The overhead cranes in place at Greg Transports before our arrival were then transferred to a less intensive activity. The equipment was of good quality but not designed for the intensive handling of steel coils. We proposed equipment able to cope with the high handling throughput rate of coils. The jib crane and end-carriage parts are designed for an M6 working cycle, which means intensive operations at full load and at top speed.”