Zero-damage vehicle deliveries in cruise control

How Maersk’s container solution is driving efficient global shipments for Toyota Gibraltar.

The customer and background

Based in Gibraltar, TGS (Toyota Gibraltar Stockholding Ltd.), is a part of Group Bassadone, and a regional subsidiary of the multinational automotive giant. TGS operates as the stocking arm of Toyota’s Direct Sales Scheme, set up for use by organisations such as the UN and other global NGOs.

TGS modifies vehicles in Gibraltar to suit the requirements of the customer and is also an official supplier of Toyota’s 4x4 vehicles, spare parts, and accessories. The company has been supported in its global logistics by Maersk or over 15 years, having been a customer since 2008, and with its facility being located very close to the Maersk Terminal in Algeciras.

The challenge

The biggest challenge for TGS over the years has been the safe, damage-free delivery of its vehicles to the end customer. The inland legs have been especially difficult, as some of these journeys are almost 2000km long, on roads that are poorly maintained.

TGS’ goal is to reduce the handling of vehicles across the entire cargo journey and minimize exposure, as the vehicles always include valuable items such as tool kits, car stereos and spare tires. The vehicles are also sometimes left unattended in open yards before the final delivery is completed.

As a result, TGS was keen to find a reliable partner that could help mitigate the numerous challenges affecting their global vehicle shipments, and provide a weekly service that covers all trades.

The solution

The Maersk team at Algeciras began working closely with the staff at Toyota Gibraltar to work out the technicalities and find a suitable long-term solution. Until that date, TGS had only used Maersk’s freight services for ocean transportation. Over time, our team has been able to identify, implement and refine an end-to-end solution to ship cars in container, and handle every aspect of vehicular transportation for TGS.

Maersk fully handles the stuffing of each vehicle, housing a single car in 20ft containers and two cars in 40ft containers. Our team’s expertise in the manual loading, lashing, and blocking of each vehicle ensures that it is fully secure before it is loaded onto the ocean carrier. Each container is locked to prevent access to the vehicle during transit.

Our team takes care of all clearances and documentation at the origin port, enabling a hassle-free customs experience. We also handle inland transportation for certain destinations and are exploring opportunities to further expand these capabilities across the network.

The result

Due to the success of Maersk’s end-to-end services, Toyota Gibraltar now relies on our team to handle the majority of their containerised vehicle transportation. In 2021, Maersk handled around 3500 vehicles, which was 100% of TGS’ containerised shipments, regardless of shipping line.

Most significantly, there have been no significant reported damages to any of the units transported by Maersk since 2019, with almost 13000 cars shipped to date. The safety and security of the vehicles have also improved significantly, as once the car is locked in the container, it isn’t accessible by anyone until it reaches the end customer.

As a next step, Toyota Gibraltar is looking to explore different destination services offered by Maersk, to further enhance the final leg of the journey as well as end-to-end cargo visibility.

Through our weekly shipping services, wider network of ports and better overall security, we’re delighted to be able to provide TGS with a robust and reliable transportation solution, and we’re excited to keep building on it in the years to come.