Solving project cargo challenges by thinking outside the box

As a project cargo centered logistics company, the Fracht Group uses innovative rail car designs and other unconventional solutions to ensure delivery of more than 450 extremely large shipments annually for utility, oil and gas, and industrial customers in the USA alone. From power plants, substations and refineries to industrial and construction equipment, project cargo presents complex challenges that require strategic planning and creativity to get monumental items from point A to point B.

The Project Cargo Challenge

“Every project is different and faces unique challenges because of cargo sizes and weights,” explains Benjamin Liewald, EVP Projects at Fracht North America. Cargo is getting larger every year, as extremely large modules come pre-assembled from overseas to be installed in facilities across North America. And as cargo becomes heavier, so does the equipment needed to transport the freight.

Liewald sees aging infrastructure as the greatest impediment to project cargo deliveries. With more than 40,000 U.S. bridges categorized as “structurally deficient” according to the U.S. Department of Transportation 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Fracht focuses on finding ways to mitigate the risk of this unreliable infrastructure.

In addition, Liewald says this increases project cargo lead times, as they study bridges and routes, obtain permits, meet clearances, and plan for road and intersection closures.

“When preparing a project, we have to consider all transport modes, ports, routes, and carriers,” Liewald adds. “That means people with the right experience and expertise are our greatest assets.” Fracht maintains a technical transport engineering department, and a specialized rail team and rail fleet, however, Liewald says a limited number of qualified resources in the industry to handle heavy transport presents another challenge – so training and developing resources is paramount. For this reason, Fracht is investing in the future by establishing a two-year apprenticeship program enabling interns to gain certificates as logistics professionals.

Engineering Trains

Rail is a key to Fracht’s ability to move project cargo. It all started in 2014 with a transmission line project, shipping 16 heavy lift transformers, each weighing 350 metric tons to Alberta, Canada. Fracht needed 16-axle rail cars to handle the load, but since only two were available on the market at the time, Fracht made a multi-million-dollar investment to build two additional rail cars for the project – saving $600,000 per trip and cutting delivery time in half.

“This was the first time Fracht invested in this type of asset,” Liewald says. “Ten years later the company operates a fleet of more than 50 specialized rail cars, with different designs, axle counts and sizes.”

The rail car requirements are designed in-house by Fracht engineers. Features include 8 to 18 axles to distribute heavy loads; longer decks to accommodate large items; depressed center platforms for tall cargo; and the ability to shift the car or the load horizontally or vertically to avoid obstructions. In addition, the new generation of Fracht rail cars are built with compressed T1 steel to minimize the weight of the transport. To accompanying project cargo loads on the journey, Fracht deploys six specially outfitted cabooses, refurbished to provide living spaces for rail car operators – including bunk beds and kitchens.

Putting these rail car designs into action, a recent Fracht project completed in summer 2024 involved delivery of a reactor vessel to a fertilizer plant in Louisiana. One large unit spanned two consecutive rail cars, utilizing customized saddles, clamps and turntables so the train could navigate curves while still securing the cargo.

The Great Flood

Demonstrating just how difficult project cargo can be, one very challenging Fracht project comprised shipping a complete power plant from China to Alberta – with 55 heavy lifts and 120,000 FRT of other cargo – in the middle of a global pandemic and shipping crisis.

From 2021 to 2023 Fracht outmaneuvered multiple obstacles including port congestion, lack of vessel space, and sky rocketing shipping costs. Making matters even worse, British Columbia – one of the main corridors for inbound cargo movement to Alberta – was inundated by massive flooding and landslides that washed out highways and disrupted major rail lines.

Thinking outside the box, Fracht chartered dedicated ships and moved the project cargo and hundreds of standard shipping containers through small ports on the West coast, Gulf and Great Lakes. In addition, with a ship at anchorage outside the Port of Vancouver – which was shut down at the time – Fracht transported one shipment on supply barges to a nearby private pier.

A Bridge to Success

One of Fracht’s most compelling project cargo case studies exemplifies the company’s ingenuity in the face of infrastructure challenges. In 2020, Fracht delivered two 300-ton transformers to a substation in Manitoba, Canada, that originally required crossing a single long-span bridge – the only road into the site. After in-depth analysis, Fracht determined that the bridge could not support the weight, and rebuilding the structure would have taken years and cost millions of dollars.

Fracht’s solution was to completely bypass the bridge, designing and constructing a temporary crossing via a frozen river. Filling the riverbed with 380 truckloads of locally sourced limestone, covered with wooden mats for extra support, Fracht built an alternative roadway to deliver the transformers to the final destination. Fracht protected the soil underneath with environmentally friendly Geo-matting, and later removed the limestone and restored the river to its original condition.

“The units were delivered safely, and together with our customer we proved that if we can’t find a road to success, we are going to build one,” Liewald says.

Continued Growth

Fracht expects continued growth of its project cargo business over the next few years, driven by increasing energy demand and the need for investment in the electrical infrastructure, which in turns requires more inventive solutions as project cargo expands in weight and size.

“We are continuing to serve our clients by researching new and innovative designs in the rail and heavy transport sector to meet the growing demand and challenges of moving their heavy cargoes,” Liewald reveals, adding that some interesting new Fracht designs are in the works, with announcements expected in 2025.