WTCC Containers and Electronic Tracking Devices

When the cars and equipment are loaded in the race trucks, the teams can rely on the Truckies, to transport everything safely. ITS WHAT WE ARE VERY GOOD AT !!

Tracking device fitted to a container door.

But after we have loaded the containers in Antwerp and ensured that everything is safe and secured with ratchet straps, how do we know what happens next? The answer is the Electronic Tracking Device.
DHL have fitted these to the containers and everything is monitored in real time.
Maybe the truck driver, taking the container to the port, is driving like a maniac and does not realise that his hard braking and fast cornering can damage this expensive cargo. Or the crane driver, lifting and lowering the containers, is giving them a rather hard landing. Even the boat could hit a storm at sea, causing the containers to move violently.

This week, in Brazil, we have all opened the doors to our containers and hoped that nothing has moved or been damaged. DHL and Weitracon are there to help us assess and advise the teams if anything has happened.

When I started this blog, my first story was titled, "Stick it in a box, and open after Christmas"
This may have given you, the reader, the impression that we just load up and forget about what happens.

But all the Truckies ARE worried. When the

A damaged castor is repaired

containers are opened, something catastrophic may greet us. The tracking devices can be used as evidence if any insurance claims are necessary and have to be made.

Castor wheels, which are fitted to tyre trolleys, Lista cases and tool boxes, can be particularly vulnerable to collapsing. In an ideal world, you should put blocks of wood under everything so that the wheels are not touching the floor of the containers. But a limited space in the container means that this is not always physically possible.

The Truckies put a lot of love into loading containers and we would like all of that love back when we open them !!!!!!!

You can see from the screen shots, the sort of information that is recorded whilst the containers are being moved. After this weekends racing, the containers will be loaded again, travel by road to Paranagua,Brazil, put on to a ship and slowly make their way to San Francisco, via the Panama Canal.
And when the containers arrive in the USA, the Truckies will repeat this weeks process and get everything ready again.
 

The containers can take up to 3 hours to be loaded after the race. Most teams make a plan of how everything fits neatly inside and this is a chance for a Truckie to take charge and supervise the team members whilst the containers are loaded. It is no good if the Truckies are inside the containers. They should be outside, deciding which boxes go in first, where they are positioned and how they should be secured. I have seen the mayhem caused when this rule is not observed. Nobody knows which box to bring, where it goes and you just end up with a big, big mess.

To move the WTCC around the world, takes approximately 30 containers with over 200 tons of cars and equipment inside. WEITRACON and DHL are vital to the teams and highly respected by the Truckies. They advise the Truckies with regard to customs paperwork, dangerous goods and how they should be labelled and packaged, safe loading practices, and seem to be able to answer all of our questions, no matter how big or small.
They are also the ones who ensure that forklifts, car ramps, and additional loading personnel are always available at each race track. The Truckies know that their job would be much more time consuming, chaotic and extremely difficult without this help.

Personally, I think it is such a shame that we cannot bring the race trucks to all the races. The sight of a paddock, with all of the trucks lined up, is all part of the motor sport show. In Formula 1, Bernie Ecclestone knows the amazing effect that the trucks can make in a paddock. Most of the times, the hospitality areas look directly at the trucks, and that is where the "money men" and the "beautiful people" spend their time. But the logistics and costs to take race trucks to races around the world exceeds even the huge amounts of money which is available and is spent in Formula 1. And the WTCC, definitely........ doesn,t have the money. Some of the countries that the WTCC visits are denied this part of the "show" and it is such a great shame for motor sport fans, and the circuit owners. I would love to drive on Brazilian roads or even have to slow down to negotiate some of the huge potholes that exist on China,s road system. But it will never happen. All the Truckies can do, is try to imagine that the containers are like our race trucks and make sure everything inside, stays undamaged, while they are moved around the globe.

Checking the steel cables that will support the weight of each container when it is lifted

A crane in the Curitiba paddock, ready to remove the containers