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3 000 containers and a shift from road to barge in Deurne

Gosselin supports animal feed producer Depre Veevoeding with terminal container transport and inland waterway barge shipments between Deurne and the port of Antwerp, cutting thousands of truck movements from the road.

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3,000th container

Milestone since the partnership began

37% shift to barge

Of all 20-foot containers now moved by water

Just-in-time export flow

Flexible scheduling, minimal storage needed

Terberg site-to-site link

Direct terminal tractor connection to Gosselin

Executive summary

Taking thousands of trucks off the road

Depre Veevoeding, a custom animal feed producer in Deurne, recently loaded its 3 000th container since starting a logistics partnership with neighbouring Gosselin. The collaboration links Depre Veevoeding's production site directly to Gosselin's terminal and the port of Antwerp, combining local container transport with inland waterway barge shipping. Around 37% of the 20-foot, 25-tonne containers now move by barge instead of truck, removing an estimated 2 220 road trips from the network.

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The challenge

Limited storage and mounting road congestion

Depre Veevoeding produces made-to-order animal feed in Deurne and packs it directly into containers for export, leaving little room for on-site storage. Just-in-time delivery to the port is essential, but growing road congestion around Antwerp, including disruption linked to the Oosterweel infrastructure works, made truck-based transport increasingly unpredictable. After learning through Gosselin's staff magazine that nearby terminal operations were expanding, Depre Veevoeding's management saw an opportunity to rethink how containers moved between its site and the quays, seeking a more sustainable, reliable alternative to road-only transport.

A dedicated inland link with barge transport to the port

Gosselin now handles the full container flow between Depre Veevoeding's Deurne site and its own terminal, using a Terberg terminal tractor for the short inland leg. From the terminal, export containers are consolidated into Gosselin's port logistics network, with a significant share moved onward to the port of Antwerp by inland waterway barge rather than by road. Gosselin's account manager describes the approach as part of a broader effort to build modal shift into container logistics wherever barge transport offers a viable alternative to trucking. Because Depre Veevoeding works with tight, ad hoc timeframes and minimal buffer storage, the service is built around flexible scheduling and close, ongoing coordination between both operational teams.

the impact

Thousands of truck trips avoided through modal shift

The partnership has removed a substantial share of container traffic from local roads since it began. Of all 20-foot, 25-tonne containers handled for Depre Veevoeding, 37% now travel by barge rather than truck, equivalent to around 1 110 containers and roughly 2 220 avoided one-way truck journeys to date. This modal shift eases pressure on a road network already affected by ongoing infrastructure works, while giving Depre Veevoeding a more predictable link between production and export. The just-in-time nature of the operation is preserved because terminal transport and barge scheduling are coordinated directly with the production site, rather than relying solely on trucking capacity. Both companies see room to shift further volumes to water transport as the collaboration continues to grow.

conclusion

A growing, sustainable export flow for animal feed

Reaching 3 000 containers highlights how closely aligned terminal transport and barge logistics can support a time-critical, export-driven production flow. For Depre Veevoeding, it also opens room to grow export volumes while continuing to shift container movements from road to inland waterway.