Thirty-three new tractor units and trailers have arrived at the Port of Liverpool to serve its existing Royal Seaforth Container Terminal and the new Liverpool2 development.

The fleet of YT222 tractors and Seacom 70 tonne trailers represents an investment of more than £2.6 million in container handling equipment and will complement the new semi-automated CRMG cranes for L2 that are currently being commissioned.

Supplied by Terberg and its partner Briggs Equipment, the vehicles will initially focus on integrated operations between the two Liverpool terminals throughout the phased opening of L2.

Colin Darroch, Head of Container Operations, said: “It’s very important that we maximise efficiency throughout the port and its two terminals. After looking across the market we decided on Terberg’s vehicles as meeting our exacting performance and reliability specifications for the job as well as being cost-effective. We will also be introducing segregated lanes for the tractors and hauliers to further improve traffic flows.”

Richard Woodings, Head of Sales, UK and Ireland at Terberg added: “Having worked with Peel Ports for 20 years we are delighted that they have chosen to continue using our vehicles as they enter this new chapter.”

An extensive training programme has been put in place, providing additional opportunities for straddle-carrier drivers as well as new recruits.

It is expected that the port will take an additional 15 tractors and trailers as throughput at L2 increases.