Experts in the transportation sector are excited about CargoBeamer, a new German transshipment technology designed to shift more truck freight to the railways. The innovative system could ease congestion on the roads and help the environment.

...The new technology is significantly different from other systems currently in use. Unlike the so-called "rolling highway" system, CargoBeamer doesn't involve placing entire trucks onto special flatcars. Nor are cranes used to reload the cargo, as in the "combined transport" system.

Instead, the tractor pulls the trailer onto a special steel palette and deposits it there. Gripper arms installed in the ground then pull the palette, complete with the trailer, sideways onto a freight car. The side plate of the freight car is then closed and the load is ready to be moved (see graphic).