FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

Well, it doesn’t – at all. This is because all negotiations and the conclusion of transport contracts take place directly (usually by telephone) between two partners – OUTSIDE our platform. Transport contracts are often so specific that the necessary online forms would have to be extremely complex in order to cover every possible scenario. Furthermore, the vast majority of stakeholders prefer direct and personal contact with their contractual partners. Online contracts therefore offer no advantages – which is why this option is not available.

No. No matter whether you offer a ship or a cargo at Bargelink: You decide if, when and with whom you conclude a transport contract. And if you do, it is done outside our platform and bi-directionally with your partner. So the business secret remains intact.

It’s about our neutrality: Bargelink is an absolut neutral provider of Bargelink.com and Railcargo-Online.com. We’ll never be part of any transport- or rental contract, sell or buy any assets nor participate in any other business contact between the users of the system. All proceedings or negotiations between users will only take place outside the system and diretly among themselves.

The rule at Bargelink is: everyone sees only what others choose to show them. So YOU decide who can see your cargoes and/or vessel offers. When offering vessels or cargoes, you select the potential partners who can view your offers in the system. Furthermore, no one can see which offers you have viewed.

NONE! As operator of Railcargo-Online.com and Bargelink.com we concentrate solely on providing the two market places. So nothing such like consulting etc. This would be in conflict to our policy of neutrality.

Bargelink may be used on almost every european waterway. To simplify the use of Bargelink we “devided” in Europe in business ranges (in alphabetical order)

• Antwerp / Ghent
• Belgium
• Brandenburg / Odra
• Canal-rane north of Münster
• Canal-range south of Münster
• Centre-Bourgogne (France)
• Danube (Germany and Austria)
• Danube (Hungary  to Black Sea)
• High Rhine
• Lower Elbe
• Lower Rhine
• Main / Main-Danube-Canal
• Middellandcanal (est) / Middle ELbe
• Middellandcanal West) / Weser
• Middle Rhine / Mosel
• Mosel /Saar
• Netherland – North
• Netherlands – West
• Netherlands – South/East
• Nord / Pas de Calais (France)
• Nord-Est / Alsace (France)
• Pays de la Loire (France)
• Rhine / Main
• Rhine / Neckar
• Rhône-Saône (France)
• Seine-Champagne (France)
• Sud-Ouest (France)
• Upper Elbe
• Upper Rhine

Please use this maps to get a general view.

Railcargo-Online.com and Bargelink.com are market places – for ideas and opportunities. Unlike an freight exchange, where it’s about freight rates, conditions and a cheap jack. Freight exchanges could have the effect, that they are abused to increase price erosion. Depending on a market situation this can lead to a downward spiral of freigth rates. This is NOT our intention.

Negotiations take place outside the system, directly between potential partners. At Bargelink.com and Railcargo-Online.com it goes about concepts, quality and ideas, and not the cheap jack!

Yes, Bargelink can help to avoid empty sailings. This is because a ‘broader’ overview of the market allows you to discover cargo offers that might otherwise go unnoticed through traditional channels. After all, your usual partners may not have a complete overview of all available cargo. Offering your own barge to all key players in Europe via Bargelink increases the chances of operating at full capacity.

Yes, simply tick the box “Loading date is flexible” (to the right of “Loading on/from”) in the form for load offers. This information is then displayed in the overview list with all loads.

Yes – that’s now possible too. Instead of using the user’s name, cargoes or barges can now also be listed under a team name. You can also provide additional phone numbers (including WhatsApp and Signal)! Teams can be created by the superuser (on the Account/User/Superuser page).

It’s simple: open the details of your vessel or cargo offer by clicking on it. Below the status icon (green button with a tick), you’ll see a red button labelled ‘Deactivate offer’. Click on it and then confirm by selecting “Yes” in the pop-up window.

Incidentally, the status automatically changes to “no longer available” 24 hours after the “visible until” date, which is set when the offer is created. This ensures that offers which have already been completed are no longer displayed as “available” in the system.

Yes, users with a premium account can copy previously offered cargoes and ships. To do this, simply open the old offer and click on “Copy offer”. You can then update the following data in the new window: Loading on/off, loading from, visible from/to, quantity and the other information.

You may choose between three, six and twelve month subscription.

With a Bargelink Premium account, you can make full use of our system – including all filters and technical features:

• Logo upload
• Image upload
• Date filter
• Copy previous cargo or vessel offers
• Link to your own website

NO! All costs for the use of Bargelink.com are charged with your subscription. So there are no additional fees, commissions etc. by signing a transport- or service contract between users.

To create a new password, click on “Lost your password?” at the top right of the homepage. In the field that appears, please enter your login (username). You will receive an e-mail with instructions.

Offers at Bargelink are perceived much better if the provider has enriched his company profile with a logo and photos. Logos are then displayed for each ship and each cargo – in the overview list and in the detail window. A photo of the team or the ship, for example, can also be shown there. The placeholder image of MS Marta is then automatically exchanged for the uploaded image!

A premium account is required for this. Company logos and photos can be uploaded in the “Company profile” (Account menu). To do this, click on “Browse (select file)” and select the file with the logo. If the correct logo is displayed, then just click on “Update”. Photos are uploaded in the same way.

Originally the company was founded in Rotterdam as Bargelink.com N.V. on the 1st of january 2001. At the end of 2002, the company was taken over in a management-buy-out by Axel Götze-Rohen. As from 1st of january 2003 the company changed to Bargelink GmbH in Xanten.

Marta is Bargelink’s mascot. And she is our symbol for ‘cargo’. This is how the story of the ‘steel tomato’ came about: we were looking for a clear symbol for cargo that would encompass all possible types of goods. Freight transport and trade are often symbolised by containers, aren’t they? Or barrels, crates or mountains of coal. But we found all of that a bit too one-sided. So we looked for something different. And that’s how we came up with tomatoes. They have positive connotations all over the world. And to make a tomato look a bit… more impressive, we turned it into a massive “steel tomato”.

Bargelink is a family owned company. Shareholders are managing director Axel Götze-Rohen and Dr. Anja Rohen.

For charterers, we recommend the ‘Combi – Premium’ module. With this…

• you’ll have the perfect market compas
• your barges and cargo offers will reach over 1,200 barges and potential business partners across Europe
• you’ll gain an excellent overview of the market
• you’ll save yourself numerous phone calls and the hassle of sifting through hundreds of WhatsApp messages and emails
• you’ll make decisions based on market data – rather than on hearsay
• you’ll take full advantage of our system – including all filters and technical features

For shippers, we recommend the ‘Cargo’ module. With it…

• you’ll have the perfect market guide at your fingertips
• your cargo offers will reach over 1,200 vessels and almost 100 per cent of all logistics service providers (charterers) across Europe
• you’ll save yourself countless phone calls and the hassle of reading hundreds of WhatsApp messages and emails
• you’ll make decisions based on market data – rather than hearsay

Bargelink is the market place for all players in the european inland shipping business:

• Single barge owners
• Shipping companies
• Shippers from industry and trade
• Forwarders
• Ports
• Transshipment companies

For single barge owners (including those who ‘operate under a fixed-term contract with a charterer’), we recommend the ‘Barges’ module. This means…

• you have the perfect tool for navigating the market
• you can offer your barge across the entire European inland waterway market to virtually all charterers and numerous shippers
• you benefit from an excellent overview of the market, as
  • you can see which shipments are currently on offer
  • and which barges are available.
• you avoid numerous phone calls and WhatsApp messages
• you make decisions based on market data – rather than on rumours

Some smartphone mail apps have integrated “fake browsers”. If you try to open Bargelink.com via an e-mail in these mail apps, these integrated browsers may have difficulties to enter our system. Please open Bargelink always with a real browser.

Bargelink.com is available in German, Dutch, English and (new) in French.

Bargelink works perfect with:

• Firefox
• Safari
• Google Chrome
• Opera

Do NOT use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. This web browser always causes problems and is one of the most uncertain alternatives anyway!