VLI’s Uberaba Integrator Terminal marks 10 years with more than 57 million tonnes handled

VLI’s Uberaba Integrator Terminal (TIUB) marks 10 years of operation on Monday (29), after handling more than 57 million tonnes of grains, soybean meal and sugar over the past decade.

Located in Minas Gerais state, the terminal is part of VLI’s Southeast Corridor, which links Brazil’s Center-West to the Santos port region through the Centro-Atlântica Railway. The terminal moves soybeans, corn, soybean meal and sugar from producing regions onto rail for export and domestic distribution.

Built on an area of more than 5,400 square meters, TIUB is VLI’s largest terminal. It has annual handling capacity of 6.3 million tonnes of grains and an additional 2.4 million tonnes of sugar.

The terminal was designed to consolidate regional production and transfer cargo quickly and efficiently to rail. Its main operational advantage is a rail loop with two simultaneous loading lines, allowing trains to be assembled and dispatched continuously to the Luiz Antonio Mesquita Port Integrator Terminal, known as Tiplam, in Santos, São Paulo, and to other customer terminals in the region.

“The consolidation of the Uberaba Integrator Terminal over the past decade shows the strength of our multimodal model, which combines railways, ports and high-performance terminals,” said Marcelo Cardoso, VLI’s Southeast Corridor operations director. “TIUB is a competitiveness driver for Brazilian producers, created with a clear mission to optimize cargo flows and significantly reduce transit times. It is the largest terminal in our network, continues to grow and is ready for the demands of the coming decades.”

TIUB has high-capacity receiving and storage infrastructure, including five high-flow hydraulic truck dumpers for grains and three dedicated hoppers for sugar. It also has two warehouses capable of storing up to 120,000 tonnes of grains and 90,000 tonnes of sugar, a silo for 8,000 tonnes of grains, a product classification building, five truck scales, 14 rail scales for grains and 14 scales for sugar.

Automation and technology

The Uberaba terminal uses customized automated systems across its operations. The process begins before trucks arrive, with scheduling through VLI’s Trato app and automatic identification through tag readers at the gate.

Sampling and product classification are also automated, helping ensure export standards. Every stage of the operation is monitored through integrated systems.

To measure and manage inventories with greater precision, VLI uses a proprietary “smart warehouse” system developed in-house. The Industry 4.0 solution uses artificial intelligence to improve grain storage.

A robotic arm equipped with sensors and controlled from a command room analyzes grain piles in real time, assessing density and other properties. The system helps maximize storage capacity and prevent contamination between storage cells. It also reduces electricity consumption and shortens average unloading times.

TIUB operations manager Andiara Brasileiro said the terminal has also pioneered safety-focused technologies, including a locomotive interlocking system.

“This technology physically disables train movements in the rail loop whenever operators are on top of the wagons opening or closing hatches for loading. It eliminates the risk of radio communication failures between the train driver and operations teams,” she said.

Sustainability gains

TIUB’s operations also bring environmental and road-safety benefits. A single 80-wagon train dispatched from the terminal can carry the same volume as 135 large double-trailer trucks.

At peak harvest periods, the terminal dispatches an average of four trains per day. Its all-time record is seven trains in one day. That means more than 500 trucks can be kept off Brazil’s main highways every 24 hours, helping reduce the carbon footprint of the country’s agribusiness logistics.

Source: VLI

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