Pallet exchange costs up to 6.72 euros
It cost up to 6.72 euros in the first half of 2022 to change a pallet within the framework of general cargo and system logistics for the Europallet exchange procedure. This was determined by the German Association of Freight Forwarders and Logistics (DSLV) in a study it commissioned from the consulting firm Forlogic. The amount describes the expense incurred by forwarding companies for the management of unloaded flat pallets.
Source: DSLV Federal Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics
40,000 truck parking spaces missing
On the A 61 in Koblenz, the urgently needed expansion of a truck parking area was prevented at the local political level. This was publicly criticised by the Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal (BGL) – pointing out that there is a shortage of around 40,000 parking spaces along motorways nationwide in Germany. The association says “sitting out” the parking problem is not a realistic option.
Source: BGL
Euro VI trucks emit an average of 708 milligrams of nitrogen oxide per kilowatt hour
The maximum limit for the emission of hazardous nitrogen oxides by Euro VI trucks is set by law at 460 milligrams per kilowatt hour. A measurement by the German Environment Association (Deutsche Umwelthilfe, DUH) has now shown that many vehicles exceed this value by a significant factor: Almost half of them exceeded the limit; the average value was 708 milligrams of nitrogen oxide per kilowatt hour.
Source: Deutsche Umwelthilfe
355 aid transports to Ukraine
By the end of December 2022, the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (BMI) had brought 355 aid transports to Ukraine and neighbouring countries, many of them with volunteers from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW).
Source: BMI
%
1.5 per cent more freight transport volume
For freight transport, the Federal Office for Goods Transport (BAG) expects an overall modal increase of 1.5 percent in freight transport volume and 2.2 percent in freight transport performance for 2024.
Source: BAG
%
84 percent know about the importance of supply security
84 per cent of Germans recognise that supply security for the population with goods is of great importance. Accordingly, they are not hostile to logistics settlements. This is the result of a survey conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the logistics real estate consultant Logivest
Source: Logivest
%
Gross domestic product increased by 1.8 per cent
According to ifo Institute, the gross domestic product in Germany will increase by 1.8 percent in 2022 and decline slightly by 0.1 percent in 2023. For 2024, the institute then expects growth of 1.6 percent again.
Source: Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung an der Universität München e. V.
%
higher shipment-related costs in the general cargo market
Shipment-related costs in the general cargo market increased by 10.1 per cent in the first half of 2022. The value had already grown by 9 per cent in the second half of 2021. The DSLV Federal Association of Freight Forwarders and Logisticsclaims that this is due to the continuous increase in energy and fuel costs as well as personnel and material costs
Source: DSLV Federal Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics
Global supply chain pressure indicates slight easing
Supply chain stress continues to ease: In September 2022, the Global Supply Chain Pressure Index was at 1.05 – a further drop from 1.51 in the previous month. The value is regarded as a simple measure of pressure in global supply chains.
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York
%
of land transport companies were still paying less than the new minimum wage in June
Since 1 October 2022, the statutory minimum wage has been 12 euros per hour. It was introduced in 2015 at 8.50 euros gross wage and then increased in several steps to 10.45 euros in July 2022. According to the Ifo Institute, the increases in 2022 also mean a significant increase in real terms despite high inflation rates. In land transport, according to a survey in June 2022, 47 per cent of companies still paid wages below 12 euros; across all companies the figure was 31 per cent.
Source: ifo Institute
600 Mio. €
has DHL invested in electric mobility in 2022
In Berlin, DHL has recently started to operate a solar-powered transport ship on the River Spree. With a propulsion power of five kilowatts and a speed of up to twelve kilometres per hour, it transports several hundred shipments a day from the South Port in Spandau to to the West Port. According to its own information, the company already delivers letters and parcels in a CO2-neutral manner in 50 per cent of the delivery districts in the capital – with around 1,000 e-vehicles and more than 1,700 electric cargo bikes.
Source: DHL
5 centimetres slowed down heavy transports
On 1 August 2022, the Autobahn GmbH reduced the permitted height of heavy goods vehicles to 4.25 metres – from 4.30 metres previously. This made it impossible for manufacturers of trucks and agricultural machinery to reliably drive their products to customers. However, with the support of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), a new height maximum of 4.35 metres was set, even more than before.
Source: Handelsblatt
%
22 percent of German logistics companies use AI
According to a survey by the digital association Bitkom, the logistics branch is a pioneer in the use of artificial intelligence (ai): one in five companies in the sector is already actively using AI (22 per cent), and another 26 per cent plan to use it or are talking about it. More than 400 logistics service providers, i.e. transport logistics (land transport, shipping, aviation), warehousing and postal, courier and express services with 20 or more employees were surveyed.
Source: Bitkom
%
11.23 per cent of goods stuck on container ships
In September 2022, 11.23 per cent of goods on container ships were found to be in a waiting position – slightly less than the month before, when the figure was 11.39 per cent.
Source: Fleetmon, Ifw-Berechnungen
%
92 per cent of hauliers are struggling with rising overall costs
The German transport logistics industry continued to struggle with sharply rising costs in the second quarter of 2022. 92 per cent see themselves confronted with increased overall costs, 68.5 per cent with higher personnel costs, 82 per cent with increased vehicle costs and 85.5 per cent with increased fuel costs. These were the results of an economic analysis conducted every three months by the BGL German Road Haulage, Logistics and Waste Management Association.
Source: BGL
Lorry mileage fell by 1.4 percent in July
In July, 1.4 percent fewer trucks for which tolls have to be paid were on the road on German federal highways than in June – according to the calendar- and seasonally-adjusted figures from the Federal Office for Goods Transport (BAG) and the Federal Statistical Office. Compared with the same month last year, the calendar-adjusted index was even 1.6 percent lower. Truck mileage can provide early indications of current economic trends in the industry.
Source: DVZ
Rhine level is under 1 metre
At the beginning of August, the level of the Rhine River dropped below 1 metre: 93 centimetres was reported on 8.8. In the past 20 years, the water has only been lower three times, in 2003, 2011 and 2018. Transport ships have to reduce their cargo so that they do not run aground. They usually need around 1.50 metres to be able to sail fully loaded. If less is loaded it drives up transport costs.
Source: Capital, Wirtschaftswoche
USA sells 11.2 billion cubic feet of LNG per day
The USA has become the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas. In the first six months of 2022, it sold an average of 11.2 billion cubic feet of LNG to other countries per day. The reasons for this include increased demand on the global market, especially in Europe, and higher international prices for natural gas and LNG.
Source: Cedigaz
200,000 railway ties examined
Deutsche Bahn inspected around 200,000 concrete train ties on tracks throughout Germany because they could have been the cause of the serious train accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on June 3, 2022. The precautionary inspection caused restrictions in freight traffic: For example, Berlin’s Westhafen port remained closed to freight trains for several weeks.
Source: Berliner Zeitung
Driving a truck from 17?
The SPD and CDU parliamentary groups in Lower Saxony have introduced a motion in parliament that would make accompanied driving possible at the age of 17, also for the HGV driving licence. If those interested in the profession leave school at the age of 16, they would then no longer have to wait two years to take the driving test.
Source: DVZ
%
19 per cent fewer parcels carried by Deutsche Post in Q1 2022
The parcel boom slowed somewhat again in the first quarter of 2022, according to Deutsche Post DHL: the Group carried 19 per cent fewer items in this period than in the exceptionally strong prior-year period – but now expects volumes to increase again. Post chief financial officer Melanie Kreis said the expectation was that there would be “structural dynamic growth, as we saw before the Covid pandemic.”
Source: DPA
%
Price of pallet wood rises by 78 per cent
Pallet wood continues to get more expensive: it costs 78 per cent more in April 2022 than in the previous month. It is already the fifth increase in a row and compared to the beginning of 2020, it has even more than tripled. This is shown by the solid wood price index for wooden pallets.
Source: BUNDESVERBAND HOLZPACKMITTEL, PALETTEN, EXPORTVERPACKUNG E.V
%
85 percent of companies miss digital technologies in the supply chain
Due to the pandemic-related delays in the supply chain, three-fourth of the companies surveyed in a McKinsey study have problems with their supplier base, production and distribution. But there is also a lack of digital technologies:, among other things, make the supply chain more transparent and thus enable better planning: 85 per cent said they struggled with this. Nine out of ten managers want to change this.
Source: MCKINSEY
Euro VI trucks
to pay 0.7 to 1.9 cents more per kilometer in tolls
According to a draft by the Federal Ministry of Transport to amend the Federal Long-distance Road Toll Act, the charges for the HGV toll in Germany are to increase at the beginning of 2023. The main reason for this is the new partial toll rates for the air pollution and noise pollution costs caused. Trucks with emission class VI are to pay 0.7 to a maximum of 1.9 cents more per kilometre, Euro II trucks up to 10 cents more.
Source: DVZ
China overtakes USA by 2026
The Asia-Pacific region is currently the largest international contract logistics market by region – with a volume of approximately 94.6 billion euros. According to the British market researchers from Transport Intelligence (TI), the value is expected to grow to 102.7 billion by 2022. In the process, China alone will overtake the volume of the USA by 2026, according to the experts. In 2021, the global contract logistics market is expected to grow by 7.1 percent which is above expectations of 6.5 percent.
Source: TRANSPORT INTELLIGENCE
%
Profits of the top forwarders grow by 49.1 per cent in 2021
The turnover of six globally active logistics companies rose to 149.7 billion in 2021 – 49.1 per cent more than in the previous year. DHL, Kühne + Nagel (KN), DB Schenker, DSV, Expeditors and C.H. Robinson more than doubled their EBIT by 105.2 per cent to 10.91 billion euros. Expeditors leads the way with 11.6 per cent.
Source: DVZ
12 per cent of all shipped goods are stuck in traffic jams
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), about 12 per cent of all goods shipped worldwide were stuck in April 2022 – because the number of shipping containers in congestion has increased again. In 2021, the figure was only higher in two months.
Source: Süddeutsche Zeitung
3 research institutes and 16 companies launch study on driver shortage
A consortium of three research institutes and 16 companies is launching a study to investigate the causes and consequences of driver shortages for transport companies and their customers, and what can be done to counter them. Under the title “Meeting capacity bottlenecks in logistics”, recommendations for action, solutions and roadmaps are to be developed. Results will already be published later this year at: logistik-digitalisierung.de
Source: Christian Kille
25 per cent more turnover in transport and storage
In the fourth quarter of 2021, the transport and warehousing sector recorded high turnover growth of 25 per cent compared to the same period last year. The aviation sector was particularly pleased: it doubled its turnover.
Source: DESTATIS
Almost every third truck driver is over 55 years old
There is already a shortage of about 80,000 drivers in transport and logistics. 32.4 percent of the drivers currently on the road are over 55 years old – about 180,000 men and women. When they retire in the next ten years, the existing shortage will worsen considerably.
Source: Study by the Competence Centre for Securing Skilled Labour (Kofa) at the Institute of the German Economy (IW)
350 parking spaces at Europe’s best truck rest area
In the first awarding of the title “European Truck Parking of the Year”, the Truck Etape Beziers rest area on the A9 in southern France won. In addition to 350 parking spaces, it offers good sanitary facilities, a shuttle service to a nearby hotel and a 24-hour restaurant where truck drivers can eat for 30 percent less. Guests can watch broadcasts of football matches, actively play football and petanque themselves – or rent a bicycle free of charge to ride to the nearest town or to the beach 10 kilometres away.
Source: European Organisation for Safe Parking (ESPORG)
%
15 per cent less goods underway on the Red Sea
The Red Sea is one of the most important shipping trade routes between Europe and Asia. According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), 15 percent fewer goods than usual are currently on the move there. This suggests that the measures China is using to combat the coronavirus variant Omikron could again lead to congestion and thus slow down global logistics chains.
Source: Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
million euros in damage due to cargo theft
Despite the Corona lockdowns, there were many cases of cargo theft again in 2021: the German Insurance Association (GDV) estimates the insurance loss in Germany alone at around 300 million euros.
Source: GDV
IT professionals missing
Digitalisation increasingly lacks personnel: According to Bitkom, 96,000 positions for IT professionals across all sectors were unfilled in 2021 – 12 percent more than the year before. “Digitisation is the answer to the pandemic, location competition and climate crisis, but there is a lack of experts to shape and drive digitisation,” says Bitkom President Achim Berg. “The tight situation on the IT labour market is slowing down digitisation.”
Source: Bitkom e.V.
%
10 per cent weaker economy due to shift back of international production
Global supply chains do not weaken the German economy, they actually strengthen it: according to the Ifo Institute in Munich, a shift back of international production would reduce German economic output by almost 10 percent. This is because less competitive activities would then suddenly gain large shares in the mix of German value added and reduce productivity.
Source: Ifo-Institut
%
increase in the price index for pallet wood
Prices for pallet wood are rising again: In January 2022, the solid wood price index for wooden pallets increased by 4 percent compared to December 2021. Previously, it had been declining since September. At 349 points, the index is 59 percent higher than the previous year’s level, and even 123 percent higher compared to the beginning of 2020.
Source: www.dvz.de
Every 7th euro goes into e-commerce
Prices for pallet wood are rising again: In January 2022, the solid wood price index for wooden pallets increased by 4 percent compared to December 2021. Previously, it had been declining since September. At 349 points, the index is 59 percent higher than the previous year’s level, and even 123 percent higher compared to the beginning of 2020.
Source: Bundesverband Holzpackmittel, Paletten, Exportverpackung e.V.
322 Takeovers announced in the transport and logistics industry
According to the transport and logistics barometer of the auditing firm PWC, never before have so many deals with a value of more than 50 million US dollars been announced on the transaction market in the transport and logistics industry worldwide as in 2021: There were 322 takeovers – which means an increase of around 32 percent compared to the previous year. The number of megadeals with a volume of more than 1 billion dollars each has also more than doubled.
Source: PWC
5 months Order backlog for semiconductors
Semiconductors are still in short supply – yet the German electrical and digital industry urgently needs supplies to meet the planned growth. According to the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI), the demand for microchips is currently significantly higher than the production volume available worldwide. ZVEI does not expect any improvement before mid-2022.
Source: German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI)
