Think regional, act international

Company background of CargoLine GmbH, Dietzenbach (as of December 2010)

On April 26, 1993, seven transport and logistics companies founded CargoLine GmbH with the aim of creating a co-operating group of medium-sized companies that could reliably carry out transportation throughout the whole of Europe while maintaining the same high standard of work quality for all group partners.

Seventeen years later, CargoLine, headquartered in Dietzenbach near Frankfurt (Main), comprises 45 middle-market partner companies throughout Germany. In 2010 this group of companies had 11.1 million general cargo shipments and, with 6,592 employees, earned more than 1.3 billion euros. The cooperation provides a good 1,500 direct journeys a day, operates a central hub, one hub for consignments destined for other European countries as well as two regional hubs for collective dispatches, and moves 3,007 swap bodies and 4,042 transport units. This ensures rapid dispatch and punctual delivery of goods transported throughout Europe. In addition, the group focuses on the areas of distribution, procurement and contract logistics.

Along with a high standard of quality and comprehensive services, the group is distinguished by modern IT systems, a strong European network and, above all, by working in close co-operation with the customer.

Middle-market – European – and strong

The 45 domestic partners however, are not only strong in unison. Each individual member is an established company in its own home town, with its own history and established customer base. All partners are medium-sized and mostly owner-operated, meaning decision-making processes are often short, there is a strong focus on customer relationship, and customer loyalty is high. This combination of an extensive network and strong regional bases is one of CargoLine’s major strengths.

Across Europe, CargoLine has also built up a network of strong partners in order to process transportation outside the borders of Germany in a reliable manner and with consistently high quality. The circle of co-operating companies stretches from the Scandinavian countries to Denmark, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Spain to Portugal and from Switzerland to Austria, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia to Bulgaria. Fifteen of these countries are already connected to the hub, thus continuously increasing the number of daily pan-European transport journeys. Thanks to a co-operation with logistics company M&M Militzer & Münch, CargoLine is able to offer transports to and from the Maghreb, all of Eastern Europe, the CIS, and the Middle East, too.

Another distinguishing feature of the company is its key account management. This is now customary in large companies but continues to be rarely found in middle-market enterprises. At CargoLine, the key account management looks after customers with complex requirements, several sites and/or large volumes, and processes invitations to tender. Just like in a large company, consignors benefit from one single point of contact, uniform processes and consolidated invoices.

Customised products and services

In these times of just-in-time-/just-in-sequence production, businesses must be able to rely on the punctual arrival of raw materials or goods. This is why CargoLine has developed a range of products that can be tailored exactly to a consignor's requirements and those of their customers.

With NightLine, CargoLine covers system transportation. Within 24 hours of average journey time the group transports loads to any required place within Germany and within 24 to 96 hours to any place in Europe.

If loads have to be with the recipient by a particular time on the next or any other working day, CargoLine will employ NightLinePlus to ensure delivery by 8 a.m., 10 a.m., noon or between 6 and 10 p.m. anywhere in Germany and even in select European countries. With NightLine NextDay, CargoLine offers delivery on the next working day following collection between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m or during normal business hours.

NightLineFix offers the delivery of general cargo shipments on a precisely specified day, not the day before or after, if collection is at least two days prior to the specified delivery date.

The latest addition to the NightLine portfolio is NightLineEurope NextDay which offers delivery of general cargo directly to the recipient in many Central European countries within 24 hours (collection day A, delivery day B).

The group uses ServiceLine not only to transport goods from A to B. Unpacking the delivery, returning the packaging and many other services are also part of this product. Even if the task requires two pairs of hands.

In the field of procurement logistics, CargoLine uses OrderLine to ensure targeted and timely delivery of vendor parts, raw materials, goods, containers or return shipments throughout Europe.

Contract logistics: In Germany alone, CargoLine has more than 1.6 million square metres of warehouse space at its disposal which the group uses for supply chain management, goods inward, warehousing, picking, packing, goods dispatch processes to exact deadlines and much more. Combined with its own seamless general cargo network, the cooperation is able to provide the one-stop-shopping more and more often required by businesses. This is a service only few contract logistics companies who operate their own network can offer .

Certified quality. "Am Stück. Gut."

In order to be able to guarantee the same high product quality at any time with 45 domestic partners and some 25 abroad, CargoLine has not only had the distribution of shipments generally certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2008, that is to say loads of up to 3,000 kg within a period of 24 hours. Systemised part-load transports with time guarantee, i.e. NightLinePlus, NightLine NextDay, NightLineEurope NextDay and NightLineFix, have also been certified. When carrying out the certification audits, therefore, an external examiner not only checked the usual interfaces for shipments but also the individual quality features. Several times a year, independent auditors as well as an in-house member of staff responsible for quality ensures that all partners are at all times keeping to the quality criteria laid down.

In addition, the partners are HACCP certified, entitling them to store and transport packaged foodstuffs in accordance with the strict HACCP regulations that were implemented January 1st, 2006.

The latest addition to the quality certification according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2008 is the area of contract logistics. A handbook provides the basis, in which typical basic contract logistics procedures are set out in standardised form. This handbook has been supplemented by all partners with customer-specific procedures such as display construction, commissioning, fitting, quality testing or other services. That way customers can rely on the fact that standards and quality are identical at different locations just like with a matrix organisation, and that this can be tested by means of binding, written criteria.

Furthermore CargoLine has been certified in accordance with DIN EN ISO 14001 environmental management standards and as such is the first general cargo network in Germany to be certified in the four areas of environmental, quality and food safety management as well as contract logistics at the same time. The cooperation doesn’t stop there, though: Certification includes subcontractors, too, as these often cover the last mile of a consignment’s journey. That way the group ensures the same transport quality all the way right to the customer.

In addition, CargoLine has become a member of s.a.f.e., an association working to increase safety and security in freight companies.

Track & Trace - "CEPRA" provides clarity

At CargoLine, modern IT makes an important contribution in matters of quality and customer satisfaction. For instance, cleverly devised software allows for efficient work planning in the hub, with the dispatching carrier's IT system sending out in advance load-specific data on volume and recipient. During loading and unloading in the hub the software is constantly providing information on the status of the tasks, allowing employees in the hub to give priority treatment to time-sensitive transport.

CEPRA II, CargoLine's Track & Trace system, is a response to the frequently made request by businesses for an online system to follow up the status of dispatches, ideally with automatic reporting of dispatch status. CEPRA II is compatible with all customer-specific in-house IT systems. This means that customers, by using the Internet, are able at any time to find their packages within the logistics chain and plan business procedures. At the customer's request, the system will also provide the customer automatically with information – in real time by email and fax – about the status of the transport load in question. Customers are also able to receive the delivery note with digital signature via the Internet. That way they can initiate immediate invoicing according to shipment based on existing real data, thus creating liquidity advantages.

In view of the growing number of shipments across Europe, CargoLine is working at full blast to complete the area-wide electronic Track & Trace system across Europe. Customers can already obtain information such as “delivery is pending” and “delivered” as well as the digitally archived proof of delivery in most countries.

Stabilty and optimisation - laying the foundations for tomorrow today

For quite some time now, large companies have taken over medium-sized shipping companies. In order to strengthen and protect the group as a whole, CargoLine has prolonged the cancellation period of its open-ended partner contracts in March 2008. That way, all partners have tied themselves to the cooperation until mid-2011. If a contract is not cancelled in observance of the agreed term of notice, it is automatically valid for another three years.

In order to guarantee the group’s success in the long run, CargoLine has introduced a results control system, meaning all partners have to have their financial results monitored regularly. That way the group realises more easily if one of the partners needs their support, and can act accordingly.

In addition, the group started a programme in 2005 to optimise process costs and another one in 2007 to continually improve processes. The aim of both measures is to stay as lean and efficient as possible as well as to integrate any potential offered by these programmes promptly into existing processes. These measures – very rarely found in middle-market cooperations – provide CargoLine with everything that is necessary to better guarantee the group’s stability and be a reliable partner in future, too.

Facts and figures (as of December 31, 2010)

Turnover -- 1.3 billion euros (+ 10.5 %)
Dispatches -- 11.1 million (+ 13.3 %)
      of these, international shipments -- 2.3 million (+ 4.6 %)
Total number of partners -- 45
      of these, shareholders -- 15
Employees -- 6,592
      of these, trainees -- 705 (= 10.7 %)
Number of direct journeys per day across Europe -- more than 1,500
      of these, direct line hauls in Germany -- 1,286
Number of swap bodies -- 3,007
Number of trucks -- 4,042

Shareholders

Amm GmbH & Co KG Spedition (Nuremberg), Spedition Balter GmbH & Co. KG (Mülheim-Kärlich), KG Bursped Speditions-GmbH & Co. (Hamburg), Jeschke Spedition GmbH (Hamburg), John Spedition GmbH (Eichenzell), Heinrich Koch Internationale Spedition GmbH & Co. KG (Osnabrück), Franz Lebert & Co., Intern. Spedition GmbH & Co. KG (Kempten), Hermann Maier Spedition KG (Singen), Mannheimer Transport-Gesellschaft Bayer GmbH (Mannheim), Nellen & Quack Logistik GmbH (Mönchengladbach), Pfefferkorn Spedition GmbH & Co KG (Heilbronn), Leopold Schäfer GmbH (Neunkirchen), Schäflein Spedition GmbH (Röthlein), Schmidt-Gevelsberg GmbH (Schwelm), L. Wackler Wwe. Nachf. GmbH (Göppingen)