"We are entering the new year with confidence"
Burkhard Eling, CEO of DACHSER, looks back on the year 2023, which was characterized by overcapacity, rising inflation and volatile conditions for the industry - in short: the special boom in logistics has come to an end. Nevertheless, there is good reason to start 2024 full of confidence and thirst for action.
“We can look back on a year in which global supply chains have largely eased and normalized again. At the same time, however, the combination of overcapacity and high inflation caused new upheavals, particularly in air and sea freight. It is clear that the special boom in logistics came to an end in 2023.
Relaxation and normalization – as logisticians and global citizens, we operate in volatile structures and conditions to which these two terms do not apply. Geopolitical upheavals and long-term structural trends will continue to result in high and rising costs, for example for energy, personnel and transport partners. In addition, we must continue to invest significantly in digitalization and automation as well as climate protection measures in order to be able to offer our services with convincing quality in the future.
Fruits of the strategic orientation
Like the entire industry, the transformation presents us with a Herculean task. Nevertheless, we have good reason to enter the new year with confidence. Because we are following a clear plan – our 2030 vision. We know where we want to go – for our customers – and have already reaped the first fruits of our strategic orientation: The digital transformation at DACHSER is progressing rapidly. Our climate protection measures are moving the entire company forward. We have significantly expanded our own network with acquisitions in the Netherlands, Australia, South Africa and Italy. Above all, however, we are gradually expanding our range of global end-to-end transport solutions for groupage. The pilot projects to interlink operational processes in air and sea freight with European land transportation are successful. The tangible benefits are already convincing a number of global customers. With these successful projects, we are taking a lot of momentum into the new year.”