38 countries - one network
Following a successful two-month pilot phase, Kuehne + Nagel yesterday officially took its Europe-wide groupage network into operation with daily line-haul services between 38 countries across the continent.
The network is based on a central hub in Haiger/Germany and seven regional hubs in Barcelona (Spain), Birmingham (UK), Milan (Italy), Malmö (Sweden), Paris (France), Warsaw (Poland), and Vienna (Austria).
Daily services linking these hubs, as well as between these hubs and the 80 Kuehne + Nagel offices connected to the network, ensure coverage across 38 European countries. Kuehne + Nagel is now able to offer competitive transit times for groupage cargo up to 2.5 tons, covering an area from Portugal to Estonia, and from Norway to Turkey.
Domestic collection / distribution is managed by the respective Kuehne + Nagel national companies, with the exception of seven countries, where Kuehne + Nagel works with local market leaders. All processes are supported by standardised IT systems that ensure high productivity levels and provide customers with shipment visibility via the internet.
The service further includes a specially developed calculation and simulation tool for easy transit time and rate information, helping customers significantly leverage their logistics planning processes.
"The launch of our European groupage network marks a further key step within our ambitious strategy of positioning ourselves among the market leaders in European road transport in the medium-term," said Ewald Kaiser, member of the Management Board of Kuehne + Nagel International AG and responsible for the business unit Rail & Road Logistics. "The network has proved its operational stability and now optimally complements our Group's other areas of business, enabling us to provide customers with door-to-door services from a single source."