Transport Management 67

Turbulent times The debt crisis, the turbulent financial markets, the budget deficit, the downwardly revised growth prospects (or lack thereof), …: these are turbulent times for Europe. Are we facing a new economic crisis, on the scale of that of 2008, or even worse? Even the most seasoned guru dares not speak out about it. This uncertainty is of course not without consequences, and is working on the morale of the transporters. They are preparing themselves in various ways. Some are choosing to play it safe and sell a flourishing business, as recently with Transports Heck, which was taken over by DB Schenker, or Maes Transport, which is now housed under the wings of Jost. Speaking of Jost: it is said that the hunger is far from satisfied. Names currently being mentioned are De Bock Gebroeders, to gain a foothold in container transport, and Magetra, a company that is opening the doors to the future Trilogiport in Liège… Other companies, who want to focus on value added services in the future, do not hesitate to close their transport department. Rogister (Welkenraedt) for example, whose management explains that “social charges are considerably higher compared to neighbouring countries” (editor’s note: it is certainly not a scoop, but it is always useful to bring it to attention again) and then “we pay more than 500,000 euros more than our competitors in Germany and Luxembourg”. Unsustainable, bearing in mind the margins of the transport sector…