Carrier Innovation Day: Leveraging technical innovations

Many road freight transport companies are currently struggling with rising costs due to toll increases and inflation. In the face of these challenges, more than 100 industry players discussed how to successfully compete on the market with technical innovations on September 5 at the Carrier Innovation Day 2024 in Hamburg’s Speicherstadt. The invitation was extended by Sirum, a provider of a transport management system (TMS), together with partners Trans.eu, Bosch, Timocom and Digital Hub Logistics.

“This year’s Carrier Innovation Day has once again shown how important personal exchange is,” said Gina Semmelhack, partner manager at Sirum. At the beginning of the event, Raoul Wintjes, Head of International Road Freight Transport at the German Freight Forwarding and Logistics Association (DSLV), explained how the current situation should be assessed. He had current figures on general cargo costs with him, which showed a sharp increase compared to the previous year. The most noticeable changes were in the toll, with an increase of over 80 percent. Wintjes pointed out, however, that a 3.74 percent increase in personnel costs should not be underestimated, as these account for around half of the general cargo costs overall.

Stronger networking plays a key role

In the subsequent discussions and presentations, experts from the field such as Francesco De Lauso, CEO of CTL Cargo Trans Logistik, Michael Otto, Managing Director of Trans.eu DACH, Andreas Welle, Managing Director of Elvis Teilladungssystem, and Tilo Hergarten, Managing Director of Emons Digital, explained what conclusions they are drawing from the changed framework conditions and what role digitalization can play in this.

It became clear that stronger networking plays a key role. This applies both to the cooperation between freight forwarders and to the technical solutions used. Transport and logistics companies can thus better deal with typical problems such as empty runs through cooperation and avoid unnecessary effort, for example through multiple entries, by networking different programs.

Timocom, among others, demonstrated what this could look like in practice at the Carrier Innovation Day by connecting its own freight exchange to Sirum’s transport management system. Following the presentations and practical examples, numerous exhibitors presented their respective solutions for the logistics industry at their stands. The event concluded with an after-party.