DB Schenker and GLS Group announced on 18 March at a joint press conference in Hamburg that they are rolling out their contractual partnership in Germany. In addition to securing new B2B customers, the partners also see potential for B2C customers through e-commerce.
GLS will now deliver national parcels in Germany for the logistics affiliate of Deutsche Bahn and will handle international consignments. In return, DB Schenker will also transport part-loads (pallets) for GLS customers in the future. This expansion means that the two companies are now working together in the parcel market in four countries – they already collaborate in Denmark, Sweden and Austria.
"The Europe-wide GLS network provides customers with new possibilities for sending parcels,” said Rico Back, CEO of the GLS Group. “The start of our collaboration in Germany is another milestone in the partnership between the two companies,” he continued. Operating procedures and the IT interfaces between the partners were adapted ahead of time to ensure transparency and the smooth running of procedures.
“Our goal is to offer DB Schenker a Europe-wide parcel logistics solution through GLS,” said Ewald Kaiser, Head of Land Transport at Schenker AG and CEO of the Europe region. “We want to deliver parcel services to corporate clients under our own brand in order to complete our product range in land transport,” he added. This means that DB Schenker’s German customers can now consign anything to the logistics company, from individual parcels to full loads.
The framework agreement for the pan-European strategic partnership, which the two companies signed in September 2015, was fleshed out by a “European Parcel Cooperation Agreement” in February, clearing the way for the partners to finally begin collaborating in Germany. The partners are already preparing to expand their non-exclusive collaboration to other countries.
Pictures are available at: www.deutschebahn.com/mediathek
GLS Group in Europe
GLS, General Logistics Systems B.V. (headquartered in Amsterdam) provides dependable high-quality parcel services to over 220,000 customers in Europe, and also offers express and logistics services. “Quality leader in European parcel logistics” is the guiding principle of GLS, which places an emphasis on sustainability. The Group covers 41 countries in Europe through its own companies and partners and is connected to the entire world through contractual alliances. GLS has access to 39 central transshipment terminals and 688 depots. Its road-based network makes GLS one of the leading parcel service providers in Europe. GLS has over 14,000 employees and roughly 19,000 vehicles in its service. In the 2014-15 financial year, GLS transported 436 million parcels and generated revenues of EUR 2.1 billion.
DB Schenker
On a growth trajectory in markets around the world, DB Schenker has extensive service expertise as an integrated logistics services provider. Expert teams connect the modules of the entire service range to form complex value chains. DB Schenker supports industry and trade in the global exchange of goods: in land transport, worldwide air and ocean freight, contract logistics and supply chain management. Roughly 66,000 employees at some 2,000 locations around the globe generated revenues totaling EUR 15.451 billion in 2015.
(Source: DB Schenker)
