DB Schenker Romtrans has set up an LTL network in Romania based on European industrial standards and shipments are now handled through the newly established central hub in Brasov. The project got off to a good start not least because of the cooperation with the bauMax Group, an Austrian chain of DIY stores. The company signed a multi-annual contract with DB Schenker Romtrans for the distribution of products from Romanian suppliers to the local bauMax outlets. bauMax currently operates seven DIY centers in Romania, and has plans to raise that figure to nine, as a next step.
"Since the takeover of Romtrans, we have led the Romanian market in both the LTL and FTL segments. Our newly launched LTL service has substantially improved our land transport product range and rounds off the portfolio ideally," stresses Elmar Wieland, Chairman of the Management Board of Schenker & Co AG, Vienna and responsible for South-Eastern Europe.
Of the ten branch offices and approximately 70 depots of DB Schenker Romtrans, the locations in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Arad and Iasi are linked up to the LTL system, working in cooperation with the hub in Brasov. Shipments handed over by 15:00 h on the first day can be delivered to most of the major economic centers in Romania the following day; the remainder - if heading for remoter areas - are delivered on the third day. Moreover, the new system enables DB Schenker to transport part loads faster and more cost effectively than used to be the case in Romania.
The national LTL network operated by DB Schenker Romtrans has also led to changes for the entire transport system in Romania. To date, shipments of this scale were normally transported by booking individual small trucks inside the country. "Our network and the central hub in Brasov generate bundling effects which substantially reduce the number of truck trips per annum. In other words, it is not only the customers who benefit from this development, but also the environment," adds Elmar Wieland.
