b'SEPTEMBER 2025PROJECT CARGO25(NETWORKScontinuedborders of the EU. Kearneyestimatedthatantary vehicle production. logisticswithconsiderable from page 16) However,thePackageisincrease in defense spendingexpertiserelatedtoexisting TheBrussels-basedEuro- far from being a done deal.toonly3%ofGDPwouldf ar -r eaChinge ffeCts on contracts, Manners-Bell noted.pean Association for Forwarding,WhiletheEuropeanCom- requireupto760,000newl ogistiCss eCtorHowever, the new level Transport,LogisticsandCus- mission has proposed a 17skilled workers in EuropeaFreightAmigo,adigitalofurgencyisencouraginga tomsServices(CLECAT),billioninvestmentsomeclear indication of the size thesupplychainfinanceplat- greaterlevelofengagement saidthatitwelcomedthemembersofthe27-memberindustry could swell to. form, claimed on its websiteacross Europe, for example, in EUs continued commitmentbloc are less committed thanThere are numerous exam- that the boom in the EuropeanGermany, between the federal to strengthening defense pre- othersandtoughnegotia- ples of defense industry firmsdefense industry was likely toarmed forces, the Bundeswehr parednessandinfrastructuretions lie ahead to a backdropalreadybeingengagedinhave far-reaching effects onandrailfreightoperator, resilience. of budgetary pressures whichahiringspree.Germanysthe logistics sector.DBCargoandinPoland, However,itemphasizedcouldresultintheamountRheinmetall,isreportedtoThere would be a greaterbetweenthemilitaryand theneedfortransparentandbeing reduced. be boosting its workforce byneedforcross-borderspe- railandmulti-modalfreight coordinatedplanning,par- around 29%, or up to 9,000cializedcontainershippinggroup PKP Cargo, especially ticularly in the designation ofi nauguration ofe uroPes people, by 2028. and freight transport services,with joint exercises.hotspot corridors and the pos- b iggestM unitionsP lant At the end of August, Rhe- while the industrys stringentOtherexamplescome sible reservation of capacity. Certainly, increased mili- inmetallinauguratedEuropessecurity measures would createfrom the UK, where the Min-tary expenditure on the scalebiggestmunitionsproduc- new challenges and opportuni- istryofDefense(MOD)i nfrastruCtureu nsuitable envisagedwouldtransformtionplantinEurope,nearties for LSPs. signed an agreement this year forr aPidM oveMent of Europesarmamentsindus- Hanover, which has attractedThemanagementofcom- with Associated British Ports t rooPs /w eaPons try,sendingproductioninvestmentofnearly500plexandintricatesupply(ABP) to give it access to its InaninterviewinTheoutput soaring in the comingmillion,whichwillproducechains, necessitating advancedports as well as investing in a FinancialTimes,Europeanyearsandwithitapoten- 155 mm shells. logisticscoordination,willspecific facility.Transport commissioner, Apos- tiallysignificantincreaseMeanwhile,facedwithbecome a much sought-afterMorerecently,itsigned tolosTzitzikostas,explainedindemandforspecializedshrinkingdemandintheirskill, it added. aMemorandumofUnder-thatEuropescurrentinfra- logisticsservices,includingcore business, German auto- standing (MoU)with logistics structure - roads, bridges, andProject and Heavylift. makers like Volkswagen andn ewl evel ofu rgenCyplayersDHLSupplyChain, railways-arenotsuitableforA study earlier this yearDaimler, are said to be mull- MajorLSPsarealready(NETWORKScontinued the rapid movement of tanks,bymanagementconsultanting a greater presence in mili- well-establishedinmilitaryon page 53)troops,andmilitarysupplies acrossthecontinentinthe event of war with Russia. EXPERT LOGISTICS Wehaveoldbridges that need to be modernized. We have narrow bridges thatON DEMANDneed to be widened, and we havenon-existentbridges that need to be built.The reality today is thatANYWHERE. ANYTIME. ON TIME. if we want to move military equipmentandtroopsfrom westernEuropetotheeast, ittakesweeksandinsome cases months,TheEUisthuswork-ingonastrategythatwill enable troops to be deployed within hours, at most days inresponsetoanattack.In collaboration with NATO, it entailsupgrading500infra-structureprojects,unspeci-fiedforsecurityreasons, along four military corridors across the continent.To support this, it launched a call for evidence and a tar-getedstakeholderconsulta-tionwhichranfromJune until the end of August 2025, with the aim of shaping the content of the Package.d efenses Pendings urgeTzitzikostas said the mili-tary mobility plan would com-plement the agreement by EU NATOmemberstoincrease their defense spending target to 5% of GDP- more than half the current percentagefol-lowingcriticismfromPresi-dent Trump that they were not contributingenoughfinan-cially to the alliance.Wecannolongerbe unpreparedordependenton others, Tzitzikostas observed.Manners-Bell also empha-sizedthattheprospective surgeinEuropeandefense budgets and the measures to improve transport and logis-ticsinfrastructuresetoutinCONTACT USthe Package go hand in hand.Spending enormous sums1000 Foust Road Brownsville, TX 78521+1 (956) 831-4592ofmoneyonweaponryiswww.portofbrownsville.comfutile if armaments cannot be moved effectively to the front linein this case the eastern'