In the previous financial year, under favorable economic conditions, Gebrüder Weiss achieved a provisional net turnover of 1.67 billion euros. This corresponds to an increase of 8.3 percent by comparison with the previous year (1.55 billion euros). “We consider business development to be highly satisfactory. It was a good year. Despite all systems being at capacity, we were able to maintain service quality. Commitments to our customers have top priority,” says Wolfram Senger-Weiss, CEO of Gebrüder Weiss. Apart from digitization, Gebrüder Weiss also continues to focus on investments in physical infrastructure. Another some 50 million euros were invested in 2018. At the same time, the company managed to maintain the equity ratio at a stable level of 58 percent, thus ensuring a high degree of independence from banks.

In 2018, Gebrüder Weiss completed a generational handover across various management levels: from board and regional to branch. Owing to the systematic development of executive staff, the company managed to fill all new positions with internal personnel. “This is an excellent sign of strength of the organization and corporate culture. In this way, we are encouraging continuity, but are also well-equipped, with this team, to tackle the challenges of the digital future,” reports Wolfram Senger-Weiss.
Land Transport: Challenges Brilliantly Met
Once again, the land transport division proved to be a mainstay of the company in 2018. Against the background of fierce competition, organic growth was around 7.5 percent. With the persistently booming economy ensuring demand, the organization needed to cope with the associated challenges such as lack of drivers, scarcity of loading space, and heavy fluctuations in shipment volumes. “With know-how, an awareness of quality and price as well as above-average commitment on the part of our employees, we were able to succeed,” Wolfram Senger-Weiss sums up the situation. Digitization tools help to improve planning, optimize processes, and offer new opportunities for communication.
Continued Development of Locations Overseas and in Germany
In the air and sea freight division, Gebrüder Weiss reports turnover growth of some twelve percent. Just one year after the reorientation of its global network, in 2018 the company continued to invest in the development of its locations in Asia, the USA and Germany, as well as expanding the transpacific transport route between North America and Asia. In addition to traditional air and sea freight services, Gebrüder Weiss is increasingly offering logistics solutions and land transports to customers in the USA and China.
Home Delivery Continues to Grow
Benefitting from steady growth in online trading, the Home Delivery (B2C) segment in freight forwarding has developed very favorably in terms of volume. Some 900,000 consignments from the consumer electronics, household appliances and furniture sectors were delivered to end customers, well over one third of these in Austria alone. Accordingly, the logistics company has once again confirmed its market leadership in Austria. Apart from delivery in ‘two-man handling’ mode, Gebrüder Weiss takes care of assembly and installation of the equipment on site. Also in the Czech Republic, in Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, and most recently in Romania, international furniture stores, consumer electronics retailers and DIY stores count among the customers of the logistics expert.
Growth in the sphere of B2C and stable market leadership in B2B was also reported by DPD Austria, of which Gebrüder Weiss the parcel service is a co-shareholder. Growing by four percent, the employees of DPD Austria moved more than 50 million parcels for the first time in 2018.
Skilled Personnel Wanted
Various rankings show that Gebrüder Weiss counts among the top employers of the logistics industry. Additionally, in the previous year, a pan-European survey was carried out within the company among 5,720 employees in 19 countries. The result: more than 90 percent of employees are proud to work at Gebrüder Weiss and recommend the company as an employer. “Gebrüder Weiss offers a wide range of career opportunities based on numerous job profiles. And not only for freight forwarding agents and logistics experts, but also for business analysts and other specialists, for instance IT or HSEQ,” says Wolfram Senger-Weiss. The number of employees increased by some six percent to 7,112 employees year-on-year (2017: 6,724).