Kombiverkehr KG Increases Volume in the Fourth Quarter of 2020

Kombiverkehr KG increased its volume in the fourth quarter of last year. A total of 858,079 truck shipments were transported last year. This saved over a million tons of carbon dioxide compared to road transport. Kombiverkehr aims to further promote the transport transition with ‘DeMinimis for Rail’.

(Frankfurt/Main) Kombiverkehr KG concluded the 2020 financial year with a total of 858,079 truck shipments (one shipment corresponds to the capacity of a truck) or 1.72 million TEU, which were shifted from road and sea transport to climate-friendly rail. Compared to the previous year, this represents a decrease of 3.0 percent in the total number of containers, swap bodies, and semi-trailers transported. After the German economy was already on the brink of recession in 2019, the global impacts of the Corona pandemic intensified this trend last year. In April and May, the operator lost around 15 percent of the volume across the entire network due to the economic downturn. In the following months, the shipment volume stabilized, allowing for growth to be achieved again in the last quarter of 2020.

Satisfied Despite Higher Expectations

“With the results in the last quarter of 2020, we at Kombiverkehr can be satisfied in these very volatile and difficult-to-calculate economic times, even though our expectations are much higher. Currently, we are sensing a renewed strong demand in the market for transport solutions with ecological added value, providing momentum for our services,” summarizes Robert Breuhahn, Managing Director of the company. “Multimodal transport is and remains predestined to save high amounts of CO₂ due to the lower energy consumption per ton-kilometer. This allows us to meet the climate policy requirements from industry and trade, from our forwarding customers, and ultimately the guidelines from the European Union’s Green Deal.” Customers saved 1,005,000 tons of harmful carbon dioxide through their intermodal engagement with Kombiverkehr in 2020.

Started the Year of Rail with New Train Offers

Kombiverkehr successfully started the European Year of Rail with a variety of innovations in its network. On February 1, the first train departed on the new direct route Lübeck – Verona v.v., connecting Italy with Scandinavia and the Baltic states in transport times ranging from 48 hours (Sweden) to 72 hours (Finland), depending on the country. The new product is offered in a One Stop Shop procedure with just one booking in partnership with ferry companies. Additionally, since the beginning of the year, a new connection between Verona and Bari Giovinazzo has been offered in domestic Italian traffic in collaboration with Mercitalia Intermodal and Lugo Terminal S.p.A. “Recently, we have switched the Atlantic route in Spain traffic to the DUSS terminal in Duisburg-Ruhrort Port. This has further increased the number of efficient forwarding services in Germany as well as to and from Benelux, Scandinavia, and Poland. With our unique gateway concept, we create a multitude of new routings with each new train offer, making national and international transport chains on climate-friendly rail even more attractive,” says Managing Director Alexander Ochs.

Incentives for Newcomers and Long-Term Users Required

In order for the positive shipment trend from the last quarter of 2020 to continue and for the modal split to develop in favor of rail in the long term, Kombiverkehr also sees politics as having the responsibility to reward all users of environmentally friendly intermodal transport for their daily engagement. The company calls for incentives for both newcomers and long-term users of the system, as already exists in other countries today. An increase in financial resources and a program “DeMinimis for Rail” should create relief that significantly facilitates the transition from road to rail for potential KV users and reduces the economic risk of the logistics transition. “In the year of the federal election, the transport sector continues to face the challenge of quickly and unbureaucratically bringing about the transport transition and increasing the share of clean transport modes. Intermodal transport is the measure of all things to distribute goods and products flexibly and climate-friendly across borders and regionally by rail and truck. Now is the time to commit to rail and pick up the pace for the transport transition,” sees Managing Director Armin Riedl the right time for rail this year.
Photo: © Kombiverkehr
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