Magazine: They keep moving

The coronavirus pandemic created major social and economic challenges that manifest globally.

Roman Stoličný
CEO, Dachser

Dachser is present in 44 countries and in spite of the problems caused by COVID-19, the network of Dachser European Logistics is operating just as efficiently as before. The company stands for stability and reliability even at these hard times, therefore they have decided not to introduce a ‘COVID-19 extra charge’ for partners – informed Roman Stoličný, the CEO of Dachser. Currently, the company is shipping enough in the European network to maintain the turnover and keep things going. In those countries where strict measures had been introduced, the volume of goods to be transported declined sharply, but in the last few weeks, the number of orders increased in food logistics.

János Varga
logistics director
Magyar Posta

After the announcement of the emergency situation the domestic turnover of Hungarian Post increased, and in the first two weeks of April were as busy as the end of last November. What is more, due to the pandemic the popularity of pick-up points dropped and now 90 percent of parcels are home-delivered. János Varga, logistics director of Hungarian Post said more and more customers opt for online payment, which not only speeds up delivery but is also a more hygienic solution.

Nikoletta Kiss
managing director
Palmsped Cargo

Since the pandemic has an impact on both the demand and the supply sides, logistics and international road transport suffer. Despite the hardships Palmsped Cargo 2009 Kft. can ensure the uninterrupted raw material supply of manufacturer partners. Managing director Nikoletta Kiss explained that they had switched to home office mode in just a day, and they managed to make sure that there is fast and accurate information flow between colleagues, shipping companies and partners. The company is now considering a move into air and combined transport.

Mónika Szerencsiné Agócs
MD-owner
SZAM SPED

SZAM SPED has expanded its fleet and now 10 of their own vehicles are rolling all over Europe. The company has acquired new partners in the building and construction sector, and they have launched a new service too. With the latter, they are focusing on smaller partners, who can now have their goods delivered to 27 European countries at favourable prices – informed owner and managing director Mónika Szerencsiné Agócs.

Tibor Szilveszter
sales and marketing director of vans
Mercedes-Benz Hungária

Since the pandemic put a stop to personal meetings, sales of Mercedes-Benz dealerships have declined. At the same time demand has increased for their bring-and-take service. Tibor Szilveszter, sales and marketing director of vans at Mercedes-Benz Hungária said: in these difficult times customers rely even more on stable partners such as Mercedes. In order to guarantee long-term stability, maintenance is free after 4 years or 120,000km of vehicle use as part of the company’s Integrated Service Package – this now forms part of each van offer. All 26 service stations of Mercedes-Benz Hungária are open during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Zoltán Varga
CEO
Arteus Capital Holding

Partners of the Arteus Capital Holding group show the biggest demand for cheap and fixed cost financing opportunities, which they need for solving their liquidity problems. Dr Zoltán Varga, the CEO Arteus Capital Holding Zrt. told our magazine that ArteusCredit Zrt.’s NHP Hajrá loan is the perfect choice for enterprises, as with the help of this product they can also realise the investments they planned before the crisis. The holding’s operative leasing firm Cartis Flottakezelő Kft. now offers a 0-forint rental for a 6-month period for new cars.

Van specialist Delta-Truck has introduced a new, more effective work shift system, thanks to which maintenance times have shortened. Plus the company has also taken strict hygiene measures to make customers feel safe at the time of the pandemic, and to protect their shops from COVID-19 – said technical director Gábor Nagy. HR manager Melinda Horváth added that they were forced to cut both work times and salaries after the pandemic emergency had been announced, with the exception of the technical team. Delta-Truck is doing its best to save jobs and at the same time to provide the usual high-level service to partners – in safe conditions. This means that the management must do extra tasks on a daily basis.

Gergely Lakatos
business development director
EuroFleet

During the pandemic, EuroFleet partners can get 3-5-year-old cars with few kilometres in an operative leasing scheme. The company’s EcoFleet service and the so-called pandemic car pass makes short-term lease possible at nearly long-term lease prices. Business development director Gergely Lakatos told: both products react to new-type needs. EuroFleet’s truck fleet is growing dynamically as a rising number of businesses appreciate the SuperBrands winner company’s premium service and reliability.

Zsombor Páll, the director of Via Bérautó Kft.’s Viarent LCV business line reported to us that most of their partners from the tourism, hospitality and event organisation sector returned their vehicles, just like many companies that specialise in international transportation. In the last months about 200 vehicles, 10 percent of their total fleet were given back. Luckily these were soon taken by food manufacturing and delivery companies. Via Bérautó Kft. tries to ease the burden on partners with tailor-made offers, delayed payment, etc.

Gyula Szabó
commercial director
Mercarius Flottakezelő

Mercarius Flottakezelő Kft. is less affected by the pandemic as they don’t rely on external service providers in maintenance and other services: they do everything with their own teams. Plus most of their customers work in the public sector, so they keep using the services of Mercarius. Commercial director Gyula Szabó spoke about partners wanting tailor-made and full-scale services, and the growing demand for operative leasing from SMEs. The most popular are reliable and risk-free schemes, services available for a fixed monthly rate and full operating services. One of the key things is that vehicles should be out of use as little as possible; to this end Mercarius has its own replacement van fleet and 24-hour assistance service.

Barna Erdélyi
CEO, Waberer’s

As the level of production decreased in Europe because of COVID-19, the international transportation market contracted by 40-50 percent. This had a big influence on Waberer’s International Nyrt. too. We learned from CEO Barna Erdélyi that the key to survival was stopping 30 percent of their fleet and reducing work times and salaries. He also told that Waberer’s-Szemerey Logisztika Kft. – the company’s affiliate that specialises in domestic shipping and warehouse logistics – plays a vital role in ensuring the country’s food and other goods supply during the pandemic.

Zoltán Stogicza
chief subsidiary officer
WebEye Telematics

Improving telematics, tracking applications operated from home, flexible systems and tailor-made solutions – tracking companies offer these and many more other services. In Hungary 80 percent of commercial vehicles are vans, the number of which has been growing in the last five years. However, the use of telematics is below the average in this segment. Zoltán Stogicza, chief subsidiary officer of WebEye Telematics Zrt. told Trade magazin that last year they had introduced a Telematics-as-a-Service product for a fixed monthly charge. He shed light on the fact that in Central and Eastern Europe about 18 percent of vehicles have a telematics feature, but this proportion is expected to grow to 32 percent by 2023. Due to the special needs generated by the pandemic, WebEye developed flexible product packages for partners that can help them survive in these dreadful times.

Lajos D. Szabó
head of business unit
FleetWare

FleetWare not only offers tracking services, as they also have a manager smartphone app that reports to company owners and fleet managers about the performance of vehicles. Head of business unit Lajos D. Szabó spoke to us about more and more partners using the company’s fleet utilisation, driving style monitoring and personalised alarm solutions. As a reaction to the pandemic, they launched an online shop from where FLEETware can be ordered.

iData Kft. has reacted to the transformed economic environment in several ways. The company’s iTrack telematics devices and services provide a customised solution for controlling vehicle use. Sales manager Nikolett Zölei informed that manufacturing, installation, repair and maintenance are performed uninterruptedly – before and after work they disinfect the vehicles. New services include route optimising NaviTrack and automatic reporting. No matter whether there is a pandemic emergency or not, the company is always dedicated to providing the usual high-level services to partners. //

The coronavirus also impacts freight forwarding

According to a survey conducted by the Association of Hungarian Forwarders (MSZSZ), market players have experienced a 10-30 percent decline in April 2020 in comparison with the same period of 2019. In domestic freight forwarding, the level of food, pharmaceuticals and consumer goods transport didn’t fall significantly.

As for warehouse logistics, the picture is rather diverse: food and consumer good warehousing are experiencing increased turnover, but automotive industry supplier and manufacturing logistics companies are often reporting a turnover drop bigger than 50 percent. MSZSZ members estimate that things will get back to normal in 6-14 months’ time. //