The international transport and logistics company Gebrüder Weiss and the ÖBB Rail Cargo Group have been working together for three decades. To mark this anniversary, Wolfram Senger-Weiss, CEO of Gebrüder Weiss, and Christoph Grasl, member of the management board of the ÖBB Rail Cargo Group, celebrated together with numerous guests at the Vienna Central Station on May 6. The highlight of the event was the ceremonial christening and commissioning of the jointly designed Taurus locomotive named “Europa”. The anniversary locomotive will operate on routes across Central Europe.

Long tradition in rail freight
“Gebrüder Weiss was one of the pioneers of rail freight transport in Austria more than 170 years ago,” explained Wolfram Senger-Weiss. “Long before trucks took over the majority of freight transport, rail transport was part of our core business,” he emphasized to the guests. Starting with small transports between Lindau and Munich in 1853, Gebrüder Weiss continuously expanded its rail freight services over the next 170 years. One example is the subsidiary company GW Rail Cargo. Based in Maria Lanzendorf near Vienna, the rail freight forwarding company organizes rail transports throughout Europe for international companies. Every year, up to 1.5 million tons of goods are transported in around 1,000 block trains to recipients in central Europe. The goods include mineral oil, chemicals, gases, agricultural products, and steel.

Orange Combi Cargo: a success story of partnership
A milestone in the partnership with the Rail Cargo Group is the Orange Combi Cargo (OCC), a block train that has been running daily for 16 years between Vienna, Wels, Hall i.T. and Bludenz. It provides a stable, environmentally friendly transportation solution within Austria, transporting food and beverages, drugstore products and building materials among others. It replaces approximately 60 truck trips per day, avoiding around 9,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.

“The Orange Combi Cargo is a prime example of our cooperation. Thanks to the OCC, we have shifted more than 240,000 truck journeys from road to rail since 2008,” sums up Christoph Grasl, member of the management board of ÖBB Rail Cargo Group. “With every ton that we transport by rail with Gebrüder Weiss, we benefit the environment.”

Working together for climate-friendly freight transport
A significant proportion of rail transport consists of transit traffic, particularly between western ports such as Rotterdam and Hamburg on the one hand and the Adriatic ports on the other. Stable networks and partnerships such as the one with the Rail Cargo Group are essential for Gebrüder Weiss in shifting transports over to rail.

Bavaria’s Minister-President Dr. Markus Söder opened the new branch of GW in Straubing on April 18. On “Logistics Day” (“Tag der Logistik”), when the nationwide industry opens its doors every year, the Minister-President described the 14 million euro investment by Gebrüder Weiss in Straubing as "excellent news at a time when the Federal Government is massively jeopardizing truck logistics in Germany. CO₂ prices are up, tolls have doubled, e-mobility funding has been cut. This is damaging to such a systemically relevant industry, and once again fueling inflation. It can’t be overstated: we need forward-looking entrepreneurs and motivated employees more than ever."

Wolfram Senger-Weiss, CEO of Gebrüder Weiss, made a clear commitment to Bavaria as a place of business: “The Free State of Bavaria offers us a good set of conditions on which we can base our plans for expansion in Germany. Over the past five years, we have invested 120 million euros in Bavaria with the aim of giving Bavarian industrial and commercial enterprises access to markets both in Germany and around the world.” At the same time, Senger-Weiss was critical of the obstacles facing e-mobility. “E-trucks cost three times as much as diesel-powered vehicles, which is why we need a clear roadmap in Germany on the future of e-truck subsidies.” Nevertheless, his company is taking advantage of every opportunity available to transport freight in a climate-friendly way, eschewing no technology, with the aim of operating its own facilities and vehicle fleet in a climate-neutral manner by 2030. An e-truck is already stationed in Straubing for short-distance transport of general cargo.

During his visit, Minister-President Söder was briefed on operating processes and procedures. Incoming goods are prepared in Straubing over an area of 3,700 square meters for forwarding in Germany, for onward transport to European countries and for air and sea freight overseas. The terminal also serves as a distribution center for the economic regions of Eastern Bavaria, Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate. “Our new location brings us even closer to our customers in Bavaria, to whom we offer reliable transport and logistics solutions, digital services and a direct connection to our global network. We guarantee efficient land transport from a single source with our close-knit network of locations, particularly to Austria and South-Eastern Europe,” said Wolfram Senger-Weiss.

There are already plans in the works to expand the location in the coming years to include additional warehouses and handling facilities. The company is investing an eight-figure amount in expanding the Straubing location.

In recent years, Gebrüder Weiss has built up a dense network of locations in southern Germany and, in addition to Straubing, has its own branches and subsidiaries in Aldingen, Altensteig, Bayreuth, Esslingen, Konradsreuth, Memmingen, Nuremberg, Passau and Waldkraiburg.

The logistics industry is facing many challenges due to the current economic and geopolitical issues. From May 9 to 12, 2023, at transport logistic, the world’s leading trade fair for logistics, mobility, IT and supply chain management in Munich, the logistics company will explain how Gebrüder Weiss responds to disruptive supply chains, global climate targets, and increasing digitization. Gebrüder Weiss will be presenting a solution in terms of sustainability live at its booth 234 in Hall A5: the first company-owned hydrogen truck, which the logistics company started using for the transport of goods in Switzerland two years ago. Those interested in technology can take a virtual ride in the zero-emission vehicle on site. Using the vehicle in practice has proven so successful that the company plans to purchase another five H₂ trucks in Germany. This not only testifies to the company’s commitment to climate protection, but also to Gebrüder Weiss’ innovativeness and readiness to invest.

Company representatives from the areas of land transport as well as Air & Sea will be available for discussions at the trade fair stand, providing information about Gebrüder Weiss’ full-service logistics – in Germany and all over the world. The logistics provider has 180 own locations in Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, and Oceania. Germany, in particular, is an important core market for the company, and it intends to continue growing there. In southern Germany, Gebrüder Weiss already maintains a dense land transport network and has just made another acquisition with the takeover of the Rentschler freight forwarding company in Baden-Württemberg. The logistics company provides air and sea freight services at major hubs from north to south: Hamburg, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Hanover, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Straubing, and Munich.

Panel Discussions: Dealing with crises

Wolfram Senger-Weiss, Chief Executive Officer of Gebrüder Weiss, will speak on the influence of geopolitics on supply chains in the Black Sea region and Central Asia on May 9 at 1:00 p.m. in Hall B2 / 329. On day 2 of the trade fair, Managing Director Jürgen Bauer will discuss how Gebrüder Weiss deals with supply bottlenecks, the energy issue, and the use of alternative drives (May 10, 4:30 p.m., Hall B2 / 329).

Save the date: Gebrüder Weiss at transport logistic (May 9 to 12, 2023), Messe München, Hall A5 – booth 234. Click here for the entire program of the trade fair:

Gebrüder Weiss will use its presence at this year’s Logistics Summit at the Congress Center Hamburg to provide information about its digital and analog worlds of logistics. The conference for digitalization and innovation in logistics will take place on October 5 and 6. Wolfram Senger-Weiss and Lothar Thoma, both members of the Management Board, will be in attendance along with company representatives from the Air & Sea and Land Transport divisions.

Expert talks: Disruption of global supply chains and digitalization
Wolfram Senger-Weiss will talk about current challenges facing global supply chains together with a panel of experts at 11:00 a.m. on October 6. Digitalization in the supply chain will be the focus of the presentation by Wolfgang Brunner, Head of Project & Portal Management, Corporate Logistics at Gebrüder Weiss, on October 5 at 1:30 p.m. The logistics expert will provide insights into how the customer portal has been implemented.

Visitors to the Gebrüder Weiss stand can also enjoy a virtual ride in one of the world’s first zero-emission hydrogen trucks, and be taken on an interactive tour of the logistics company’s head office in Lauterach on Lake Constance.

Hamburg has been an important location within Gebrüder Weiss’s global logistics network for 90 years. Over 130 container trains travel between the Alpine state and the port every week, with more than 70 employees organizing international air and sea freight shipments on the Elbe river.

Time and place: Logistics Summit, Congress Center Hamburg, Booth J1, October 5 and 6, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. every day. For details of the event click .