CargoLine Establishes Its Own Hub in Niederaula

The cargo cooperation CargoLine is building its own main transshipment warehouse (hub) in Niederaula, East Hesse. The new building, covering approximately 10,800 square meters with 126 gates, will replace the previously structurally separated central and European hubs operated by CargoLine partner John Spedition in Eichenzell near Fulda. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in October 2021 on the new site, conveniently located between the A4, A5, and A7 motorways, with commissioning planned for the first quarter of 2023.

(Frankfurt am Main) “We have been experiencing continuous shipment growth for years; this has been further accelerated by new powerful partners, the boom in the B2C segment, and the positive development of our digital freight forwarding service Cargoboard. However, the spatial capacities of our partner and hub service provider John Spedition are limited, and there was no opportunity for him to acquire a suitable plot for a new facility in his region. Therefore, we decided to build a new hub that can grow with us due to the available space and that we will operate ourselves,” explains Jörn Peter Struck, Chairman of the CargoLine Management Board, and adds: “This strategically forward-looking decision is worth a double-digit million amount to us. It aligns with our goal of rounding out the network by adding more partners and developing new digital business models in the form of start-ups through our subsidiary Cargo Digital World (CDW). The latter are intended to enrich the logistics market from partial and full loads to sea freight and contract logistics and ensure additional shipment growth.”

Win-win Situation

The new facility will combine the central and European hubs in one building. “This will optimize hall and main running processes and achieve earlier arrival times for trucks in partner depots,” explains Uwe Heinbach, Hub Project Manager. The designated expert for planning, organization, and operation of main transshipment warehouses has strengthened the operations of the cargo cooperation since the beginning of the year.

John Spedition also benefits from the move: it gains space for its own growth in Eichenzell. The proximity of the future main transshipment warehouse to the current one will allow many employees to continue their previous work at the new hub location.

“John Spedition was a founding partner of CargoLine in 1993 and has operated our central hub since 1996. The foresight and expertise of the former owner and managing director Klaus Schröder are still benefiting the cooperation today, especially since his successor Birgit Bergemann and her team have diligently continued his work over the past eleven years,” says Struck.

Ecologically Exemplary

The cargo cooperation is also using the new building to further advance environmental protection, as stated in its values and goals. According to current planning, the facility will achieve the level of “Efficiency Building 40 EE,” significantly undershooting the legal energy requirements. This is primarily due to the high proportion of emission-free renewable energies such as environmental heat. For example, they will cover at least 74 percent of the total energy demand required for the heating and cooling of the building. Compared to a standard building, this means a saving of 5,448 kilograms of CO2 per year.

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