DSLV Calls for Political Understanding of General Cargo Logistics

General cargo logistics (also known as system logistics or consolidated freight transport) is a crucial link between the value creation stages of the most important industries and the procurement interfaces of trade. At the same time, it is gaining an increasing share of the B2C business. The total volume now amounts to nearly 40 million tons annually.

(Berlin) Today, the comprehensive collection, bundling, and delivery of more than 120 million shipments annually in Germany alone is organized in 15 general cargo networks, each with up to 100 depot locations – with a strongly increasing trend. Nevertheless, the economic significance and ecological potential of consolidated freight transport are in a significant imbalance with its perception, unlike almost any other segment of logistics.

To strengthen understanding among political decision-makers and the public for this logistical specialty segment, the DSLV Federal Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics has commissioned a study to assess the market volume of general cargo logistics. In addition to a fundamental explanation of the systemic processes, the study also provides expert assessments of the challenges and future developments of consolidated freight transport through expert surveys.

In total, the overall volume now amounts to nearly 40 million tons of processed finished and semi-finished products annually. Almost half of the volume is determined by the demand sectors of machinery and plant engineering, the food sector, and the construction industry, while the other half is distributed among large and retail companies, construction and garden markets, automotive suppliers, craft businesses, hospitals, and hotels.

Needs for General Cargo Transport Often Not Understood

“The complex machinery of system logisticians serves the procurement and sales routes of production and trade silently and without disruption with a total of 111,000 commercial and industrial employees. This performance is simultaneously their dilemma,” says DSLV Managing Director Frank Huster. “Because while political debates often focus only on the regulatory framework regarding parcel services and heavy truck long-distance transport, the multi-stage and ecologically highly efficient system of consolidated freight is often not understood by legislators – sometimes with negative consequences for the network operators. Therefore, the study aims to contribute to the general understanding of the multi-stage production process consisting of regional collection, transshipment, consolidation, main transport, regional delivery, and the collaboration of the actors.”

30 Percent of Shipments to Urban Centers

The representative survey conducted in 2019 at 150 depot locations revealed a daily depot transshipment performance of an average of 590 tons, distributed over 1,815 mostly packaged and palletized shipments. With a weight range of 30 to 2,500 kg, the average shipment weight was 325 kg. More than 30 percent of all shipments are delivered to urban centers. Thus, general cargo logistics plays a crucial role in supplying cities. The share of shipments delivered directly to the end consumer (B2C) surged by 61 percent during the Corona crisis to 17 percent of the total volume of consolidated freight transport – albeit with significantly higher process costs than in B2B business.

In area collection and delivery, trucks with a permissible total weight of 12 to 18 tons dominate. Given the shipment sizes, a breakdown of regional delivery relations into smaller vehicle units or – as often naively demanded politically – the alternative use of cargo bikes is generally excluded. According to the study, the establishment of additional urban consolidation centers would rather increase the complexity of consolidated freight transport and is therefore unsuitable as a solution to manage urban traffic volumes – with 5.3 percent of the driving performance, general cargo logistics only contributes marginally and sporadically here.

Exclusive Loading and Unloading Zones Are Lacking

A primary problem for urban delivery logistics remains space competition. Huster states: “Exclusive loading and unloading zones are lacking. Delivery logistics must be taken into account more than before in both the concrete city and traffic planning at the municipal level and in the design of road traffic regulations at the federal level.”

In addition to the growing demand for skilled workers, the study sees its contribution to the climate neutrality of transport as a significant future challenge for general cargo network operators. In addition to personnel and process costs, direct and indirect environmental costs are continuously rising.

The study (available for download here): General Cargo Logistics in Germany was created in collaboration with the Steinbeis Consulting Center FORLOGIC and Heilbronn University.

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