EUROPE’S MOST FINELY MESHED TRANSPORT NETWORK

TRANSPORT: “Efficient transportation is about driving the fewest possible kilometres per kilo of goods. The goods must also reach the right recipient at the right time, in the right condition, and at a competitive price.”

Northern Europe’s largest and most efficient transport organisation. That is how Danske Fragtmænd refers to its own organisation. It covers the world’s most finely meshed national transport network with 2,400 trucks, 3,000 staff and some 30 distribution terminals across Denmark, from where practically all goods reach their destination within 24 hours.

Track-and-trace
“We are not only the largest, but also the most flexible and modern transport organisation in Denmark,” says sales director Peter Jepsen of Danske Fragtmænd. “We were the first in Denmark to introduce an internet based ’track-and-trace’ service, which enables our customers continuously to track their goods from door to door via the net. We were also the first to develop a whole service package to handle all the administrative work regarding our customers’ logistics. Goods are transported directly from the production location to our distribution terminals, where the goods are reloaded for all recipients, and all the transportation is immediately invoiced. No one else in Denmark can offer that.” Danske Fragtmænd is based on a co-operative concept where independent truck operators own the company and carry out shared tasks in collaboration. In the old days almost every small town had its own truck operator, and the slightly bigger towns each their cargo terminal where goods were exchanged. In the last 10 years, the number of independent truck operators in Danske Fragtmænd has decreased from around 300 to 140. In the same period, the number of trucks has increased from about 1,800 to 2,400.

Lars S. Larsen, left, and director Peter Jepsen of Danske Fragtmænd

The harder the better
“At the same time, the efficiency and service we offer to our customers have increased and become more sophisticated by means of information technology. The more complex a logistics task is, the more able Danske

Fragtmænd is to handle it,” says Lars S. Larsen, managing director of Danske Fragtmænd’s largest distribution terminal in Taulov near Fredericia. “We are happy to handle large amounts of the same goods which need to be transported from A to B every day, but that is not where one makes most use of our competence. Because our competence lies in what is complex i.e. several pick-up locations, multiple recipients and varying amounts of goods.”

For several companies, Danske Fragtmænd handles their entire transportation needs. It has meant giving up the entire fleet of vehicles and enormous savings on company distribution costs.

“It has produced substantial savings, as well as much better customer service and more efficient distribution,” says Peter Jepsen. “Instead of just being a cost, and a source of irritation when something goes wrong, distribution has become an added value to the company. That is what it is all about, after all.”

Quality transport
A distinctive feature of Danske Fragtmænd is the dense national coverage. The carriers reach every corner of Denmark. It also stops there, because they don’t operate abroad.  

Danske Fragtmænd is on the other hand increasingly being used by foreign companies for distribution in Denmark.

“Currently about 20% of our annual revenues of just over EUR 270 million come

from foreign customers,” says Peter Jepsen. “That figure is strongly increasing. Foreign companies have become aware of the opportunities we can offer: Day-to-day delivery, lots of opportunities for exploiting storage

hotels in several places in Denmark, and last but not least, reliable quality transport.”

http://www.fragt.dk