1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156 
ention DFDS Transport to most people and they immediately say
Page 34
Page 35
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
one thing—isn't that the Danish ferry company? Up until two years ago, DFDS Transport was, as its name suggests, the transport division of the ferry operator that still plies its trade between Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. However, while that relationship is no more, the Scandinavian link continues.
DFDS Transport is now owned by Denmark's largest supplier of transport, logistics, and environmental services, the DSV Group. DSV is listed on the Copenhagen stock exchange and has over 10,000 employees operating in 30 countries. The UK division accounts for around 17% of the group's overall turnover, and has 1,615 staff operating 500 tractors. However, a lot of the group's activities cross national borders and divisions within the company and at any one time there can be 1,000 DFDS tractor units and trailers driving on the UK's roads.
Earlier this year DFDS Transport in the UK went through a reorganisation to merge the logistics and transport brands, and henceforth it shall only be known as DFDS Transport.
What does it do?
Unless you have been involved with the company in some capacity, it is unlikely you will have any idea what it actually does. Perhaps the best way to sum it up is to say it does virtually everything. Chilled, palletised, just in time, multi-user, chemicals, hazchem—you name it, it carries it. Domestically, it's best known for its handling of the (also Danish-owned) supermarket Netto's distribution from FIDCs in Wakefield and Daventry to 80 of its stores. It has the classic general cargo delivery service, which goes through its Tamworth hub, carrying many of its tomer's goods through a shared network.
Internationally, it handles the cc tion of car components for Volvo Saab in the UK for onward delivery Scandinavia or Belgium. It specialis, bringing temperature-controlled fi from Denmark (most notably for Foods) and Holland, and imports maceuticals straight into Boots' F around the country. Alongside the has the contract to bring textiles fror Far East for clothing manufact Dewhurst, and a well-established fin( niture transporting business. It man Du Pont's warehousing in Dumfries deliveries into Europe through sub. tractors chosen by Du Pont. It also m industrial items such as commE freezers and significant quantities a letised and other chemicals, Aloni road transport, the company has a intermodal operation which it runs in junction with EWS to move bulk goo mostly paper products. It is probabl biggest trailer services opal between Ireland and Continental Eur irs. Car parts, loading in the Inds and destined for a manufacturlent in Scandinavia. are taken to the vorth hub. There they are formed, other goods, into full loads and taken e Port of Immingham. The trailer is (unaccompanied) on the overnight to Scandinavia where it is picked up notner part of the DFDS group for ird delivery. The car parts arrive just le to be used. The trailer might then 3ed to move a domestic load before g a load to, say, Denmark. From it might take a load into mainland pe. only to return to the UK with ?, product destined for Boots—that's leory, at least.
ategy
of the strengths of the firm is its se client list. Unlike many of the • large logistics firms operating in IK. it is not overly beholden to one or large customers. In fact, no one t accounts for 3% of the group's )ver. According to director Bob inie. the company has a mixture of land closed book work which tends led by the customers.
)ur aim is to build long-term relation; with our customers, and we usually a way to fit in with their require ments. The nature of much of our work dictates that it's done for a unit price and that won't change," he says.
Recent changes to the business, apart from the merging of logistics, include the selling off of its £9m-turnover port haulage business to Felixstowebased Hanbury Davies Containers (in August), and the acquisition of a 31% stake in Elix European Logistix in Germany in April. The last move generated more than 450,000 consignments a year for its businesses in the UK. Ireland and Scandinavia. The company has an ambitious driver-training programme in the UK ( CM28 March-3 April).
Weaknesses
The biggest weakness of the UK division is that it simply isn't making enough money. Even by the standards of the UK haulage industry, its profit margins aren't great. In 1991 DFDS Transport in the UK made £3.4m on a turnover of £300m, which is well behind the profitability achieved by the Nordic parts of the DFDS business. Undeniably, the growing trade gap between imports and exports between the UK and the rest of Europe isn't helping matters. It also carries a lot of goods whose volumes will have been affected by the poor performance of the economy—particularly on the Continent.
It appears, to the outsider, to suffer from not being involved in enough added value work. While its logistics and automotive contracts undoubtedly do generate extra revenue, a great deal of its work is what most people would call general haulage—low margin work not known for spectacular rates. The fact that the majority of its work is bringing Items into the UK probably results in it taking too much low-paid export work, which barely covers the cost of getting the truck out of the UK. To be fair, this is a problem that affects all international haulage groups, not just DFDS. DSV has
identified that the trade gap between Europe and the UK is a problem, and says it intends to rely on more sub-contractors in the future to give it "more flexibility in its supply chains".