Axel spent 8 years managing transport operations for a 9-figure European manufacturer, then 4 years as Commercial Director at a global forwarder. He now shares insights from both shipper and carrier sides, and enjoys the occasional piña colada.
Your monthly transport coordinator spends 15 hours per week manually cross-referencing carrier rates, tracking shipments in spreadsheets, and chasing delivery confirmations. With a fully-loaded cost of €75,000 annually, that's €22,000 in opportunity cost while competitors with automated systems process the same workload in 3 hours. Fresh
Your European transport operations run on disconnected systems. ERP for ordering, WMS for warehousing, separate carrier portals for booking, and manual processes scattered across departments. Data quality issues between your TMS and existing systems can undermine the entire process. After speaking with hundreds of European manufacturers over the past year,
Here's the carbon pricing reality hitting European shippers right now: the EU ETS will be introduced gradually, starting at 40% of emissions in 2024, rising to 70% in 2025 and then 100% from 2026 onwards. While you're still calculating what this means for your freight spend,
The shortage feels different this time. According to IRU's 2024 driver shortage survey, there are 426,000 unfilled truck driver positions across Europe, nearly doubling from 233,000 in 2023. Unlike previous capacity crunches that eventually resolved, this one has demographic reality baked in: Over the next five
European shippers managing €10 million+ annual transport spend are facing an unprecedented cost squeeze in 2025. The EU ETS now requires shipping firms to surrender 70% of 2025 emissions (up from 40%), with compliance costs rising significantly. Maersk expects emission surcharges in 2025 to be nearly double that of 2024.
That German automotive parts manufacturer I mentioned in the opening? They discovered six months in, with €800,000 already spent, that their new system couldn't handle their complex carrier network across 12 countries. They chose a North American-focused platform before discovering their primary carriers couldn't integrate
A German automotive parts manufacturer just learned what a €800,000 TMS implementation mistake looks like. They chose a North American-focused platform six months before discovering their primary carriers couldn't integrate without costly custom development. Now they're facing a complete re-implementation as several EU Member States
The EU ETS shipping costs for 2025 will hit European shippers harder than most expected, with coverage jumping to 70% of emissions from just 40% in 2024. Carriers warn their ETS surcharges could nearly double under the updated regulations, and higher increases are anticipated in 2025 and 2026 due to
The August 19, 2025 Smart Tachograph Version 2 deadline just passed for heavy-duty vehicles in international transport. You handled the retrofit costs, managed workshop scheduling, and got your fleet compliant. But here's the problem most European shippers miss: treating the tachograph upgrade as an isolated compliance issue rather
When CS3D entered into force on July 25, 2024, European shippers gained something they've been dreading: another compliance deadline. But here's what most missed - the first wave of CS3D compliance has been delayed from July 2027 to July 2028, and the Commission adopted an Omnibus
A mid-sized German automotive parts manufacturer had their procurement team spending 240 hours on each annual transport tender, managing responses from 25 carriers across 12 countries. Sound familiar? Only 17% of companies report being fully automated, while 96% are using generative AI somewhere in their transport operations. This disconnect reveals
European road freight rates declined significantly in Q1 2025, with contract rates falling 2.3 points quarter-on-quarter and spot rates dropping more sharply by 3.8 points. Yet this downward pressure masks a more complex story for procurement professionals. The balance of power currently favours shippers, faced with carriers heading