The reduction of carbon dioxide emissions is increasingly reflected in transport and logistics, which is why companies choose warehouses with the lowest possible energy consumption, and the energy consumed should be green, as well as efficient transport. "Those in the automotive industry have migrated to maritime service because it is more efficient, more environmentally friendly, especially since it aims to reduce the CO2 footprint. When we rent a warehouse, we first look at the height, in order to have as much capacity as possible. Where we are now, the warehouse has a capacity to satisfy our customers. The materials used and the services offered matter. We have 6,000 square meters, 10,000 pallets, 12.5 meters high at the beam and 10.5 m high we have for operation, that is, 7 pallets per height. It helps us in our relationship with customers to be able to cope with a short-term increase in stock, such as Black Friday", said Flavius Creţ, country logistics manager, Ekol International Logistics, during the ZF Logistica Businessului show, a ZF&ELI Parks project . Also, when it comes to transport, its efficiency becomes more and more important. "We want to migrate the fleet to the higher classes, in order to increase efficiency and reduce emissions. There are customers who want to go for intermodal, maritime transport - due to the costs and capacity and the reduction of the CO2 footprint", explained the logistics director. Ekol Logistics has two work points in Romania, one in Bucharest at km23 on the A1 Bucharest-Pitesti at CTP, in the CTPark Bucharest West project and another in Timisoara, but without a warehouse. "In Bucharest we are at km 23, in Bucharest West, where we have 6,000 square meters, with a capacity of 10,000 pallets. The clients are from e-commerce, white goods, ADR goods (dangerous goods - ed.), the retail industry and those who want to outsource services. In addition to logistics, the transport service is also available, in the form of groupage or full trucks - we have distribution in Romania", said Flavius Creţ. He emphasized that the next step is to have storage spaces in Timişoara as well, but only if there will be customers who will request such services. "In 2023 we are satisfied with the results in Q1. We have an efficiency between cost and services. The volume is slightly increased, but we don't have any notable boom. And T2 will maintain a stable trend. Maybe in Q3 we will see an increase. At the moment we are stable and focusing on more efficient services, on system optimizations. We do not see a decrease in customer volumes. We have clients with whom we have contracts for 5 and even 10 years", said the logistics director. Furthermore, the aim is to optimize the transport routes to the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany. "In Romania we mainly manage the retail part. Retail trade and implicitly the industries that serve the food sector, but we are open to any client", emphasized Flavius Creţ. On the other hand, now the challenge comes from the instability of costs – if after a year of diesel price increases it returns to the level before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, now the insurance prices are getting more and more expensive. "Now we are facing the driver crisis - we cannot find and there is no stability in the market - a problem felt by everyone in the market. Now we have a new trend, to import drivers from other countries and offer schooling here. Now we have the drop in the price of diesel, but we have higher insurance prices", said the director.
