News

Sustainable transport

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Sustainable transport

At GEBA Trans, we strive for sustainability and greener transport solutions.

Recently, one of our valued customers approached us with a specific question: whether we could provide a more sustainable solution for a fixed route from France to The Netherlands. This question inspired us to take action and work with our carrier network to make a positive change.

We are proud to say that we succeeded! Together with our partners, we found a solution through the use of trucks running on Biodiesel instead of the Euro 6 standard trucks we were using for this particular route. Biodiesel, produced from renewable sources such as vegetable oils and waste oils, allows us to achieve significantly lower CO2 emissions and contribute to a cleaner and more sustainable world.

At GEBA Trans, we believe it is our responsibility to embrace sustainability and actively contribute to a better future. We are committed to finding innovative solutions and implementing eco-friendly initiatives to reduce our impact on the environment.

Together, we can make a difference and build a more sustainable future!

Do you have specific sustainability goals for your transport needs? Our team is ready to work with you and provide custom-made solutions to match your green ambitions.

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Newsletter Stormy Period

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Dear client,

Lately you have received two newsletters from us, in which we extensively discussed the developments within the European transport market as a result of the Mobility Package and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

And nowadays you will also experience yourselves, that the prices of fuel (petrol and diesel) at the gas stations have increased enormously.

The current situation creates a high degree of uncertainty and is therefore extremely exceptional. This situation extends beyond the normal entrepreneurial risk. Within GEBA Trans we call the current situation a ‘stormy period’, a period in which all kinds of exceptional situations occur simultaneously on the European transport market, namely:

  • Shortage of transport capacity
    • Existing European drivers shortage and shortage of equipment
    • Introduction Mobility Package – Return to home (from 22/02/2022)
    • Partly no Ukrainian drivers (from 24/02/2022)

 

  • Price increase transport
    • Rise in market rates as a result of a shortage of transmission capacity
    • Increase in wage costs as a result of Mobility Package – Equal Pay (from 02/02/2022)
    • Exceptional increase in fuel prices (from 24/02/2022)

As with any storm, this ‘stormy period’ will unfortunately cause damage. The major  question is how large the actual damage will be. This is currently causing great uncertainty in the European market. For you, but also for us and our carriers. Together we must endure this storm and see how we can limit the overall damage as much as possible.

As your partner in transport, we closely follow developments in the European transport market and we are in constant dialogue with our international carrier network to handle your transports qualitatively and in line with the market. Given the market dynamics, we will periodically evaluate and investigate the impact of the changes mentioned with a view to rate adjustments. If this leads to rate adjustments for you, we will contact you personally.

For the increase in diesel prices, we will continue to use our monthly diesel floater for the time being. This is despite the fact that many carriers have switched in recent weeks to a weekly weighing moment and weekly adjustment of the diesel surcharge. This means that we pre-finance the fuel increase for a few weeks. In this way, from a service point of view, we can unburden you in the administrative area.

If you have any questions and/or comments about this newsletter, please let us know.

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Newsletter Conflict Ukraine – Russia

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Over the past week, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has escalated, leading to harrowing images.

On Thursday 24/02, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a general mobilization of the population. This means, among other things, that male residents between the ages of eighteen and sixty are no longer allowed to leave the country, because they must be available for the army.

We are now also receiving signals from various external carriers and regular charters that Ukrainian drivers are returning to their home country en masse, as a result of which they are able to supply less or no transport capacity in Western Europe due to the announced measure.

In this newsletter we inform you that the developments mentioned, are having a negative impact on the available European transport capacity. GEBA Trans makes every effort to realize alternative solutions during this acute situation, so that we try to unburden you as much as possible, as you are used to.

Due to the unforeseen nature and the associated uncertainty, we do appeal to your understanding, flexibility and cooperation to continue organizing your transports as well as possible. After all, together we make the difference!

If you have any questions regarding this message, please let us know.

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Newsletter Mobility Package

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Dear Customer,

No doubt you have seen and heard the term ‘Mobility Package’ on the transport market recently. With this newsletter we would like to inform you about these European laws and regulations, which affect the entire European transport sector.

In July 2020, the EU adopted the so-called mobility package that determines salaries and working conditions for truck drivers. The aim of the EU is to improve the conditions for Eastern European drivers and to create better salary and living conditions for them. Parts of the mobility package have already been implemented in 2020 and 2021.

As from 2nd February 2022, another component of the package was implemented. It concerns the part of the agreement that stimulates the harmonization of salaries within Europe, the so-called ‘Equal Pay’. In short, it means that drivers, who work in EU Member States other than their home country, are entitled to the minimum wage or collective labor agreement wage in the EU Member State where he or she loads and/or unloads, if that wage is higher than the wage in their home country.

Poland is the first European country that has already embraced these measures, other Eastern European countries are still waiting. But since there are European laws and regulations, these countries have to implement the laws and regulations too in the near future. This measures have a price-increasing effect within the transport sector. To clarify the differences in minimum wages within Europe in 2020, we refer to the included figure.

Furthermore, the net daily allowances for drivers have been replaced by a higher gross salary. This means that 65% of the salary will be taxed (socially) after the introduction of the mobility package. For transport companies this means a 24% increase in driver wage costs.

Since the effective date of the ‘Equal Pay’, we have already received price increases from various Polish charters and carriers, which vary between 10 and 15%. But it probably won’t stop there.

As from 21st February 2022, the next phase of the EU mobility package has come into force, namely the ‘Return-to-home’ component. In this phase, Eastern European drivers and trucks have to return to their home country with an interval of 8 weeks. Besides the fact that this is at odds with the climate objectives, this puts further pressure on the current transport capacity, which is already characterized by high driver shortages. And this will also lead to further upward price pressure in the European transport market.

These recently implemented European measures have created a lot of uncertainty with regard to pricing and available capacity within the European transport sector. The question is whether this will be a ‘reset’ for the entire European transport market. Poland has a big contribution with the execution of about 30% of all European transports. Furthermore, there is currently a lot of uncertainty about which countries will follow after Poland, when they will do this and which price increases they will implement. The question is also what the total effect of the ‘Return-to-home’ phase will be. It is very clear to us that something is going to change, but what this exactly means for you is not yet clear to us, given the short period of time.

We therefore decided to closely monitor and analyze the development of the cost level in the market in the coming weeks. In this way we gain more market knowledge and practical experience about the changes associated with the EU mobility package. And based on that expertise, we can assess the effect of the package on your specific order portfolio in a more well-founded manner.

As you are used to from GEBA Trans, we proactively think along with you and try to create alternative solutions for your order portfolio where possible, so that the ‘damage’ for you is limited as much as possible.

We will therefore contact you at a later stage to personally discuss the effect on your order portfolio.

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COVID-19 l Update

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As you will undoubtedly know, this past weekend revolved entirely around the coronavirus (COVID-19). The Dutch government has announced a new set of precautionary measures and urgently requested everyone to comply with them. We, the GEBA Trans team, will of course do so and have implemented measures to keep our staff members safe. To safeguard our continuity, we have implemented the following measures:

  • Both our internal operational departments (Accounting and Administration) and our Sales Department will work from home.
  • Our Planning Departments at our Venlo and Tilburg offices will partially work from our offices. The absence of other colleagues ensures they can maintain at least the recommended 1.5 metre distance. Part of our risk diversification strategy is to have a segment of our planners work from home. This ensures that our operational continuity is safeguarded at all times.
  • The previously implemented measure not to participate in any face-to-face meetings (both internally and externally) is maintained.

GEBA Trans will remain fully operational and has the capacity and staff members to continue its services. Precautions already or yet to be implemented by various European governments, may make it impossible to complete all transports and deliveries on schedule. Our Planning Department will continue to update you about this to the greatest possible extent. We do hope you understand that force majeure does apply here and that we cannot offer guarantees in this respect. We will continue to stay up-to-date about the situation in all European countries and will of course continue to update you if and when new developments arise that might affect us.

Please rest assured that now, more than ever, our team will do anything to limit any nuisance you might experience to an absolute minimum. We are grateful for your cooperation and understanding during this exceptional time. Your contact person at GEBA Trans remains available for any questions, remarks and orders.

We hope that you and your loved ones stay healthy and strong during these hard times.

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