Profitability

European carriers post worst margins as Asia pulls ahead

The first quarter of 2026 has exposed a widening gap between European and Asian container lines. An Alphaliner analysis shows Maersk posting the industry's largest first-quarter loss — 192 million US dollars, down 126 per cent year-on-year — and…

Shipping

Container freight rates surge as shippers pull demand forward

Container shipping into Europe is defying weakening economic forecasts. Strong import demand and tight capacity suggest that the rate increases announced by carriers for 1 June will largely hold. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index rose 16 per…

M&A

JLL Partners moves to acquire Life Couriers parent

US private equity firm JLL Partners last week filed for clearance with Germany's Federal Cartel Office to acquire all shares in LLG Holding GmbH, Munich. The deal would give the New York-based investor full control over the parent company of the Life…

EU customs duties on ecommerce

EU de minimis reform catches parcel industry off guard

Europe's parcel carriers are bracing for disruption as a 1 July deadline approaches for new customs duties on ecommerce shipments from third countries. From that date, a flat fee of 3 euros per goods category will apply to consignments valued below…

Liquidation

German rail freight operator Helrom faces liquidation

Helrom, the German rail freight operator, is to be liquidated after management and a provisional insolvency administrator concluded that its finances do not permit continued operations. Staff reacted with anger and dismay. May salaries have not been…

IPO

FedEx completes spin-off of freight unit

FedEx has completed the separation of its less-than-truckload subsidiary, listing FedEx Freight on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FDXF. The spin-off, first announced in late 2024, took effect on Monday. Existing FedEx shareholders…

Takeover

Ewals Cargo Care to acquire Vos Transport Group

Dutch logistics group Ewals Cargo Care has agreed to acquire Vos Transport Group in a deal between two family-owned companies, subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition is intended to accelerate Ewals's ambitions as a pan-European logistics…

M&A

MSC acquires majority stake in Ukrainian container terminal

Mediterranean Shipping Company has acquired 51 per cent of the Transinvestservice Container Terminal (TIS) in Pivdennyi, according to Alphaliner. The port lies between greater Odessa and Mykolaiv. No purchase price has been disclosed. The deal is…

Funding

Germany underspends on EV charging roll-out

The federal transport ministry spent just 422 million euros of the nearly 1.6 billion euros available for electric vehicle charging infrastructure last year, government budget data show. The shortfall, disclosed in a Federal Finance Ministry report…

Insourcing

German shippers' fear of logistics dependency hits record high

85 per cent of German shippers now regard dependency on their logistics provider as the single greatest outsourcing risk, up from 72 per cent in 2023, according to the latest outsourcing study by Miebach Consulting and DVZ. Concerns about loss of…

Policy

Brussels tells Germany to speed up transport decarbonisation

The European Commission has told Germany that greenhouse gas emissions from transport and buildings remain "considerably" above the levels required by national and EU climate plans. In its country-specific recommendations, the commission said Germany…

Management

Balzereit named president of FedEx Logistics

FedEx Logistics has appointed Marcus Balzereit as its new president. Balzereit joined the freight forwarding arm of the US integrator just over a year ago and currently serves as senior vice-president sales and solutions Asia Pacific, based in…

Management

Zim names Lichtenstein as chief executive

The Israeli container shipping company is getting a new CEO in the midst of its takeover by Hapag-Lloyd. Lichtenstein comes from the agrochemicals sector and will take up his post on 1 July. The Israeli container shipping company Zim has appointed…

Expansion into North American market

DHL signs ten-billion-dollar last-mile deal with USPS

DHL eCommerce has signed a multi-year exclusive contract with the United States Postal Service (USPS) for last-mile parcel delivery across the US, with a value of more than ten billion US dollars — the largest agreement in the two companies' 25-year…

Traffic jams on Brenner Pass

Night freight proposal targets Tyrol bottlenecks

Dettendorfer has teamed up with truckmaker MAN and companies across industry, energy, retail and logistics to try to relieve congestion on the Brenner corridor. The initiative, dubbed “Green Brenner”, aims to shift part of the traffic into the night…