International Network Expanded

LogCoop GmbH and the French Tred Union have decided to continue on a mutual path: With immediate effect, the two logistics companies will cooperate in the areas of transport, storage, purchasing, marketing, PR, and sales. With this strategic partnership, LogCoop successfully enters the French market, known to be a difficult one, whereas Tred Union now gains access to the rest of Europe. Networking and cooperating together the new partners will succeed in closing a gap in the transport business. The cooperation with Tred Union immediately adds to the LogCoop warehouse network an additional 1.25 million square metres of logistics space and thus propels it to the unrivalled number 1 position in Europe. At the same time, the purchasing syndicate grows by another 70 companies. Thus the partnership is not only a milestone for the expansion of the international business of the two cooperations; it also places LogCoop in a better position when it comes to price negotiations with suppliers and service providers.

“Thanks to this cooperation, we have succeeded in closing a large gap. This is because, generally-speaking, the French market is an extremely difficult terrain for German freight forwarders. Finding return loads, for example, can be challenging or even impossible,” says Marc Possekel, managing director of LogCoop GmbH. Thanks to the alliance concluded with the French logistics cooperation Tred Union, this is now set to change, due to the exchange of enquiries and tenders.

Joël Vigneron, president of Tred Union, sees the strength of the cooperation in the heterogeneity of its members: “The freight forwarders contribute an array of different competences and service portfolios. By exchanging information, they can provide solutions to any challenge, now even across the whole of Europe.” Like LogCoop, Tred Union is an alliance of medium-sized companies which promotes networking and resource-bundling. For this purpose, it maintains networks of truck-mounted forklifts, pallet distribution and warehouses. Currently, Tred Union has 70 members, 150 locations, a total of 6,500 trucks, and 7,600 trailers, as well as 1.25 million square metres of logistics surface. To date, the operating activities have been limited to France, where LogCoop has not been active until now. Vigneron: “We are delighted that, with LogCoop, we have now found the right partner for expanding our internationalisation.”

The cross-national alliance is also important for LogCoop from a geopolitical point of view. Many transports going to and from Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the British Isles pass through the territory of the Grande Nation. Possekel: “To be in a position that will allow us to fall back on contacts is also interesting for forwarders who currently do not have their own francophone business, or for those who are active on the Iberian Peninsula.” Still another benefit of the merger is the opportunity of generating price advantages in purchasing by bundling demand. With now clearly more than 220 partners, the negotiating clout of LogCoop and Tred Union toward producers and dealers has significantly improved. Equally, in future, the two partners can bundle their competences when it comes to marketing and sales. “One objective will be to offer the shippers the local services in the foreign market, thereby significantly increasing the depth and range of services. Needless to say, joint trade fair appearances and international industry and country meetings are also in the pipeline,” Possekel says. To coordinate the activities, both cooperations have hired bilingual experts.