"We have set the course"
2021 was a year of diverse challenges that DACHSER was able to master with great stability and resilience. At the same time, the company set an important strategic course, particularly with regard to its climate protection activities. Here is a text from CEO Burkhard Eling.
The year 2021 was the year of supply chain bottlenecks. The upheaval resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, as well as extreme weather and the blocking of the Suez Canal, have shone such a bright light on existing weaknesses in global logistics infrastructure that some people are now talking of a “new shortage economy”—and it is putting economic growth at risk.
Nevertheless, we are a strong team, so together with our customers and partners we have successfully managed to keep global supply chains running and to deliver high quality. This is what our resilient network is designed for. At the same time, we have set a strategic course this year that equips us to tackle the issues of the future.
COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference held this year in Glasgow, brought one of these issues into focus. Over the coming years, the pursuit of greater sustainability will be the main force determining the global agenda. Our industry is no exception; the political course for more sustainable logistics has long been set. The road ahead will be challenging, partly because key technologies are still more or less at the early trial stage.
Ongoing and lasting commitment to sustainability
At DACHSER, we are engaging fully with the issue of climate protection and addressing it proactively: we are currently expanding our emission-free city-center concept to eleven European cities, switching to mega trailers across Europe, and investing in photovoltaics. As of 2022, all our electricity purchases worldwide will be green. Moreover, we will acquire more battery-electric trucks and recharging stations, participate in the testing of hydrogen trucks, and also gradually convert our fleet of company cars.
All these measures are individual steps—but together, they represent our ongoing and lasting commitment to sustainability. We will pursue this path together with customers, employees, vehicle manufacturers, and partners, because the only way to achieve the goals the global community has set itself is by combining our efforts.