An interview with Beata and Mateusz Małek, owners of XL LOGISTICS, sheds light on current trends and challenges facing the logistics industry, as well as ways to deal with them. As experienced market players with over 17 years of company history, they will share their insights on the evolution of land transport, the role of technology in the industry, and the ways in which XL LOGISTICS gains a competitive advantage.
LAND TRANSPORT is still the future of logistics
What changes and progress do you see in the field? land transport in recent years?
We notice several trends that cause the road transport market in general to undergo dynamic changes. Certainly, the development of new technologies, includingtable the political situation, growing pressure to increase drivers' salaries and rising costs related to increases in fuel prices and labor costs are changing the image of Polandthis (and not only) transport market. Undoubtedly, the pandemic has influenced the functioning of the entire transport industry. It is worth noting that the crisis affecting the transport sector, which is part of the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, required intervention both at the national level and as part of coordinated actions by the European Union. The year 2023 was marked by a slowdown in the economic climate, rate reductions and changes related to the situation in Ukraine. The economic downturn had the greatest impact on the road transport industry in Poland. The number of transport orders decreased and the prices of services dropped. There was a noticeable decline in demand for semi-trailers. Due to the weakening economic situation, transport rates have decreased. Information about this phenomenon can be found in the trans.eu report titled "Transport and logistics market in Europe 2023/2024". The changes were very noticeable at the turn of 2022 and 2023, when spot rates dropped below contract rates for the first time in over six years. It is worth adding that Poland has become a "hub" of supplies to Ukraine, a country at war with Russia. According to recent estimates, Ukrainians performed 2023 million transports in 1,2 - this is 7,5 times more than the pre-war pool of permits. This, in turn, caused dissatisfaction among domestic transport companies. This problem is still valid. The geopolitical situation contributed to the blocking of traffic to the East through Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. As a result, there was a shift to the route through the Balkans and Turkey and further towards the Caucasus by land or through the Black Sea. Interestingly, in 2023, transport companies from Turkey began to appear on the Polish market on an unprecedented scale. The source of change, the so-called A "little black swan" also turned out to be the legal regulation introduced in Germany regarding highway tolls depending on COXNUMX emissions.2. It is worth adding that in Poland, from mid-2023, trucks cannot overtake each other on highways. We are also noticing more optimistic signals on the market. The Polish transport industry is seeing an increase in the handled tonnage and transport work. However, also in this area there are difficulties related to the constantly deepening shortage of drivers on the labor market. In 2024, road transport companies will increasingly feel the pressure related to their impact on the environment. There will be other changes as well. One of them is the planned introduction of e-CMR, i.e. electronic consignment note.
Why do you think land transport is a key element of modern logistics?
In our opinion - and we will probably not be original here - land transport is a key element of modern logistics for several important reasons. Firstly, tland transport allows access to various areas, including those that are difficult to access by other means of transport. Road and rail transport allows you to reach places that may be far from ports, airports or other logistics points. Another advantage of land transport is flexibility and speed. Land transport, especially road, is often more flexible and allows goods to move quickly from point A to point B. This is especially important in the case of groupage transport or door-to-door deliveries. Cost effectiveness should also be emphasized. Compared to other means of transport, land transport can be more economical, especially for short and medium distances. Many logistics operations are based on the cost efficiency of road or rail transport. An important aspect determining the attractiveness of land transport is the road and railway network. Many countries have well-developed road and rail infrastructure, which facilitates the flow of goods. Access to the network of roads and railway tracks enables communication between various areas, which is crucial for logistics. Also in the context of urban logistics, land transport, especially road, is necessary to deliver goods to stores, warehouses and individual customers in urban areas. As such, land transport plays a key role throughout the supply chain, influencing the flexibility, cost, availability and efficiency of global and local logistics operations.
Do you see any new trends or technologies that may impact the industry in the coming years?
In our opinion, the new trends that transport sector entities must prepare for include the growing importance of new technologies and great pressure on the use of new energy sources, which is related to care for the natural environment and is part of the European Union's policy. Therefore, we believe that many significant changes will be noticeable soon. The electrification of the freight vehicle fleet will become noticeable. In practice, this will translate into the introduction of electric delivery vehicles and trucks, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the expansion of charging infrastructure for electric delivery vehicles. We believe that the near future will see the development of autonomous vehicles for freight transport. There will be large-scale tests and implementation of trucks capable of autonomous driving on longer routes, and in the longer term, research on the efficiency and safety of driverless trucks. Our opinions result from the analysis of scientific articles and specialized reports on transport megatrends on a global scale. Another trend, already clearly visible in road transport, is the increased interest in route optimization and fleet management. GPS technology and fleet management systems are already widely used to optimize routes, reduce downtime and minimize fuel costs. Data analysis will be used on an even wider scale to optimize route planning and avoid traffic jams. The use of telematics in logistics is also visible, which in practice means using telematics systems to monitor the condition of vehicles, cargo temperature and other parameters. As a result of these activities, logistics efficiency will be improved thanks to remote tracking of vehicles and cargo. Care for the natural environment is included in pan-European policy, therefore work is also underway in the transport industry to reduce exhaust emissions. There will undoubtedly be a development of alternative fuel vehicles in freight transport. In the near future, we can expect trucks with hydrogen or hybrid drive. This, in turn, will require investments in infrastructure supporting alternative fuel vehicles in freight transport. Of course, in the sphere of new technologies, there will be further integration of logistics platforms and electronic transport markets. We expect to use digital platforms to integrate logistics processes on a very large scale, from orders to delivery. As a result, this will facilitate cooperation between carriers, forwarders and logistics companies.
We are even sure that efficiency will increase thanks to the automation of logistics processes. For example, automation of loading and unloading processes speeds up logistics operations. We also believe that it will be possible to use robots to store and move goods.
What do you see as the competitive advantage of XL LOGISTICS compared to other logistics companies?
It's hard to talk about yourself, because it's the customers who ultimately evaluate the service they receive. However, taking into account our experience and acquired clients (including significant market entities), we can share our thoughts. We believe that our competitive advantages result from both "hard, material" advantages and are based on "soft" advantages related to the so-called intangible company resources. XL LOGISTICS has several significant competitive advantages compared to other logistics companies on the market. Among them, undoubtedly 17 years of experience allows us to be perceived by our over 1336 customers as a reliable, proven, trustworthy company with the knowledge and capabilities to handle complex logistics processes. At this point we move on to the next distinguishing feature, which is the comprehensiveness of service. Our clients see the value in the fact that XL LOGISTICS as one entity can meet not only their transport and forwarding needs, but can also offer them warehouse space, cargo consolidation/deconsolidation services, cross-docking, local/regional distribution, customs clearance, i.e. everything that requires complex coordination and cost and organizational optimization. In addition, our distinguishing features are specialized services: transport of ADR hazardous cargo, transport of waste or animal by-products, which require international permits, entries in appropriate registers, e.g. veterinary or BDO, and appropriately equipped equipment and trained employees. Recently, our transports with double deck trailers have become very popular, as they enable customers to reduce transport costs by loading twice as much goods in one truck. These services are also distinguished by their ecological nature, reducing the burden on the environment, which is increasingly important when choosing suppliers and solutions consistent with the sustainable development policy.
Another source of our competitive advantage is the fact that we have warehouses with a total area of 5000 m2, located in great locations in Poland, near the A4/A8 motorways in Wrocław and near the A1 in Częstochowa. The convenient location of warehouses helps us greatly in cost-optimizing the distribution and completion of group shipments on the east-west and north-south lines. The range of warehousing services increases our flexibility and efficiency in servicing our clients' entire supply chain. Our employees are a very important resource of XL LOGISTICS. We are proud that our team includes people who have been working with us from the very beginning of the company's existence. This proves that the family atmosphere in the company and the individual approach of us, the owners, to each employee are important to our employees, thanks to which people want and like to work with us. We know that a well-coordinated team of forwarders, sales department, back-office, drivers and fleet managers is a very strong pillar on which we build the strength of our company. That is why we care about the development of our staff, we organize regular training, foreign language learning and practical workshops, thanks to which we reach a higher level of competences and skills, which helps us to take on more and more ambitious and complex projects of our clients with greater courage.
How do you deal with current difficulties in the logistics industry?
The logistics industry requires constant observation of trends, taking advantage of market opportunities and very carefully recognizing customer needs. We are aware that we operate in a very turbulent environment. We try to anticipate upcoming changes, using the opinions of external experts, observing the activities of competitors (benchmarking procedures), and we try to introduce innovations in our company. This applies not only to technology-related innovations, but also to marketing, process and organizational innovations. Additionally, we are diversifying our client portfolio and opening ourselves up to serving new segments, such as retail chains and investment funds (commodity funds). We are also expanding our transport offer to include deliveries to/from countries outside the European Union, such as Ukraine, Turkey and Kazakhstan, which, given the economic slowdown in Western countries, may increase the dynamics of our orders and revenues. We believe that putting customers at the heart of our activities is the key to overcoming difficulties. In practice, this is achieved through advanced customization of the offer. Overcoming difficulties is correlated with caring for customers. In the context of a logistics company such as XL LOGISTICS, customization refers to several aspects in the area of services provided. XL LOGISTICS offers non-standard logistics solutions tailored to the needs of specific industries. For example, shipments from industries such as waste, pharmaceutical and medical, dairy, plastics, electronics, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, energy, construction, automotive, apparel and many others have unique transportation and storage requirements. We offer the ability to adapt the transport fleet to the specific nature of various types of goods, from handling specialized cargo to delivering goods under specific conditions (e.g. controlled temperature). XL LOGISTICS provides custom additional services such as customs clearance, real-time goods tracking, and even custom packaging and labeling options. Adapting warehouses to specific customer needs, including inventory management, handling of specialized goods and flexibility in the area of warehouse space, proves that the needs of customers are taken into account to a very wide extent. Taking care of quality and providing benefits to customers allows you to overcome any difficulties in the long run.
Other activities that increase the attractiveness of the services provided and thus competitiveness include adapting customer service processes to individual customer requirements, offering dedicated logistics consultants or adapting complaint handling procedures. Also, creating non-standard logistics plans, taking into account specific routes, delivery dates, flexibility in order management and other customer needs, is an important competitive advantage of the company.
To sum up, we conclude that customization in the area of logistics is a key element because it allows the company to adapt its services to various customer needs, which can contribute to increasing customer satisfaction and building long-term business relationships.
Photo: Kasia Saks
