Logistics service provider DB Schenker currently processes more than 500 loads per day via the digital platform Drive4Schenker. By the end of the year there shall be approximately 5,000 loads per day.
Managing the transport order of overland transports online and in real time: that is the idea behind online platform Drive4Schenker, launched in February. "Drive4Schenker is changing our business with partial- and full loads," DB Schenker's chief executive Jochen Thewes explained in the course of the Drive4Schenker presentation at the Transport Logistic. Transports can be managed paperless and with mobile devices via the platform. More than 500 shipments per day currently already run via the platform according to Ewald Kaiser, executive of DB Schenker's overland transport section. By the end of the year they shall be up to 5,000. "Overland transport continues to be our largest business segment," Thewes explained. Kaiser quantified the number of transported shipments per day at 20,000. The long-term goal is to run all shipments through Drive4Schenker.
The technology comes from the US-American online freight exchange Uship, based in Austin, Texas. "We're pleased that transport companies and their customers are now also able to profit from our technology," Uship managing director Mike Williams explained. Uship itself owns no assets. "We ask ourselves: what can we build ourselves and where do partnerships make sense?," Markus Sontheimer, IT-executive at DB Schenker, explained. In the case of Drive4Schenker, a successful partnership can probably already be spoken of. "We're hoping for a tremendous increase in efficiency," Kaiser explained. The freight carriers using Drive4Schenker per app are very interested and curious. According to Kaiser, 150 drivers are currently using the app.
