The main industries to which Raben Group as a whole offers its services include the food, automotive, technology and chemical industries. The company also transports non-food FMCG and other types of goods. The share of services in the business mix has changed only slightly compared to 2022: the first place has traditionally been road transport (65%, of which more than half was domestic), followed by contract logistics (13%), intermodal transport (9%), logistics fresh food (6%), air and sea transport (2%), 4PL (2%) and others (3%). Total revenues last year reached almost EUR 2 billion.

"Of course, several challenges arose during this year, the most significant of which was the movement of fuel, gas and electricity prices. The ability to adapt to a changing situation is key, which is not only true in the case of logistics. 2023 was also a year of benchmarking. As a result of inflation, prices were rising, to which companies responded by asking new suppliers. Finding that prices have risen across the board, however, firms have stuck with existing partners. Demand has therefore increased," says Jakub Trnka, CEO of Raben Logistics Czech&Slovakia.

Raben in Slovakia and Europe

The main milestone of 2023 for Raben Group was the introduction of the Eurohub network - six central points that connect all the company's warehouses in Europe. These depots are characterized by high storage capacity, strategic location and modern infrastructure designed for more efficient and ecological handling of international traffic. They operate more than 130 direct connections between individual network points.

Eurohub in the Czech Rokycany near the D5 highway has 56 ramps for transshipment of goods using BDF containers with a higher capacity than conventional semi-trailers. It covers 52 collection lines and operates 45 direct connections per day, the annual capacity of the transfer station is over 750,000 pallets.

"We handle 33 direct connections per day to Germany alone, and thus guarantee clients the fastest delivery time on the market. Delivery within 24 hours, ranging from a single pallet to an entire truck, is something that has no parallel on the market. Thanks to another nine branches, we effectively cover the Czech Republic as well," explains Jakub Trnka. The aim of the Rokycan depot is also to contribute to the development of smaller local companies for which Raben's services are easily available. In May, the Rokycan Eurohub will be in operation for the first year. An important depot also directly connects the Czech Republic with Slovakia.

The network of depots enabled the company to react more flexibly to current events and, above all, shortened delivery times. The company can ensure its customers reach all European destinations within 24 to 96 hours, depending on the distance.

By the end of 2023, Raben had almost 600 international routes in Europe (including more than 120 in the Poland-Germany direction), which means an increase in supply of around 5% in twelve months. During this entire period, additional analyzes were carried out, which led to the reorganization of selected connections in order to improve delivery times and cost efficiency. Activities in the field of service improvement were complemented by the development of IT infrastructure, increasing the level of information security and awareness of employee security.

Sustainability is on the agenda

From the point of view of freight transport and logistics, one of the main topics of the year was environmental care. The company is gradually putting more emphasis on operating in accordance with ESG indicators. "In the Raben Group, as well as in other logistics companies, there is an intensive debate about reducing the carbon footprint, which is followed by concrete steps in the form of a measurable action plan. Raben wants to halve its emissions by 2030 and be completely carbon neutral by 2050. The main part of these efforts is increasing the efficiency of transport, but alternative fuels play and will also play their role, for example in Poland we are already actively experimenting with electrified freight transport," says Raben Logistics CEO Jakub Trnka.

Part of the sustainability efforts are, for example, "green" warehouses with photovoltaics, which, in addition to the Czech Republic, are installed on buildings in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria or Poland. The environmental activities also include the Raben Logistics Slovakia depot project in Nové Mesto nad Váhom, where a green oasis was created in the logistics park to support the local ecosystem.