Due to sustainability, shippers increasingly ask for rail freight

C.H. Robinson is an American company founded in 1905 as a commodity broker. Afterwards we increasingly distinguished ourselves as a 3PL service provider. We now have a worldwide network in 40 countries with a turnover of approximately $ 16 billion and more than 15,000 employees. We offer all possible services in the supply chain, such as truck, air and ocean transport, storage, customs facilities and also intermodal.
Our mission is to add more and more value to the logistics chain by training our employees and continuously innovating our processes. We are particularly strong in the field of data control and data communication. Through a platform developed by ourselves, our customers can easily book their shipments and both customers and suppliers can track these shipments at any time.
In 1993 we made the crossing to Europe and now we are active here in 17 countries with 48 offices and 1300 employees. Together with my colleague Tom Fisher, I develop the rail product in Europe. In fact, we can offer our customers all possible rail services from complete block trains, single wagon loads, LCL shipments to even transporting oversized break-bulk loads. Because we also have all other modalities, we are pre-eminently a through-to-door specialist.
As C.H. Robinson, we believe very much in the possibilities and in the future of the Belt and Road Initiative. Our customers see the Belt and Road Initiative as a good addition to the current modalities. Sometimes because of cost savings, in other situations for improving the throughput speed. Our customers in the electronics, car and fashion industry in particular are now benefiting from a faster timeto market.

With the now prevailing trade war between America and China, we expect China to increasingly focus on the European market. The market notes that production locations are moving and that a lot is invested in infrastructure optimization. Rail transport will almost certainly benefit from this, and hopefully CH Robinson too. We are one of the largest NVOCCs on the Trans-Pacific route and therefore have enormous potential for customers in our portfolio where we can still offer our rail product. We are actively approaching them to also focus more on Europe.
Our shippers are also increasingly calling the environment as a criterion for choosing our rail product, mainly multinationals. Where we saw in the past that everything was cost-driven, we see in Europe that shippers increasingly consider the use of sustainable transport modes such as rail and barge important. If we used the train or the barge in the past, it was because we would have found the best price / quality for our customers. Due to sustainability, shippers have increasingly asked in recent years whether their goods can be transported by rail. We will find out, and if it turns out that the train is a good alternative, we will arrange it for them. In addition to sustainability, awareness of risk spreading across all modalities is also becoming more important.
My wish for the future is that rail transport in Europe should be comparable to the model that my colleagues in America have. In America, the rail world is a lot more transparent and simpler, because the major railway companies actually have all the necessary assets, including their own infrastructure to drive a train, and thus be able to control the quality of the services entirely by yourself. Nor do they depend on other countries and different rules. We should also have a uniform rail network in Europe which is just as simple as in America. I believe that we will shape this now and in the future.
In view of the route between China and Europe, I would like transparency to be increased. We depend on many different parties who do not always communicate transparently and quickly. If a container is stuck somewhere, it is not always easy to find out what causes it and what this results in on delivery. Nevertheless, this is a great challenge for me as a responsible rail manager.
All in all, I see an increasing role for rail and we as CH Robinson are therefore strongly committed to this. On the Belt and Road Initiative, but certainly also within Europe.