Economic crisis forces Austrian forwarders to reduce staff
ZV Spedition & Logistik: Poor prospects for rail transport Last week the Zentralverband Spedition & Logistik (Austrian association of Forwarding and logistics) had a background discussion with the press about the impact of the economic crisis on the transport and logistics industry. For 2009 the Board reckons with a business decline of around 20 per cent because of the strong decrease in demand for logistics services. This was also a reason for a staff reduction of about 10 per cent. Alexander Friesz, Deputy Chairman with Zentralverband Spedition & Logistik, calculated: “The forwarding industry employs around 20,000 persons, of which are 13,000 employees. Thus around 2,000 to 2,500 employees would be affected.“ As a countermeasure the Ausped 3“-programme is planned, which shall provide financial means for vocational training for about 600 affected persons. However, the rise in tariffs for national combined transport, initiated by Rail Cargo Austria, meets with incomprehension among the members of the Zentralverband Spedition & Logistik. The prices are raised by 15 per cent, and again by 10 per cent as of 1 January 2010. The forwarding industry fears that cargo transport will be shifted from the rail back to the road because of the fierce competition among road transport companies. “If customers accept the higher prices of RCA, this back-shift will really happen“, Dkfm. Harald Bollmann, Chairman of the Zentralverbandes Spedition & Logistik, and Walter Konzett, Member of the Board, said alarmingly. Quelle: Österreichische Verkehrszeitung |
