RailRunner Europe is under insolvency administration
RailRunner Europe GmbH has filed for insolvency at the district court in Hamburg. By resolution of the Hamburg district court – acting as the insolvency court – dated 18 January 2019, the provisional insolvency administration of the assets of RailRunner Europe GmbH was ordered, and Dr. Susanne Riedemann, Attorney at Law, Specialist Solicitor for Insolvency Law and Insolvency Administrator at the law office Prof. Dr. Pannen Rechtsanwälte (a supraregional and international bankruptcy law firm) was appointed provisional insolvency administrator for the assets of RailRunner Europe GmbH.
The aim of the management board is restructuring and reorganisation of the company as part of the regular insolvency proceedings. The company’s main business over the past 18 months has been based on the operation of a traditional intermodal service on the Bratislava – Brunswick line, using piggyback and craneable megatrailers, swap bodies, containers and pocket wagons. While the company provided general intermodal services to over 200 customers, most of the business was focused on transporting car parts and components.
Several factors have limited the ability of the company to scale this service:
1) long waits for loading and unloading trailers in factories and warehouses, increasing the cost of the first and last mile;
2) long periods of limited acceptable rail services resulting from the reconstruction of the track infrastructure along the Elbe Valley route;
3) the demand for extremely long payment periods by customers in the market segments served by the company.
The recent extreme weather conditions in southeastern Germany and southeastern Europe as well as the general outlook for the industry have put further pressure on sales and cash flows.
RailRunner Europe GmbH has made tremendous progress in the past 18 months in providing consistent, high-quality services with traditional intermodal pocket waggons and GPS-enabled equipment from leading vehicle manufacturers, says Charles Foskett, president and CEO of RailRunner Europe GmbH, parent company RailRunner NA, Inc based in Lincoln, MA, USA.
He adds: “While we continue to face major challenges, in this more controlled environment we will have the opportunity to mitigate some of the external effects of the market and focus on our internal operations and our financial performance to the benefit of all our clients and clients Business partner. ”