Its president in Europe calls for a European standard that standardizes the transport sector in all community countries
MADRID, 2 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
XPO, the largest palletized merchandise transport company in Spain, will open 6 new logistics centers in Spain and Portugal by 2024 with a total space of more than 60,000 square meters, mainly in central Spain.
This was announced by the president of the company in Europe, Luis Gómez, in an interview with Europa Press, in which he explained that these new openings respond mainly to the increase in demand for last-mile transport, driven above all by trade electronic.
XPO currently has 72 storage centers in the Iberian Peninsula with a total of 220,000 square meters, out of a total of one million square meters throughout Europe, especially in the United Kingdom and France, a figure that has grown by 25%. in the last four years.
At a European level, XPO had a turnover of almost 3,000 million euros, of which 530 million were registered in Spain, 12% more than a year ago. Around 60% of its business corresponds to the activities of full load transport and pallet transport, the latter activity in which it moves 15 million pallets per year, being the largest player in this area in the country.
The rest of the business is distributed in last-mile transport, with clients such as Leroy Merlin, Ikea or Electrolux, an area in which it makes 1.3 million deliveries per year, as well as in other activities such as air and sea or coordinator technology of the entire logistics process.
The head of XPO Logistics Europe has ensured that, despite forecasts of economic recession, expectations about the evolution of the company are “positive” for the rest of the year, after registering a “good first quarter”. In any case, he expects business growth to be less than what was achieved last year.
As for the transport itself, the company has more than 2,500 of its own trailers and subcontracts the movement with tractor units. In this sense, Gómez has described as a “big step for the sector” the latest legislative changes agreed by employers and the Government, such as the impact of fuel prices on customers.
“The law is strictly complied with, at least in our case,” he assured, adding however that there are some regulatory aspects to improve, such as the size requirements for trucks, something for which he has demanded a law at a European level that homogenize all countries. For example, in France a maximum load of 44 tons is allowed and in Spain only 40.
Regarding Brexit, Luis Gómez has admitted that it has affected the sector both from the point of view of volume and price, with the merchandise transported falling and costs rising. However, the company has taken advantage of its size to gain an advantage and has managed to increase its market share in the exchange of goods between the United Kingdom and Europe due to its greater ability to automate and deal with new administrative procedures.
Another of the challenges that XPO is facing, according to the manager, is the lack of drivers, which he estimates at around 400,000 throughout Europe, for which it is carrying out training activities.
Finally, Gómez also referred to the actions that the company is carrying out in the field of sustainability, road transport being one of the most difficult to decarbonise and which, in his opinion, will continue to be the leading transport of goods. For this reason, it is already implementing solutions, especially intermodality with the train and with the ship, which manage to reduce emissions.
Luis Gómez joined XPO following the acquisition of Norbert Dentressangle, where he led the growth of the transportation business around the world. He holds a double degree in Business Administration (BBA) and Economics (BoE) from the University of Cantabria (Spain), and has completed executive management programs at the Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at the IMD Business School in Swiss.
