It all began in a simple office pavilion and a container as a spare parts warehouse in Padborg in 1989. Today, a little more than 30 years later, Schmitz Cargobull is firmly established as the market leader in Denmark. “Product innovations such as the galvanised and bolted chassis, the company’s own axle unit and most recently, its own cooling unit, have always been very well received by our Danish customers,” reports Gregor Rein, Director, Northwest Europe. The Danish transport industry often plays a pioneering role in telematics as well. “The openness for new technology and services is an essential part of our success ¬story in the Danish market,“ explains Tim Warmeling, Managing Director of Schmitz Cargobull Denmark.
On the occasion of the Transport 2019 trade show in Herning, Schmitz Cargobull is now celebrating the 30th anniversary of its own national sales company in Denmark.
“Today we are the clear market leader with more than 2,500 trailers sold per year and a market share of 40 percent,“ says Rein, summing up the company’s achievements.
The Denmark sales team began operations at Lejrvejen in Padborg in 1989. The S.KO reefer semi-trailer with self-supporting FERROPLAST body and short chassis (1992) and the S.CS curtainsider semi-trailer with variable height (1993) were the first milestones, until more than 100 trailers were sold annually for the first time in 1994. Just three years later, the sales team increased the annual turnover to more than 500 trailers for the first time. The growth prompted the relocation to the new, larger site at Europavej in Padborg. Further calling points along the road to success were the introduction of the ROTOS running gear (1998) and the galvanised and bolted MODULOS chassis (1999), as well as the development of the Service Partner network and the introduction of Full Service contracts (2001). In 2003, the site in Denmark was extended to include a 35,000 m2 used vehicle yard and the annual turnover exceeded 1,000 new trailers for the first time.
From 2004, Denmark was also one of the pilot countries for the TrailerConnect telematics system, as well as for the financing subsidiary company, Cargobull Finance. The Scandinavians were also involved right from the start in the introduction of the next SPEED CURTAIN innovations (2011), the Schmitz Cargobull S.CU transport cooling unit (2012) and the S.CS curtainsider with GENIOS chassis (2015) and POWER CURTAIN (2017).
“We have now also established our own workshop and a warehouse for original spare parts at our site. Here we offer the Danish transport customers the successful Schmitz Cargobull one-stop-shopping concept with all our Value Added Services, from financing through to the used vehicle yard,” reports Warmeling. “At Europavej, we now employ a super team of 40 people who provide our business partners with the best possible support every day.”
The centrepieces of the presentation at the trade show in Herning are the S.KO COOL SMART reefer semi-trailer with the TrailerConnect® telematics system fitted ex works as standard that was introduced in 2018, and a curtainsider chassis with a fifth wheel load of 18 tonnes and a total towing weight of 50 tonnes that was developed specially for the Scandinavian market.
“The ascent to market leadership in Denmark is a clear demonstration of the company’s formula for success,” says Rein. Customers are able to concentrate fully on their core business because they can rely on Schmitz Cargobull’s efficient transport solutions and comprehensive services. Rein adds: “In close collaboration with customers we also develop tailored, country-specific solutions, entirely in response to their requirements.”
