Nearshoring is a major issue for the logistics company. Instead of expanding towards the Far East, QCS has set up stations in Eastern Europe over the past two years. The company had planned with them becoming profitable after three years, yet they have already achieved this now, says company boss, Stephan Haltmayer, in an exclusive interview with CargoForwarder Global. And he announces further branches.
While he says this, the Austrian firm, Team Global Logistic Spedition GmbH, becomes part of the QCS Group. “We applied for the name change, today (28JUN24),” announces Mr. Haltmayer. In future, the Vienna Airport-based company will be called Quick Cargo Service Austria GmbH. Its CEO, Norbert Heuber, will continue to manage the company as he has done since 2006. He expects significant synergy effects in the handling of the business because of the entry of QCS. As far as its market position is concerned, the focus is on air freight matters. Mr. Heuber stresses that his company is well positioned. “We have a very flat hierarchy, our cost structure is very competitive, we handle orders quickly and flexibly, and we are profitable,” are his key messages.

Vienna remains a turntable for cargo
With the takeover, QCS is filling a widening gap in the Austrian freight forwarding sector. Since the takeover of cargo-partner by Nippon Express a year ago, local logistics companies have reported a significant exodus of employees from cargo-partner, which has weakened the company’s previously strong position on the Austrian domestic market, according to various sources. And Norbert Heuber even speaks of a “brain drain” happening at cargo-partner.
According to Stephan Haltmayer, Vienna is still the turntable for air freight in Eastern Europe, although Budapest has recently gained significant market share in terms of traffic and tonnage. QCS also has a branch there, as well as in Poland, Slovakia, and Romania.
Gaining access to Koper comes next
The next step is to connect Slovenia. The Mediterranean port of Koper is located there, through which QCS wants to handle sea freight traffic generated in Southern Europe or bound for the region. “We are in advanced talks with a local company about a takeover,” states the manager, without revealing names or details.
The Czech Republic is also on his company’s expansion list. “The local industry, especially automotive (Skoda), has a strong position from which we would like to benefit.” To date, QCS has handled cargo shipments to and from the Czech Republic via its branch in Nuremberg.
Once these steps are accomplished, the family-run logistics player, which this year celebrates both its 50th anniversary and the 90th birthday of its Founder, Dieter Haltmayer, on 02NOV24, will then enter a consolidation phase. “Soon we will be able to offer the market one-stop shopping solutions across Europe,” says Stephan Haltmayer.
Forwarding agents are under increasing pressure
At the same time, he mentions that the traditional forwarding business has become more difficult in recent years. Easy-to-use electronic booking portals are progressively capturing parts of the business so far managed by established logistics players, without offering accompanying services. In addition, integrators are increasingly gaining ground to the disadvantage of traditional forwarding agents. As to the market situation, only e-commerce continues to grow, whereas traditional industrial goods have stagnated, especially in Germany. The country is over-bureaucratized and is falling behind other economies due to its high costs and partially outdated infrastructure. QCS is therefore considering relocating relatively simple forwarding activities to more cost-effective countries, such as the Philippines. At the same time, natural fluctuation will be used to reduce costs and encourage employees to work remotely for the same reason.