Logistics and transport

Fuel consumption and emissions are key environmental factors which we are striving to reduce in our internal and external logistics systems. We are always working to further optimise the energy consumption related to our quarries. When it comes to transporting our cement and aggregate products, we consider the pros and cons of all modes of transportation in terms of economic and ecological factors. We try to utilise environmentally friendly ship and rail transport to the greatest extent possible. This is why we launched a worldwide initiative in 2010 to analyse all of our rail and ship transport. Current uses of road transport are being checked to determine if a switch to more ecological transport means is possible.

State-of-the-art IT systems support our transport planning operations. We employ such systems for everything from incoming orders to delivery planning processes. This is how we ensure optimal utilisation of our vehicles and minimise route distances. Strategic planning of the makeup of our transport fleet also allows us to carry out adjustments in line with future requirements and thus improve capacity utilisation.

The global importance of our Group for this segment of vehicle production is prompting the manufacturers to improve their products, boost their effectiveness and adjust new variants to our needs. These processes are being reinforced by our purchasing decisions, which are linked to the total cost of ownership (TCO) and thus take into account both the procurement costs and all aspects of the vehicles’ subsequent use. Diesel consumption and pollutant emissions are key factors here in terms of costs and environmental friendliness.

However, fuel consumption is influenced not only by the vehicles themselves but also by the way they are driven. We therefore provide regular driver training instruction to make our drivers aware of how their driving styles affect consumption and to ensure that their technical knowledge remains up to date.