Sovereign Speed, a Hamburg-headquartered specialist in express overnight surface transports across central and Western Europe has taken over ground handling agent and trucking firm Pfister Logistics for an undisclosed amount. Through the deal, new routes will be added to Sovereign’s already dense road feeder network.
It is Sovereign’s second acquisition within weeks after purchasing ground handler ths aircargo service. Both Pfister and ths aircargo service gmbh run warehouses in Hamburg’s World Cargo Center,
located adjacent to the airport. Sovereign gains access to a further 11,000 sqm of handling space as a result of the takeover of Pfister which was founded in 1982. Also, their trucks and vans
will be integrated in Sovereign’s large pool of vehicles. As Sovereign co-owner Martin Araman told CargoForwarder Global, all 95 Pfister employees will stay on board, keeping their jobs as do the
25 staff of ths aircargo services.
The merged company’s future name will be Sovereign AircargoServices GmbH with Pfister’s former boss Stefan Pokrantz becoming its Managing Director together with Sovereign’s majority owner Karim
El-Sayegh. Cargo Manager and second in line will be Ruediger Suhrke of the former ths company.
Higher cargo throughput and network enlargement
As an immediate result of both acquisitions, Sovereign expects the productivity to improve, obtaining new business and gaining synergies for the benefits of the firm’s clients.
Their list of customers is impressive with DHL Global Forwarding, DB Schenker, UTI, Expeditors or DSV ranking high, to list some prominent names. “We offer them our one-stop shopping service,
from pick-up, handling, road transport and delivery of their goods at important cargo airports,” explains Ruediger Suhrke.
Main destinations served from Hamburg by overnight feeders are Cologne, Frankfurt, Brussels, Leipzig or London Heathrow.
The company’s trunk route is Hamburg-Frankfurt and back with 15 to 16 trucking services operated every single night.
Brussels and Liege on the agenda
Since the merger, even more plans have been tabled with some already put in practice. Like a new overnight route from Hamburg Airport to Amsterdam Schiphol that will be served five times per week
by Sovereign operated trucks. “We’ve just decided to link both destinations directly because of steadily increasing market demand,” states Ruediger.
Next to come, he announces, are direct nightly feeder services for both express and standard freight between Hamburg, Brussels and Liege.
Starting and ending point is Sovereign Aircargo Services’ new gateway at Hamburg’s World Cargo Center.
Sovereign Speed, a shooting star in the transport industry runs eleven stations at six European countries. The company that claims to be an “airline on wheels” combines classic truck
transportation with courier services. This year, Sovereign expects to generate revenues in the region of €40 million, a 10 percent increase y-o-y, states owner Karim El-Sayegh.
Heiner Siegmund
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