Dachser boosts growth through key acquisitions

The globally operating logistics provider Dachser experienced considerable growth in 2024, surpassing the €8 billion mark (€8.027 billion) with a 13 percent increase in sales. The family-owned company also recorded significant increases in other key figures such as headcount (+3,300), locations (+56), and warehouse space (+720,000) compared to the previous year.

This growth is largely due to the acquisitions of Dachser & Fercam Italia, Frigoscandia, and Brummer, which are reflected in the balance sheet for the first time in 2024. Without acquisitions, i.e., purely organically, Dachser grew by 4.7 percent compared to the previous year. The driving factors were the resilience of the European groupage network and rising air and ocean freight rates. Transport volumes increased by 7.6 percent to 83.2 million shipments, and tonnage grew by 10.2 percent to 44.1 million.

Fairly dynamic development was hindered by the growth momentum from Germany and Europe: "High costs, weak corporate production, and declining private consumption have also impacted our business. At the same time, the multiple crises we are currently facing around the world are a constant stress test for our customers and therefore for us as well," says Burkhard Eling, CEO of Dachser.

Investing in Times of Crisis Strengthens Competitiveness

Dachser leveraged its stability and financial strength to make significant investments. In 2024, the logistics provider doubled its spending on company acquisitions, network locations, workforce, digitalization, and climate protection measures, such as the development of e-mobility, to €490 million. For 2025, additional investments of almost €400 million in the Dachser network are planned. "Those who act in times of recession and invest intelligently and consistently will find themselves with the wind at their backs in the next expansion phase," says Burkhard Eling. "Thanks to this countercyclical corporate policy, we have emerged stronger and more competitive from past crises. And this time will continue to be the case."

In 2024, Dachser's workforce grew by more than 3,300 people, reaching a total of approximately 37,300 employees. The number of locations increased by 56 to 433 worldwide. This also reflects the previous year's acquisitions in Italy, Northern Europe, Germany, and Austria. In addition, the joint venture in Japan, which was scheduled to start operations in 2024, was registered for the first time.

Business Development in Detail

The Road Logistics business field, in which Dachser combines the transport and warehousing of industrial and consumer goods (European Logistics) and food (Food Logistics), increased its sales volume by 10.9 percent to €6.4 billion in 2024.

The European Logistics business line increased its sales volume by 8.1 percent to €4.8 billion. The number of shipments increased by 6.5 percent, and tonnage by 2.8 percent. The activity of the European business units has been marked by high cost pressure in key sectors, increasing customer price sensitivity, and increased competition due to weak demand for transport and warehousing. "The fact that we have been able to grow not only through acquisitions but also organically in a stagnant market demonstrates our customers' confidence in the high reliability and quality of our network," comments Burkhard Eling.

The Food Logistics business line has reached a new European dimension with the integration of Müller in 2023 and Frigoscandia and Brummer in 2024. Sales volume increased by exactly 20 percent to €1.7 billion, shipments by 14.3 percent to €12.4 million, and tonnages by 31.5 percent to 13.9 million tons. Burkhard Eling explains: "We have acquired companies that have successfully developed business areas beyond fresh produce logistics, that target additional customer segments and markets in Europe, and, last but not least, that have significant truck fleets of their own. This is all part of Dachser Food Logistics' new strategic market positioning."

Sales volume in the Air & Sea Logistics business line increased by exactly 22 percent in 2024 to €1.6 billion. In this case, Dachser primarily benefited from short-term special events that drove up air and ocean freight rates. These included congestion due to the Red Sea crisis and the e-commerce business between China and Europe.

Contract Logistics, the combination of transport, warehousing, and customer-specific value-added services, continued to play an important role in Dachser's growth strategy in 2024. Thanks to expansion investments and the capabilities of acquired companies, the number of pallet spaces increased by around 720,000 to a total of 3.8 million. Dachser customers can now enjoy warehouse services at 190 locations worldwide.

For 2025, Burkhard Eling predicts another very challenging year for logistics, with only small growth impulses coming from Europe. "We see that economic performance in Europe has largely stagnated and that this is accompanied by capacity adjustments, in some cases painful. This also includes the need to manage transformation processes in key sectors such as the automotive industry and in energy-intensive sectors such as the chemical industry. Furthermore, global uncertainties and the risk of economic recessions have increased due to protectionism, the threat of tariffs and counter-tariffs, and geopolitical conflicts.

In this context, growth outside Europe is important for Dachser. “We will focus our attention on strengthening our presence in the Americas and Asia regions and connecting these markets with our great competitive advantage: our European groupage network. The broader our global presence, the greater our resilience,” says Eling.

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