Hupac ups traffic despite problems

OVER THE HILLS

RAIL • INVESTMENT IN DIGITISATION IS HELPING HUPAC DRIVE BUSINESS THROUGH THE COVID-19 CRISIS, DESPITE A SHARP FALL IN TRANSALPINE TRAFFIC TO AND FROM ITALY

OVER THE COURSE of 2019, the Hupac Group shifted more than 1 million truck consignments from road to rail for the first time, with the total number of transports increasing by 10.5 per cent. Much of the increase was accounted for by the acquisition in 2018 of ERS Railways but Hupac also increased its market share in its core business of transalpine transport through Switzerland as a result of the introduction of new products. This was despite an overall fall in land transport on transalpine routes of 4.6 per cent, driven by the weak economy in Europe.

Those figures translated into some pleasing financial results, with group turnover up 5.4 per cent at SFr 611m. Profits were, though, impacted by the clouded economic situation, the strong Swiss franc and the reduction of subsidies. While EBITDA grew by 4.6 per cent, operating profit fell by 35 per cent to SFr 5.1m.

HERE COMES THE CRISIS Those figures are unlikely to be matched this year, as the Covid-19 pandemic has presented the company with some extraordinary challenges since February, when the outbreak struck northern Italy, Hupac’s most important destination and source market. Hupac reacted immediately to protect its employees and customers, moving staff to home offices within a short time to keep customer services up to standard. Hupac notes that this was only possible because of its already high level of digitisation, which provides ways to decentralise access to documents and platforms, together with powerful tools for telecommunications and teleconferencing.

Nevertheless, there was a sharp drop in transport volumes during April, especially on transalpine routes, which were up to 50 per cent lower than a year earlier as a result of the forced closure of industrial activity. That has eased somewhat, although at the start of June volumes were still some 25 per cent below the expected level.

“The Europe-wide slump in traffic and the simultaneous increase in road competition due to the drop in diesel prices during the corona crisis requires effective measures to support combined transport in order to prevent a shift back from rail to road,” Hupac says, although Switzerland and Italy have both taken steps to provide some relief in terms of access costs. However, Michail Stahlhut, director of Hupac Intermodal, believes more could be done. “We expect further measures to reduce the fixed cost burden of the combined transport operators also from Germany as the most important market and central European transit country,” he says. “Temporary additional track access charges support as well as subsidies for rolling stock that cannot be used in the crisis would provide relief and counteract a clear-cutting of offers in rail freight transport. Without appropriate support, combined transport operators would be forced to reduce their network, which would trigger a dangerous downward spiral in modal shift.”

Meanwhile, Hupac is also diving further into digitisation, having installed GPS units on some 1,000 wagons last year to provide better tracking, as well as RFID chips on 250 wagons to help with predictive maintenance. Last year it also began the digitisation of booking processes, which is helping to optimise loading capacity and provide reliable information on cargo status. Customers can track their consignments using Hupac Train Radar and, if necessary, can receive proactive information on any deviations from the timetable.

“With the digital transformation of its business processes, Hupac is strengthening the competitiveness of combined transport,” the company says. “The focus is on wagon technology, terminal productivity, better planning of the interface between wagon, terminal and customer and, last but not least, better visibility of the supply chain.” www.hupac.ch

MOVING FREIGHT FROM ROAD TO RAIL IS A MAJOR