German Transport Minister Wissing visits Kögel stand: less bureaucracy for more innovation

During IAA TRANSPORTATION 2022, Volker Wissing, German Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport, visited Kögel’s trade fair stand. Kögel owner Ulrich Humbaur and CEO Christian Renners showed him sustainable transport solutions, such as the Kögel Lightplus Rail, and discussed the challenges facing medium-sized industrial companies. These include bureaucracy and impractical regulations for the transport sector. After seven days of the trade fair, Kögel can draw a positive overall conclusion.

Bureaucracy in Germany is obstructing innovation, Kögel owner Ulrich Humbaur and Kögel CEO Christian Renners told Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport, when he visited the Kögel trade fair stand during IAA TRANSPORTATION. Humbaur and Renners emphasised that it was of great significance for Kögel that the Federal Transport Minister is showing interest in the position of the medium-sized automotive industry. They explained that companies like Kögel, in particular, are driving innovation with a great deal of energy. Kögel’s trade fair premières include numerous innovative transport solutions for increased sustainability in road transport – the overarching theme of IAA TRANSPORTATION 2022. If, however, complicated regulations get in the way of investments, then progress cannot be made. This comes at the expense of the environment and the climate.

Kögel reinforces sustainable combined transport

According to Renners, customers rightly trust in Kögel’s innovative strength and reliability. The long-standing trailer manufacturer from Burtenbach upholds its promise to offer customers the most economical and ecological products and services for their respective requirements – in accordance with its company promise: “Economy meets Ecology – Because we care”.

CEO Christian Renners showed Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing the latest developments. The most significant of these is the Kögel Lightplus Rail, the first lightweight trailer for combined transport. It combines the economic and ecological benefits of lightweight trailers with the use of rail as an environmentally friendly mode of transport, thus strengthening climate-friendly intermodal transport by rail and road. Thanks to its low tare weight of up to a ton, the Kögel Lightplus Rail not only offers more payload on the road, but saves diesel and thus reduces CO2 emissions compared with conventional trailers. With the Lightplus Rail, Kögel has once again delivered on its promise of “Economy meets Ecology”.

However, there are many other aspects to sustainability when it comes to transport fleets. That’s why Kögel additionally prioritises high trailer quality. Durable, service-friendly trailers, as built by Kögel, remain in service for longer, thereby reducing their carbon footprint. In doing so, they fulfil a central customer requirement.

CO2 regulations must take transport practices into account

Renners also indicated that trailers like the extended semi-trailer (Long Truck Type 1) and Mega bodies make a significant and, above all, practical contribution to making goods transport more environmentally friendly. Kögel accepts the responsibility of the industry to reduce the carbon footprint of goods transport. However, legislators must ensure that regulations reflect the reality of the transport and logistics sector, and create investment security. Renners appealed for the EU’s VECTO tool, which in the future will also factor the trailer into the calculation of a truck trailer's carbon footprint, to be designed accordingly. Individual vehicle categories, which are relevant in real-life applications, should not be disadvantaged by a one-sided focus on payload. Not every transport order is payload-sensitive; in the vast majority of cases, the useful volume is far more critical.

Keen interest in products and services from Kögel

The Federal Transport Minister’s visit was just one of many highlights during IAA TRANSPORTATION 2022. International press representatives and customers also showed a keen interest in Kögel’s product innovations, such as the Kögel Multi Container Stop (MCS), the revised container chassis in the Port series, and the innovative Kögel Road Safety (KRS) system for cyclists and scooterists, for which Kögel was awarded first place in the “Safety” category of the Trailer Innovation Award by an independent expert jury.

Kögel CEO Renners especially praised the high quality of visitors: “We are delighted that high-ranking representatives of many reputable transport and logistics companies visited our stand, and showed a solid interest in Kögel’s transport solutions and added-value services, such as our full-service and telematics contracts, as well as our Kögel Finance and Kögel Rent offers.” According to Renners, customers who procure a trailer from Kögel get much more than just a trailer. They have all the tools at their disposal to gain complete control over their operational costs, right from the start.

Caption: f.l.t.r.: Hildegard Müller, VDA President; Dr. Volker Wissing, German Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport, Ulrich Humbaur, Entrepreneur; Christian Renners, CEO Kögel Trailer GmbH

Your point of contact for this press release:

Maximilian Franz
Head of Marketing & Public Relations
Tel. +49 82 85 88 – 12318
Maximilian.Franz@koegel.com

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